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laurawoods13's reviews
71 reviews
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content
Moderate: Death
Minor: Car accident
Beach Read by Emily Henry
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Infidelity
Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book cannot figure out when it takes place. It was published in 2020 (and shows a campaign slogan with 2020) but does not read like a book from this decade. What 23-year-old man uses the word “pocketbook”? There were a lot of instances of characters using old fashioned dialogue/phrases/metaphors and it wasn’t believable. Maybe 1 or 2 characters, but not ALL of them. The main character also kept making rude remarks about “millennials” when she’s literally in her 30s and is literally a millennial herself. It couldn’t have been more apparent that the author is clearly old herself and shouldn’t try to write books about young people. And what’s with the three different plots? Dead congressman for 3/4 of the book, and then we just want to throw in an attempted abduction/rape/murder, and the subsequent murder of that person by a mysterious radio DJ wanted for hit and run DUI murder, who is also killed in the process. Pick a plot and stick to it. Finally I felt like the ending was rushed and didn’t properly wrap up the case that she was working on for 400 pages. And it didn’t feel it was earned. Ending was disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Stalking
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility and Miscarriage
Moderate: Death
Minor: Car accident and Infidelity
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
Courageously You: Magical Mind Games to Get Unstuck and Reignite Your Joy by Colleen Vanderzyden
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Car accident, Animal death, Infertility, Child death, and Cancer
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
WAY too many characters and most of them suck so I didn’t really care about them. Also too many little details that add nothing to the story. It picked up in the second half, but you were following multiple stories and nothing feels properly resolved. Don’t want to waste my time on the sequels so will just have to read a summary to know what happened with the characters.
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.0
A bit slow to get into but overall a really moving story with a lot of interesting characters. I wish the writing style had been different though, as it jumped around A LOT and we kept being given information we really didn’t need, so it became hard to follow the story at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent and Panic attacks/disorders
Beginner's Luck by Kate Clayborn
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This was honestly pretty boring to read. The synopsis makes it seem like the lottery win is a plot point in the book but it’s really not. At times it just felt like you were reading about a financially comfortable character, not someone who was supposedly a “millionaire.” On top of that she was pretty unlikeable, and never gave any believable reasons why she had no interest in the company in Texas, other than an insistence that she create a “home” for herself. And the whole storyline with River was totally random and didn’t add anything to the overall story.