la_bookish_belle's reviews
16 reviews

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I absolutely love this book thanks to Haley Pham! This book was so sweet and all the movie and music recommendations made it feel interactive. I loved Liz, she is such a cool girl. And Wes is so boyish and and likeable. I appreciate that this was a sweet, closed-door romance.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I felt that both Nora and Charlie were relateable. Nora was a rather complex charachter that was navigating her hero/big sister complex, her self-esteem and self-worth, and navigating her comfort zone as a woman in her 30's. I thought the book was brilliant.

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

emotional funny sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

This book was really good! It makes you wonder if guys really are as genuine and emotionally in-tune as Ben is. I loved the concept of meeting up for an annual date night and that

they got to experience life on their own by age 23. and the way they brought it back around to Ben with the fire was WILD

!!

The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

adventurous mysterious tense

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

3.75

I have mixed feelings about this book. Avery not being the center of this book was a challenge. While Jameson's portion of the story was much more detailed and thrilling, this book defintely solidified my lover for Grayson. The way he

swooped in an took care of his sisters and their mother and tried to protect them from info that would hurt them

was so on brand for him. It was kinda hard to get thru this book but towards the last third of the book, it turned out to be a nice little side story.

The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

Don't get me wrong, I do love this series. But I felt like this book was more of a Part 2 to The Hawthorne Legacy and not really a standalone third installment. Some of the auxilary characters were annoying. The book moved slowly and the end to come down to

a chess game (although, that was a full circle moment from when Toby and Avery used to play chess when she was younger) was kind of a let down to the series

.  Love the cover art as usual.

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was a great sequel! The race to

find Toby

was so exciting and I loved everything we learned about

Avery's Mom's

background and her connections to the Hawthorne's. Great character development.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Growing up reading A Series of Unfortunate Events, I was definitely down to read another inheritance based story! I love Avery and the boys, I love their dynamic and all the intricate details. Great book!

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved the back and forth timeline of this book and I loved that there was a Jeremiah POV from time to time.

The loss of Susanna’s was so sad and to see how Conrad was treating Belly was hard to read.

A lot of great emotion portrayed in the book. Belly matured so much in this one. Nice to see a little more of Taylor and find out that she really does love Belly a lot.

Beat Parts:  Jeremiah is so deserving of belly. I loved the flashback when you saw how Jeremiah always wanted to make his mom happy and how he stayed home with belly when she was sick. And of course

those brief moments where her and Conrad were in a relationship and things were going good, like when he snuck her off to Cousins in the middle of the night

. I love this series!

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Belly is so relatable and unapologetically young and inexperienced. It’s refreshing. You get strong summer vibes from this book. I love how you find out how sweet Jeremiah is and how close him and belly are.

Susanna getting sick again is heartbreaking, but the underlying tune about grief and loss is done tastefully

and balances the love triangle.

Beat Parts:  I loved the part in the beginning when the boys see her for the first time and see that she looks different and are checking her out. It’s like a right of passage for every teenage girl and gave me butterflies in my stomach. I loved her sweet moments with

Cam Cameron, a true Gentleman.

.

The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When annotating this book, my tabs were:

• Light Blue: Georgia & Noah
• Light Pink: Scarlett & Jameson
• Burgundy: Quotes
• Navy Blue: Sad

All I can say is Noah's persistence was charming, Jameson's love for Scarlett was unreal, and

the twist at the end with the bombing and catching the plane with the baby and the identities of Scarlett vs Constance

was *chef's kiss* I really enjoyed the story. In the end the book was a little long and could have been shorter.