maksbookishthings's reviews
40 reviews

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

I was really captivated by Page’s assortment of life events and experience finding his identity and coming to a place of self-acknowledgement. As a former fan of the umbrella academy it was interesting learning more about Elliot’s life prior to the way I was introduced to him as an actor!

Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed this read (as an avid Becky Albertalli fan!) I found the end game relationships to be cute and this was an easy, lighthearted read for me. The only hindrance was I felt there could have been a bit more expansion on the codependency between Kate and Anderson within their friendship since that was what created the conflict to begin with!

Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.0

I wasn’t necessarily super let down here, just thought I was in for more of a fluffy read than it was! I found Marvin and Olan’s relationship to be lacking some maturity and proper development, but not sure if I would contribute that to just general pacing or just not enjoying the sort of fast-fall dynamic of their relationship. Also found some of the overt pop culture references to be a little cringe.

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this listen! Alice Oseman constructs characters so beautifully and in this instance, I particularly loved the way she constructed the personas of the boys in the Arc. Their relationships to one another felt so human and sincere, and I loved discovering their decline into human issues like mental illness and insecurity/paranoia.

I initially didn’t love Angel or her family dynamics but she did grow on me a bit more throughout the novel

Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany

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informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

I enjoyed a lot of the various references throughout historical fandom cultures, as well as the discussion of diversity and theory in fandoms. However I felt it was a bit of a mixed bag? At some points when reading I felt like there was little to no direction and it was very spontaneous in it’s order and flow.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is a bit of a long term placeholder in my TBR, and I know I’m late to the party on this book and it being my first VE Schwab read, but boy was it an immense treat!

The depth and volume of build in the flashback scenes building up to the current timeline, the warmth in Addie’s romance with Henry (as well as his revealed backstory and “curse”) was beautiful.

Going to be so honest I literally only could not make it a 5/5 because I physically cringed at that part where Addie is encouraging Henry and says that “Life feels long sometimes” or something along those lines, but otherwise this novel was absolutely breathtaking.

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

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emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I came into this book hoping for a cheesy high school style romance, and most of that expectation was satisfyingly met! Maybe it’s just my outlook but I honestly felt so annoyed and frustrated with Scotty (Scottie?) for a majority of this listen, she was a hard to enjoy character for the most part for me and I would have enjoyed more if this perhaps was from Irene’s perspective 🩷 otherwise enjoyed for what it was!

Content Warnings