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krittabug's reviews
342 reviews
A good gut punch. I honestly only docked it that final star because I kept getting lost keeping track of all the (MANY) characters, so was losing a bit of the plot and its impact. But it’s a beautifully woven story connecting each character as they plan to gather at a powwow in their home of Oakland, California. Violence and generational trauma and family and addiction and and and. This one has been on my list for actual years and I’m so glad I finally got to it. Also — an EXCELLENT audiobook.
OK Ioved this one, but also feel like it’s not any kind of masterpiece, it just happened to itch all the right scratches for me. Such a sad-girl-era vibe. It’s not a romance. It’s not a drama. It’s just the story of a 20-something woman experiencing life and deep, deep heartbreak. It felt so simple and relatable and poignant. I whipped through it, loving Adelaide (and her flaws) and her relationships with her girl friends and experiences. I won’t forget it for a while.
really wanted to like this one (I really liked his latest), but this one was just OK for me. A standard “horror” story about a haunted puppet, basically. It was spooky and a little campy and a lot fine. I didn’t feel super connected to any of the characters and found it was mostly just an entertaining listen without a lot of substance for me.
Ooof. What a tragic story. I was familiar when it was in the news in January 2014, but this is a deeper look at what depression does or doesn’t look like and how it impacts young people like Maddy, who seemingly “had it all.” This feels like a must-read for parents of college athletes — or teens, in general, to be honest. She was clearly asking for help. Looking for help. Telling people she was desperately unhappy. My heart hurts for that poor girl. My one gripe about the book is the author’s interjection of her own personal anecdotes and stories over and over. THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU. (Sorry, that’s unfair. But really). I did a deep dive on Maddy’s Instagram account that still exists in the ether and it’s haunting. Suicide is so devastating. Look out for each other.
Oh shit, that was sad. It admittedly took me a long time (too long, I think, hence just 3 stars) to really get into it, but the end got me. It was sad as hell. I think there were a few too many narrators for me and I kept getting a little lost OR unable to really connect with any one character, but the story of family and chosen family and survival was solid. Read this one if you wanna be real sad at the end.
Love love love love loved. Loved. A peculiar premise, but I didn’t even bat an eye while reading. In the story, mutation is an illness (much like, say, cancer) where a person’s body begins the (slow or fast) process of becoming a specific animal (and then often death or release into the wild). The concept and themes are the same — disbelief, fear, grief, loss. The writing is BEAUTIFUL and the storytelling was quick and clever. The story was sweet and heartbreaking. Gah. So glad I finally picked this one up.
My kind of story. Family drama. Four sisters. A story of loss weaved among them. I first started this on audio, but it was SUCH horrible narration that I DNF’d. So glad I picked it up with the eyeball version. Each sister was very messy in her own way, but I felt attached to each of them. Not really any other notes other than I just solidly enjoyed this one.
When I read this for the first time (with my eyeballs) it was an immediate 5-star read. Listened to the audiobook this time — and as I’d heard, it’s SO WELL DONE — but the story felt a little more tedious. Andy Weir’s penchant for inner dialogue storytelling is much more aggressive via audio and I found myself a little less tolerant of it this time around (and REALLY didn’t like it in ARTEMIS). That said, it’s still such a charming story and Rocky remains the very best character among all books. Andy Weir strikes me as someone who likes to hear himself talk so we know how smart he is. That’s probably completely inaccurate and unfair, but I’ve had too much Andy Weir lately between this reread and ARTEMIS. We get it. You understand space. And love neurotic inner monologue. Bless. To be fair, he still writes such user-friendly science fiction. Yes, it’s space. But it’s still a sweet story about friendship at its heart.
Couldn’t get into it. May try again another time.