livlaw's reviews
601 reviews

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

Ok straight up i hated Carrie for the first third of this book but damn if that did not get turned around!

I don’t even like tennis but TJR made every game so engaging. What an absolute icon!

New Yorkers: A City and Its People in Our Time by Craig Taylor

adventurous emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Legit loved every page of this book. Whether you like people or not, this is definitely a must-read. 

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe

challenging dark funny informative slow-paced

4.5

Forgot that I was reading this until I pulled out my kindle on a train! Such a great read. Definitely enjoyed some of the pieces more than others, and those ones - I’ll definitely read again. 

This is one of those books that even though I have the ebook, I still want to own the physical version. 

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

1.5

This was a little cringe with no plot or character development... 

"Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power by Jody Wilson-Raybould

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

Suuuper interesting read. Definitely very much her own writing and I honestly found this super powerful. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Well damn this took me a long time to read. It was gentle, slow-going, honest, and emotional. I can see why this is such a classic. I can't believe I'd never read this before, and I definitely already feel a re-read coming before the end of the year.

The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories by Jay Rubin

challenging funny hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I enjoyed a lot of these stories, and also didn't enjoy some of them... That's what happens with short stories!

It definitely introduced me to a collection of authors I hadn't had exposure to before, so I am very excited to find more books :)

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

challenging dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It’s satire it’s satire it’s satire, and it was HAMMERED IN. Everything seemed a little tropey and over the top. At first, I was loving it, but toward the end of the book, I was really dragging myself through to the end. I did like the book, and I think it did what it set out to do effectively. However, I think I was not the target. I did love Mateo Askaripour’s style of writing though, and I definitely will check out whatever he writes next. 

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There are many reviews for this book that call it reductive, but I think that this book had a lot to it. It was quietly haunting, and very visual. I loved the character development, and the story kept me so gripped. 

Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book was like a multiplied, detestations version of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone. It made me tear up so many times. It was so intelligently and thoughtfully written, and I was legit so inspired by the work put in on both ends of the stories. It was a really really tough read. 

It was also really interesting how we learned how the writer approached her patients years later to ask about including them in this book. 

I cannot recommend this book because I believe that before reading this, you need to research the content as this might be the heaviest book I have ever read.