maggies's reviews
599 reviews

The Supper Club by Sophie King

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

2.0

I really struggled with this book. The synopsis seemed promising, but this edition appears to be a re-release of a book from 2008, and while that isn’t that long ago, I think contemporary literature has moved on in lots of ways. These characters do not have much redeeming, and what empathy I might have felt for them was too little, too late—they had already sufficiently annoyed me. To a person, the cast is horrendously judgmental, they lie and cheat on their partners, and they cannot communicate with anyone with love or respect. I was not convinced by the reveals of their various traumas. My biggest compliment is that the narration is wonderfully well done, making it bearable to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Audio UK for providing my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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The Catcher by Kate Raven

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is another that I don't think I can fairly rate - I mostly read it because it was short, but I knew it wasn't going to be for me. I liked the baseball, though! I just think this was a vehicle for twisted SA fantasies and that's...gross. What plot there was didn't make sense, but I suppose if this is what bully romances are, fans of the trope are probably not reading for plot.
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Glitterland by Alexis Hall

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emotional funny 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

5.0

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I went from mildly annoyed with Ash to my heart breaking for him and Darian both. Alexis Hall writes such beautiful characters, flawed and whole and real, and they deserve the world.
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If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

I really took my time with these essays, partially because, like a good meal, they deserve to be savored, and partly because they're also just a lot. This is, of course, a criticism leveled at women early and often, but here I mean it with tenderness. The author shares so much of herself with us—her salty humor, her acidic anger, and her unquenchable hunger—that to fail to see the depths is a disservice.
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Impostor by LiAnne Kay

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

3.0

The time traveling element of this book was interesting but ultimately kind of nonsense, and it made the timeline really hard to follow. On the other hand, it did explain some things from the first two books, so I'll forgive it. As with the other two books, typos and grammar errors were fairly common, but I enjoyed following the development of Sol's self-understanding and the relationship between her and Hector.
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Captive by LiAnne Kay

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

3.0

The whole trilogy is readable but with lots of misspellings and grammar errors. This is probably the weakest of the three, but it's marginal. It suffers from the standard curse of books in the midpoint of a series: it's necessary to set the characters up for the end, but it's just kind of boring. The most relatable part was Sol struggling with who others are telling her she is vs. who she wants to be.
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Betrayer by LiAnne Kay

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

3.0

I flew through this trilogy. It's all very readable, but there are numerous typos and other grammatical errors throughout. This was the best of the three, ending on a cliffhanger. The development of Sol and Gabriel's relationship didn't feel entirely realistic, but we can chalk that up to ✨magic✨. Speaking of, exploring the magic system was fun, but I never quite understood it.
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Viciously Yours by Jamie Applegate Hunter

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I can't fairly give this a star rating because the author's note explicitly states, "Do not take this book too seriously, as it was written to be a fun, quick read," and that's exactly what it is, but it is also bad! Not offensive, mind you, just toxic AF p*rn without plot. If it had been any longer, it wouldn't have been worth it to read. Was pretty much like fanfic. Not sure I'll follow the rest of the series as it's released, but at least it was an easy distraction for the last hour.
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The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

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hopeful lighthearted medium-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? No

4.0

 In a recent episode of If Books Could Kill, Michael Hobbes spoke about how an argument that literacy, writing, and reading is civilizing and important to society is necessarily persuasive to him, a writer, because he already believes this, as a writer. I feel the same about this book, which is at its core about the power of books—to bring people together, to help give meaning to people’s lives, to open our eyes and our worlds—an argument to which I already subscribe. Very much speaking to the choir here. 
 
We meet Maggie as someone who claims she doesn’t like reading; she just doesn’t get it. Quickly, however, (maybe too quickly?) she’s transformed! She’s a reader now: she just needed to find the right motivation, the right books, the right bookish community! And oh, what a community. The cast of characters is diverse and engaging, quirky in their small town ways. Ralph is a great, if at times cartoonish, villain as well. I love to hate him. The story was remarkably stressful between the lies and deceit and breaking and entering, for a light book it’s definitely thrilling. There are many ways I don’t relate to Maggie, the most obvious being her extroversion, but I still found her charming and enjoyed following her journey. 
 
The first rule of Book Club is: you do not talk about Book Club. The second rule of Book Club is: you do not talk about Book Club!
 
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Gracie's Mom by Misty Walker

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Maybe age gap isn’t for me? The spice was spicing when I could forget the cringey age gap and daughter’s best friend element! Plot was so-so, but that’s not really the reason we read these books, is it?
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