maddness22's reviews
715 reviews

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

adventurous slow-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? Yes

4.75

Hey this was fun! I had fun! This was just a good ole classic YA fantasy with some solid romance (with an unnecessary love triangle to boot) and fun action. I'm a sucker for superhero stories so this was a fun take on the genre and I actually very much enjoyed all of the characters. The female lead is probably the best I've read in recent YA fantasies too. I had some issues with the pacing but meh. It all worked out in the end and I very much enjoyed the adventure along the way. 

Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who's Been There by Tara Schuster

challenging emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

3.25

The "super cool older sister" voice was welcomed at first, especially for this season of my life, but got somewhat grating about halfway through. I did love the raw honesty presented in the novel and it was validating to know someone could also recover from an emotionally dysregulated, messy life. There's not a lot of new material in the self-help parts and seems to be largely dependent on active journaling practices, but again if you want to be validated on your self help journey and need to be told that everything will be okay eventually then this is a great read. 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

4.25

Not a bad little read. I'm not going to lie, Tom Hanks narrating this nostalgic book about the history of one family and their overpriced house was really incredibly cozy. It's pretentious at times and Danny is an insufferable privileged white man whining about nothing while doing nothing about his life but it was a comfortable audiobook to settle into at night or on walks with my dog. Not my usual taste, but my brother listened to it for some reason so I wanted to talk about it with him. 

To Sir Phillip, with Love by Julia Quinn

emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

Goodreads is way too mean to Phillip. Eloise is definitely dragged through it babysitting this emotionally unavailable man and teaching him how to feel emotions in a safe capacity, but Phillip is just doing his best here. Plus Eloise is a delight. I loved her personality and how she interacts with the kids. There are moments that definitely don't age well for our modern times, but I very much enjoyed this audiobook and had a fun time with it. 

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Did not finish book. Stopped at 3%.

I'm going to read this one day. But two library holds unexpectedly hit so I've gotta pause this while I'm still early in the game 

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.

This cast is way too big and the rich people are barely being made fun of. It might be better as an audiobook, like Crazy Rich Asians, because I absolutely cannot wrap my head around all of these fancy people with their fancy names. 

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

God this was so incredibly devastating. Such a brutal way to write about war with so many twists and jaw-dropping moments. The writing here is incredible and the characters' dynamics are so well done despite everyone being cruel and morally gray in their own corrupted ways. What a formidable trilogy and incredible conclusion to such a dark, violent, and cruel narrative about war. I'm so glad nothing was sugar-coated but damn it hurt. 

The Love Prescription: 7 Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy by John Gottman, Julie Schwartz Gottman

informative lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

4.5

I was mostly interested in this because of how short and quick it was (only 4 hours as an audiobook) and was relatively impressed with the amount of useful information was packed into such a short read! I thought all of the tips and tricks were well articulated and made sense to me for growing romantic relationships. I'm actually excited to see that this series has other additions for stress and sleep because the way this information was delivered was so succinct and well done. 

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

I'm pretty convinced that if Tessa Bailey published in ~2010 rather than ~2020, all of her covers would be those airbrushed eight pack boys rather than cutesy cartoons. Anyways, this was enjoyable. I enjoyed the dynamic between the leads and they were definitely pretty spicy about their connection. I'm not typically a fan of the overprotective trope, but I actually enjoyed Burgess's take on it. I wish it had more of the actual au pair relationship with the daughter fleshed out but the snippets we saw were pretty cute. I absolutely zoned out and zoomed through that third act tho. Super unnecessary. 

100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships and Success by Liz Moody

hopeful informative reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.0

This is pretty much an all in one self-help guide that manages to offer some solid practical advice in each nugget of an essay. I read this from cover to cover as a library loan, but I could see it being more beneficial as a bathroom reader or reference guide that can be easily picked up again. There's a ton of self-promo for her podcast, which is surprisingly fine because it's used pretty much in tandem with the research she performed for the book. All in all, not a bad self-help to pick up and leaf through if you're looking for an easy guide to improving bits of your life that isn't going to be too overwhelming or emotionally taxing. 

Also this took me entirely too long to read given how quick the essays are. I got busy over the weekend!