lyric82's reviews
41 reviews

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

It’s so weird for me to give this a rating at all because I feel like it’s her actual life story, who am I to rate that? But this is a book that you can finish in one sitting, or take it in over a few sessions. At first, it’s full of nostalgia because she is describing from her perspective events that all of us millennials and older remember. Then she goes into all the things we want to know about. The conservatorship. It’s heartbreaking. I will always be cheering this woman on. She has so many thoughts and feelings that are so relatable, and also not at the same time. But you can really get a feel of what it was like through her eyes. Wish her the best, always.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

5.0

Well then. That was intense. Broke my heart at the end there, but only as a beautiful, well told novel can do. Going into this, you must know it is bleak, and challenging. It feels slow at times, and it is disturbing at times. But the way it comes together at the end, well I guess I know why Cormac McCarthy is such a celebrated writer. If you can handle a dark story, it’s absolutely worth it.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.

Seems good, but dealing with illness and holidays made it hard to get into the book

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
Did not finish book. Stopped at 36%.

I HATED the narration. The stupid cat was made to meow shrill and ridiculously loud. Pulled me right out of the book each time. I have the book on hold at the library to finish reading myself, but this audio book is awful due to the narrator 

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

3.5

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book and was impressed with the author’s writing. While reading the very first pages, I could not help but to pause and google the author. I was shocked to learn that this is her first book. It remained well written from the first page until the last. I enjoyed the story, but felt at times that it was meandering a bit too much. I knew what was coming, essentially, from very early on. That did not ruin the story for me, but I did feel that the author could have easily added just a bit more adrenaline to the story. Adrenaline that would have served well to keep me motivated to turn the pages. Adrenaline that could have easily been formed by the characters and the story that she had already created. So I felt a bit disappointed that she didn’t take those opportunities. But I did enjoy her writing and the characters. I look forward to seeing what she writes in the future. 

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a fun read. There were a few twists I did not see coming, and when I got to the last page, I was slightly disappointed that the story had ended. There were parts of the book that really made me think of the nature of life itself, and parts of the book that felt like a giant puzzle. 

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book definitely scared me. The pacing varied, but once the scary stuff started, it did continue all the way until the end. There are flaws, and minor annoyances, but as far as a horror novel goes, all are forgiven. This book definitely did what it set out to do and I will happily read another book by this author in the future.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I always thought, we’ll I saw the movie so really no need to read the book. 

Well let me just say, Hollywood took more than it’s fair share of liberties. Really, the only thing the two versions have in common is the title. 

Regardless of what you think of the movie, I think the book is absolutely worth a shot.

I found the story to be immersive and it was a very fast, read in one sitting type of book I enjoyed it very much.