mari_c's reviews
10 reviews

The Rivals by Jane Pek

I wish more had been resolved, especially with her family :/ that being said I did enjoy this sequel

Jane Pek once again forces us to think about the ethical concerns surrounding the tech industry

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

This was an interesting concept for a mystery! I enjoyed  the commentary on dating apps, the tech industry, and AI! I do wish there were less subplots because it felt like there was too much going on and I had a hard time keeping track. I'd have to go back and reread sections to remember what was being referenced. The cliffhanger has me excited to read the second book.

Copies in Seconds: How a Lone Inventor and an Unknown Company Created the Biggest Communication Breakthrough Since Gutenberg--Chester Car by David Owen

Read this because Chester Carlson grew up in San Bernardin . I learned a lot, but most of the science went over my head. 

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

I liked it at first because I thought the book's concept was cool, but it just kind of dragged and went nowhere. I kept hoping it would get better. 

Interesting Facts about Space by Emily Austin

The protagonist in this book and in Austin's other book, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, are really similar. Like with EITRWSBD, it was the mystery element that held my interest and kept me reading but I really don't have strong feelings about this book either way. It was okay. I don't know if I'll read another Austin book since she seems to write the same type of character/story.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

i liked the main characters and the story overall! i dont usually gravitate toward fantasy but this book had a good balance between the fantasy and other plot points. the romance was cute too! 

there were some things I didn't love about the writing, like some of the language was a little repetitive. also I feel like a common thing that happens with latinx representation is latinx/chicanx cultures get boiled down to loving selena, eating hot chips, and being threatened with a chancla.... :/ idk...I don't love that  

I will say I have to reread the print version at some point because I have trouble following/paying attention to audiobooks and I think I might have missed some of the details

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

All of the characters are awful not just flawed. I find it disconcerting when authors use casual racism and derogatory language towards other marginalized communties to show that their main character is a bad person. Greta's character was guilty of this. I'm also curious which parts of the story other readers were finding humorous. The story itself felt like it dragged on and led nowhere. I've been on a journey to read more lesbian/sapphic fiction, and, overall, this book was deeply disappointing. I wish I had listened to myself and DNFd it. 

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.

I got about halfway through and skipped to the end because it felt like it was going nowhere. I scrolled through the reviews and read spoilers and it seems like none of the questions I have get answered.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

I have a lot of issues with this book, but I'll start with the writing. It didn't read like a book for adults. I didn't enjoy the way the dialog was written, and it was really repetitive. The romance between Linus and Arthur didn't feel like it was fleshed out particularly well. I also feel like the story didn't need to be as long as it was. Like other readers said, the story lacked depth and the meaning was spoon-fed to readers.

Since reading the book, I've also learned the author was inspired by the 60s scoop. He claims that he didn't want to co-opt a real historical event, which has had lasting consequences into the present day, but did he not do that anyway?

The combination of this book's naive message that love conquers all, even systemic issues, the author being inspired to write a fantasy based on the 60s scoop, and the bad writing made this a book I can't get behind.

Let Me Be Frank: A Book About Women Who Disguised Themselves As Men to Do Shit They Weren't Supposed to Do by Tracy Dawson

Good information, but I didn't like the writing style and found it distracting at times.