Scan barcode
lanidon's reviews
1780 reviews
Wake Up, Nat & Darcy by Kate Cochrane
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
DNF halfway
This seems to circle the same points over and over and over. I simply couldn't hear about the beep test, or how Natalie is still in game shape, or how Darcy works hard for everything she gets, or how Natalie thinks she's the only athlete that's ever had to retire. "I don't miss the beep test, but I miss being in game shape like Natalie, but I've worked hard to get where I am. Beep test. Beep test. Beep test." I couldn't do it anymore.
Also, if someone is signing up for a book about women in their thirties, please don't make explicit sex scenes of them together in their teens. I didn't want young college romance, I wanted fully formed women (not that these characters feel mature in their thirties). Show me their past, fine, but I don't need details on baby gay sex life
This seems to circle the same points over and over and over. I simply couldn't hear about the beep test, or how Natalie is still in game shape, or how Darcy works hard for everything she gets, or how Natalie thinks she's the only athlete that's ever had to retire. "I don't miss the beep test, but I miss being in game shape like Natalie, but I've worked hard to get where I am. Beep test. Beep test. Beep test." I couldn't do it anymore.
Also, if someone is signing up for a book about women in their thirties, please don't make explicit sex scenes of them together in their teens. I didn't want young college romance, I wanted fully formed women (not that these characters feel mature in their thirties). Show me their past, fine, but I don't need details on baby gay sex life
Gaslight by Sara Shepard, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
The Twice-Sold Soul by Katie Hallahan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
This book is very odd as it feels like the sequel to a nonexistent first story. I think the author was going for "mystery slowly unveiled in flashbacks" but landed somewhere closer to "walking in on season two of the show your roommate is watching." The present is simply not very compelling and I don't want to read the teen drama of the past, so I'm dropping it
I also can't stand the constant snarky, smirking voice of the narration. Would it kill people to be sincere for once? If you think your story is a joke, why should I take it seriously?
I also can't stand the constant snarky, smirking voice of the narration. Would it kill people to be sincere for once? If you think your story is a joke, why should I take it seriously?
Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu
5.0
I have never found a story that so thoroughly captures my experience. I was a sick kid with a cryptic illness, just like the mc, and I too went through many doctors before anyone figured out what was wrong with me. This is such a beautiful story because it is so honest and raw about the middle school experience PLUS how isolating and scary it is to not know what's wrong with you, to be told you're making it up. Hidden disabilities and chronic illnesses really do feel like a haunting spectre trying to steal your body. I feel like I'm holding hands with this author through the pages and giving them a little squeeze, it feels nice to be understood
Attached At The Hip by Christine Riccio
4.0
This manages to do what many romances cannot: have both a compelling plot AND romance. The show concept at the core of this is so good that I'm mad it's not real. Some of the story is way over the top, but hey so is reality TV. I feel like this book would hold to really well if the romance elements were removed entirely and I think that points to a really solid construction. I love the way the romance ties in to the MC's personal struggles of finding herself and gaining independence. I love how friendship feels just as important as love. This was simply thoroughly enjoyable. My only complaint is how cringey and complacent the mc is, but honestly I remember being 23, hoping someone would lay out a clear path for your life, and forming your personality from media you enjoy rather than intrinsic qualities. She'll grow out of it and hopefully only kinda regret her back full of tattooed quotes....
Streetlight People by Charlene Thomas
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
I think this is trying to capture a Raven Boys vibe and that's simply not my thing. I like stories that mess with timelines, but not when the only events on the timeline are teen melodrama
Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton
1.0
What's the point of this? What is it trying to say? I'm all for more whimsy and art and joy in the world, but if finding it for yourself makes everyone else in your life miserable and lost, well then you've done a net negative for the world. Have fun on your great adventure while everyone who loves you mourns? Find your bliss by flaking out on others and making their lives more stressful? Follow your dreams meanwhile your best friend loses her mind and relapses in desperate search for any trace of you? Art is meant to be shared, not hidden away and burned while leaving a trail of suffering in your wake...
A River of Golden Bones by A.K. Mulford
4.0
The core of this book is a very beautiful, nuanced meditation on identity and gender both as an individual and I'm the context of society, but then there's this gloss of basic romantasy overtop that feels like it hinders the impact of the total package. It's like putting a candy coating on a beautiful, crisp apple and turning it sickly sweet and hard to bite into. I enjoy romance and, in fact, I enjoyed this romance, yet the gratuitous sex pulled focus from the lovely ripe fruit of story.
My one actual qualm with the story that really bugged me is that in the end
Calla's badge on left on the wagon is a fox, a symbol of Grae's vision of her. So much of the story is about finding and redefining herself outside of the people and society she was raised with, only to go and decide the only single image to mark her new life is someone else's image of her. Calla is more than Grae's little fox mate, so Calla should have a unique symbol
My one actual qualm with the story that really bugged me is that in the end
Calla's badge on left on the wagon is a fox, a symbol of Grae's vision of her. So much of the story is about finding and redefining herself outside of the people and society she was raised with, only to go and decide the only single image to mark her new life is someone else's image of her. Calla is more than Grae's little fox mate, so Calla should have a unique symbol