klpsencik's reviews
1018 reviews

How Lucky by Will Leitch

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke

informative fast-paced

3.75

I love nonfiction books on really niche topics, so this delivered. It's a short, endlessly fascinating analysis of a body part we both think about *too* often and not often enough.

Funny Story by Emily Henry

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Only and Forever by Chloe Liese

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A lovely way to tie up the Bergman Brothers series with a nice little bow. I'll miss these characters!

The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman

informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

I was really young in the 90s -- born in '91 -- so a lot of my conscious memories of the 90s aren't really related to what was happening in the world around me. This book provided a lot of really interesting context to my childhood!

Mercy by Sara Cate

2.0

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is Christina Lauren at their absolute *best* after a few releases I wasn't all that crazy about.

My favorite CL book is The Unhoneymooners and this feels like a spiritual sibling of that book -- an idyllic setting, forced proximity and charming, funny characters with excellent banter. And bonus tropes for this one: Fake dating/marriage of convenience with a quirky twist. I saved this to be my first summer read of 2024 and I'm so glad I did.

Bonus points for rich people family drama, which I usually just eat up -- and I definitely did this time, too.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

5.0

This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I know Carley Fortune's previous books have been polarizing because of the use of cheating tropes (I actually feel differently about them and have a more nuanced take that I've written about in other reviews), but I will say I was nervous picking this one up because I was hoping that trope wasn't used for a third time. Happily, it wasn't!

What this book *was* was a lovely brothers-best-friend trope, with Fortune's signature dual timeline format. The location is idyllic, and Fortune's writing really shines. 

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Annabel Monaghan is becoming a must-read author for me. Her books are always a blend of sweet romance and heavy, real-life issues. This book is no different. I love that Monaghan also writes about women in their 30s (often their mid/late-30s), when so many other books are often about younger women. This book tackles some heavy topics -- divorce, grief -- but still manages to be a perfect summer beach read. I knew I would love this so I saved it to read until the weather started to warm up and I'm so glad I did -- this should absolutely be on your vacation reading list this summer.