lizflynn's reviews
778 reviews

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

3.0

Eh, I liked the first one better. The Mal and Alina relationship is so claustrophobic. 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

Hooking for Trouble by Betty Hechtman

lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.0

Eh…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, Medical content, and Grief

Normal People by Sally Rooney

challenging emotional lighthearted reflective sad

4.5

 I love getting wrecked by some good literature. Normal People gave me what I was hungry for: an intimate look into someone else’s life that has been abstracted and allows me to reflect on some larger themes. Practically speaking, the relationship between Marianne and Connell is awful. Wow they literally just never truly speak to each other. But I wasn’t personally reading this book for the practicality. 

Rooney’s writing is deceptively simple, conveying so much with what is not said by either her or her characters. I love that. I love when an author can capture a feeling, an urge, a longing in so many words. This whole book made me feel like I was 23 again, sitting at a tiny sunlit table somewhere quiet, looking out the window at the 3pm summer sun, feeling melancholy.

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

funny lighthearted

3.0

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I like to read books without really reading the synopsis, so I had no idea this book took place during *the situation* of 2020. I also didn’t know I was ready to read a book about this time in our collective lives. Turns out, Erdrich’s incredibly profound writing led me through without a hitch. We follow Tookie, a woman with her own private ghosts who ends up being haunted by a literal ghost in the bookshop she works in. I loved how self-referential Erdrich is in this story. The fictional bookstore owner is named Louise, the bookstore has a blue door like Erdrich’s real-life store, etc. This book is about the ghosts we carry around with us, and how one fictional character navigated the pandemic and the social reckoning of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. It was difficult to read at times, but worth it.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.0

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

challenging emotional reflective sad

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia