maddness22's reviews
715 reviews

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

challenging dark tense 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

1.5

I think I really took one for the team on this one, folks. There's just so much going on in this book. We have the absolutely dismal writing style and awkward pacing, dialogue fresh from a Jane Austen novel despite being set in early 2010's Seattle (at one point the two college kids say their men are "beguiled" with them), we have Ana Steele who was born and raised in a dark box away from society only to emerge as Christian Grey's perfect blank slate of a "partner" (I use less than polite terms in private company), we have Christian Grey who would be an absolute cringe incel if he wasn't so rich and handsome, and then we have SO MUCH lip biting, so many elevators, and SO MANY uses of the word "taciturn" that is never quite used correctly. 

The truly compelling aspect of this novel, which absolutely was not this novel's intention, was how Ana was so easily manipulated into an abusive relationship. This is textbook emotional (and towards the end, physical) abuse and I was physically screaming about how controlling Christian was regarding her boundaries and personal life choices. She endured a ton of this abuse on the concept of "but I love him and he's the only man I ever loved" and how he was nice to her some of the time which is so incredibly toxic but so realistic to how folks can end up in these situations. 

I would honestly give this book 2 stars because parts of it were still kinda fun and funny, especially out of context, but I was truly disturbed by the end of the book about how dark and controlling Christian became with FULL APPROVAL from everyone in Ana's life. Not a single soul stepped in to offer any meaningful guidance, aside from maaaaaaybe Kate who conveniently disappeared as soon as the getting got tough. 

Gross, awful, and poorly written. Worth all of the hate given to it.

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell

informative reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.25

Wow this lady really likes birds. I enjoyed the explorations about how our need to do something is corrupting our attention spans and ruining our communities and chances at connection. I also enjoyed the criticism of homogenized content due to the "personalized" feeds from social media that fail to allow us to explore new content and discover new interests. It's a great call to pay more mindful attention to the world around us despite some clear privileges required to do so. 

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans
Did not finish book. Stopped at 71%.

Repetitive and really only beneficial if you're not already self-obsessed with self-improvement. Most of the practices seemed to be built around recognizing areas for improvement/support rather than actually building those areas 

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

Super quick read! I loved the cozy setting and the bittersweet nature of the characters' lives. There's clearly a lot of love and heart written for the characters. I wish it was just a tad bit longer and more in-depth but the shorter nature of the book and heartfelt story makes this feel like a good cup of espresso meant to be savored while reading. 

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

adventurous emotional funny tense 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

I always love Christina Lauren and this book is no exception, but goodness this has a lot more heavy family drama than I initially expected. It's also very business and inheritance law heavy which makes some sections drag. But! I loved, loved, LOVED Anna! She was seriously so fun and funny and I loved how easily she took everything in stride. The escapist island fantasy with infinite money was also pretty fun to dive into for a summer read. The spicy scenes were pretty smokey too and the chemistry between the leads was straight on fire. 

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

funny hopeful inspiring slow-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

4.75

What a delight! I enjoyed all of the characters and the in-depth storyline. This was an incredibly expansive world that offers a huge amount of empathy. This was also one of the funniest books I've listened to all year. The chapter about Elijah reading the Rivals and Lovers book had me dying laughing. In fact, all of the kids/teens featured in the story were an absolute delight and so well written. The ending drags for a bit and is a bit heavy handed, but overall I loved this book about banned books and the ways they could influence a community and people. Highly recommend!

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.5

A reading experience absolutely outside of all of my expectations. I didn't expect to read the entire thing in one sitting or feel the emotions that I felt while reading it. It's a lot darker and more sad than I thought it was going to be but damn that conclusion absolutely sells the point of the narrative. It's probably going to be a novel I'm going to ruminate for ages on and all of the different nuances experienced by the narrator in her incredibly messed up year. 

One of the more accurate portrayals of depression that I've read, honestly, with both the good and bad of it too because there is a certain peace with the isolation that this book captures well in between the bits of absolute dark chaos and void-feelings. This was a lot in a good way. 

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Did not finish book. Stopped at 49%.

Hmmmm not for me. The spicy scenes give me the ick and I enjoy Teen Wolf, but not enough to read pages of fake lore about a fake knockoff version of it. 

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.

I'm just really not interested in this Poppy War without the edge knockoff. Plus another library hold came in so I'm okay DNF-ing it. Especially after reading the reviews where it apparently turns out to be a colonizer romance (gross)

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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

4.5

This was great!! I actually loved the age gap dynamic and I'm always a sucker for a well written small town setting. Daniel absolutely didn't deserve half the crap he went through, but it was so charming that I was sold on the happy ending anyways. The antagonists are a bit heavy handed at times, but they deliver an excellent dose of conflict to the narrative. Pretty dang good romance! I'm excited to read her other stuff!