ladybirder's reviews
429 reviews

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Good Girl by Piper Lawson

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lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Actually thought this was a good slow burn romance with an interesting background story until I got to the end and discovered that's it's an unbelievably disappointing money-grab. 
True Story by Kate Reed Petty

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

4.5

News from Nowhere: A Facsimile Edition by William Morris

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
I'm halfway through the infodump chapters and finding it hard to concentrate. I know it's a common trope of books written in a certain time period, but it's lazy storytelling.
Demonic Prince by Karen Kincy

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0.5

Take a shot every time she says "I'm a dragon"
Spare by Prince Harry

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informative slow-paced

2.0

My first and probably last royal biog. 

Some parts were interesting e.g. how funding is allocated amongst the royals, how little power any of them have and how petty the direct heirs are. Despite Harry's admittance to his past mistakes (Nazi-gate etc), he comes off as an absolute saint which I find hard to believe, but is the way biographies always tend to be really. 

Too much todger though. 
Dark Escapes by Effie Campbell

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adventurous dark fast-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? No

4.0

And so begins my interest in smutty romance.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted sad 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? Yes

4.5

This was so enjoyable! The writing is very subtly stylised in a way that reminds me of the patter of a 1960s American infomercial. 
I loved every character, especially the dog (I would die for him). I didn't want it to end. I'm recommending this to everyone. 

Would pair with an ice cold Rosé.
Animal Farm by George Orwell

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I felt like I was being lectured by someone who thinks I know nothing about politics/economics/sociology etc. 

The description and development of Mollie is apparently supposed to represent the petit bourgeoisie that fled from Russia a few years after the Russian Revolution...but it also left me wondering what Orwell's opinion of women in general was. 
The Billionaire's Fake Wife by L. Steele

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.
Literally the worst book I have ever read. 

The title is a spoiler in my opinion - they're was no mention of marriage at the point I gave up, but there was more and lots and lots of build up to a "plan" of some sort. I wonder what it is?

The characters are apparently British and this is proven with overuse of the word "bloody" where much stronger language would be more appropriate, as well as insults like "nincompoop" during a scene which is basically assault (I've never understood books with graphic sex scenes that shy away from strong language in other contexts). 

The female lead is broke due to medical bills. In London. 

Any scene with dialogue makes absolutely no sense - I have a feeling you're supposed to rely on knowledge of romance tropes to grope your way through these (pardon the pun). A lot of these scenes ends in weird slapstick/meet-cute moments which are beyond cringeworthy. 

Do not rec.