lizzyjensenn's reviews
119 reviews

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

fast-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

3.5

This really has so much of what you want from a rom com. Great banter, adorable main characters, and something to root for! I loved that we got both of their perspectives, not just Eve’s. I think I’m a Talia Hibbert fan now.

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

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fast-paced

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

2.5

Ok ok I’m actually really sad I didn’t like this book. I don’t think I read the premise through well enough bc I didn’t know the editor/love interest was gonna be a GHOST?! The whole ghosts thing was just not my speed for a romance novel. This book was really unbearably cheesy for me. Luckily the writing itself wasn’t insufferable, so I finished it, but I definitely skipped the final few pages because they were just so corny. And I predicted the ending like forty pages in 😭 I should have know I wasn’t going to love it when I saw the A*i H*zelw**d review on the cover.

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.

I DNF’d this but I had to give it a review because it was driving me up the wall.

First of all, I absolutely cannot stand when authors add indulgent, unnecessary details to lines. Example, “grabbing the oversize canvas bag of groceries” and “costing him a kidney to rent.” Ok??? Why are you including these details? They irritated me because reading them just felt like a waste of my time, and I began skimming over phrases and dialogue because it felt so unnecessary.

Second of all, the entire premise of those book- with DJ’s sister’s life being on the line and in the hands of Trisha- felt so contrived and ineffectual. Like it was just a grab for some sort of emotional stake in the story. I would have much preferred she centered the story around Trisha’s family struggles and her awkward interactions with DJ than this weird plot line of Trisha being the life-saving surgeon. And the details about her family were very unorganized and hard to follow. I understand there was more to be revealed throughout the book, but the foreshadowing was just irritating and made me feel even more unattached to the book as I read through.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.

Having a hard time with the unattached dialogue. Ik that’s the point but I don’t like it. DNF.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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adventurous challenging fast-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

This was a sludgey read for me. The story was still compelling, because it’s the Hunger Games, but Snow’s narrative voice felt fractured and inconsistent. I could tell Collins was trying to present Snow as the evil man he would soon become, but the way she did so just made him seem a bit dull and robotic. Lucy Gray and the Covey were the best part of this book, but the final few pages with her were confusing for me.

I was disappointed because Collins’ writing in the Hunger Games series is quick, sharp, and succinct. There was absolutely no unecessary situations or dialogue. While reading this book, I kept thinking about certain mentions in the narrative in Snow’s head that just felt unecessary and juvenile. This book honestly felt like a second or third draft and not a completed novel- like it was quickly written and published for the sake of the movie that’s coming out soon. It was good, could have been better.

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

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fast-paced