maddijean's reviews
319 reviews

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

3.0

 I really, really enjoyed this such an interesting take on women's societal roles in the 1950s. The concept was amazing and it was a great book to read with a book club, because discussion questions were endless! 

It's One of Us by J.T. Ellison

2.5

 Tell me you have a breeding kink, without telling me you have a breeding kink..... I mean jeez. I struggled listening to this and am surprised I didn't get into a car crash because I rolled my eyes so much. 

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

4.0

 SOBBING, the end of this book ruined me! I was on a trip with my mom and we listened to this in the car and she asked me at one point if I needed to pull over and have her drive because I was crying so hard. If you have any pet at all, this is sure to hit you in the feels. It was a bit slow paced at the beginning but the cast of characters you meet along the way are fun to get to know. I loved the perspective of Nana, the cat, it made me laugh a lot hearing the inner dialogue of a cat who definitely didn't think they relied on their human. This is exactly how my cat's inner dialogue would be hahaha 

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

3.0

 I really wanted to love this as much as his others, but I struggled hard. I actually changed my star rating for Under the Whispering Door to a 4 because I liked that one way more than this one. But this wasn't bad either, hence the 3 star, I just didn't feel the magic like I normally do with his books. I thought the characters were fun but I wasn't prepared for a (spoiler alert) government take down. I was excited for another cozy read about friendship. I wished they would have stayed in the treehouse home the whole time because it was such a charming setting. Idk just wasn't my favorite 

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

3.0

 A very interesting listen, I want to read the other sister's memoirs as well to get more perspectives. She seemed to still be under the spell of how she was raised a little bit. She seemed to only hold accountability from the leaders of the IBLP church and her father, but non for her mom. She doesn't speak much about Josh but when she does it felt like she was putting the blame on IBLP and her dad again. The hold that Jim Bob had/has on his children's finances is just disgusting. I don't think that she will every fully be able to see her mom's role in enabling this and obviously still holds some very conservative views that I think are really problematic. If you were a viewer of the show like I was, it is a very interesting listen 

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

3.0

This was pretty cute, I definitely didn't love it as much as the first two but still really enjoyed this adventure and the cast of characters. I had heard that this was not everyone's favorite so I was kind of prepared and I think it helped me just enjoy the story a bit more without expectations. 

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

4.0

This was so honest and vulnerable. He discusses his long struggle with addiction and mental health, his rise to fame, as well as the struggles that came with that, and his struggle keeping relationships. I was sometimes put off by his ego and some things that he recalls thinking he deserved due to his fame. But I appreciated his honesty and vulnerability so much, as most people writing their memoir would not admit to ever being anything but a nice person with no ego. It was very strange reading this after his death and I was not aware of how much and how long he struggled with his addiction. Overall, I enjoyed this listen and would recommend to anyone who enjoys a memoir and Friends! 

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

4.0

I originally gave this a 3/5 stars but after discussing with my book club I bumped it up to 4/5 because I realized how many characters I truly loved and how much the ending made up for the rest of the book for me. The first 70% of this is suppppeeerrrrr slow. The pacing of the writing is really hard to get into and I really struggled to find the motivation to read this. However, about 50% of the way in I noticed a similar cadence to Wes Anderson movies, in that, the matter of fact, info dumpy, way this was written could be seen as humorous. Once I started reading this more humorously I was able to enjoy it more, whereas the beginning felt like a chore. I also feel that the attention grabber in the beginning of finding a skeleton after the hurricane was misleading as it made my think there would be this whole mystery and secret aspect of the book and it was disappointing in the end. 
All that said, the stars of this book were really Chona, Dodo and Monkey Pants, I was pushing through to get to their storylines and especially at the end was just so invested and emotional. Even though some of the characters seem to be irrelevant to the story it all comes together at the end and you understand their connections.

Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

2.0

 This is my first Penelope Douglas book and I expected nothing less hahahhaha I don't know if I can get down with an age gap that isn't set in a fantasy world or at least an age gap where it isn't mentioned every other sentence haha like seriously why did he keep saying that she was in high school recently. The rest of the story was fine I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea and I really wasn't expecting to wait so long for them to get together, if you know what I mean. Alsooooo why do they need to get married and have babies?? and if you are wanting to know what will immediately bring down a rating it is a man talking about "her bud" in terms of the baby he put inside her. My final thoughts will be.... Loofah..... Irish Spring Soap... hahahhahah 

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

4.0

 Very intriguing story! It kept my attention the whole way through and so many things happened! I am excited to watch the show!