megansmith's reviews
201 reviews

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? N/A

4.75

I really loved this! It was such a well done, cozy read and i flew through most of it in one day today. Very well done and I look forward to the second book. 

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

adventurous hopeful informative lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

3.25

This was honestly fine, and quaint. I wasn’t 100% engaged, i felt myself drifting off sometimes. Other times, i really loved what i was reading. I think this is a pretty lighthearted book and itd probably be best as an audio book with the links site up on your phone when hes talking about certain art. 

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Gosh I feel so torn on this. I don’t think this lived up to the hype but it was a really intriguing premise. The writing is strong and mysterious, i felt like i was in a dream myself for most of this book.

Ironically for “the book of love”, i felt very few deep connections to the main characters and there was very little love shared between them. Just because they fucked a lot doesnt mean they love each other! Idk all the back and forth in the relationships of hate and then “love” felt so flat to me and I wanted the characters to be much more genuine with each other if they swear these relationships were so real. Then again they are teenagers, so should I be surprised?

Also, the ending.

It felt like they just got the magical “wow we suddenly found a good solution and it worked” treatment, like tell me why it took 600+ pages to build up to a pretty clean and sacrifice free ending? For a book built on “2 win 2 die” i expected some more give and take other than Ruth, but they make Susannah taking over the realm seem like a fun side gig she can dip on whenever she wants.

Also, last note, any book over like 500 pages should be outlawed. This is no exception. It didnt prove it was worth the long read.

I know this is kinda scathing. But did i still enjoy it? Somewhat, yes. Its not the banger I hoped 2025 would start on but, its not bad. 

The Creative Curve: How to Develop the Right Idea at the Right Time by Allen Gannett

hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

I always appreciate a nonfiction / self-help-y book that has actual science or math behind it to show what the TRUE story is behind something, and I think this book hit that mark very well. I appreciate that while the author breaks down a very vague / mysterious process with tangible studies, he still acknowledges creativity and being a successful commercial creative is a hard and long process that takes years to master if you do. I think the takeaways are generally tangible for anyone and can be applied to a lot of fields, and overall I'm glad I picked this book for our book club later this month! I think there's a lot of simple practical exercises and discussions that will be had. Is it kind of bleak to see how formulaic creativity can be? Kinda, and I'm sure there's studies competing against what the author has to say, but I think if you work in a creative field for a full-time job and need some ideas to get unstuck, this has some helpful material to practice that won't break your brain. 

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I honestly didn’t expect to fly through this in ~3-4 hours but, I really liked it overall! Its weird to say a 300 page book read like a short story but, I liked how contained and clear this was and it helped me feel motivated to keep reading and find out what happens. 

Some complaints:
1) I dont really *like* the author’s way of introducing characters of another race (“a (insert ethnicity) guy being the only way you write in your two POC’s just feels weird and kinda icky
2)

I do wish the phone was explained but I can get over it

3) At times I didnt really know what to think of Neal. and maybe that’s okay, like he’s not perfect and i respect that. but when she talked about some of their martial and relationship problems over time i was like, damn dog maybe its best you just take your tv comedy bag and move on. but then other times i like him, idk 🤷‍♀️

Was this revolutionary? Not really, like I enjoyed it but it didnt strike the chord FanGirl did for me back in the day. but its still a good read and if the premise interests you, its quick and fun and im sure you’ll enjoy it!  

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

This surprised me, I quite liked it! The prose is quite good and this felt like a great tie of jumping between stories, but also bringing the very beginning back in the end, in a smooth way. I did get lost at times in some of the detail but I dont blame the book, I just think parts werent perfect for me. Its highly rated but not a FAVORITE of mine, if that makes sense? Idk i still recommend it overall! 

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

This was unfortunately not it! The writing felt flat and unfulfilling, and often times struggled with pacing. I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters, they were so bland and lacked enough personality in a loveable, or even hateable way to connect with them. I think the premise of this is still interesting but the execution did not live up to the hype, and the ending was one of the most disappointing and lackluster reveals yet. Probably wouldn’t recommend and I hate to say it! 

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think overall, I liked this! It trended darker than my typical reads but the writing is stellar, and the introduction towards the beginning had me wondering throughout how things were going to end. Some portions felt predictable, but I still enjoyed confirming my suspicions. I do feel like this book falls into “im too stupid to understand some of what this book is trying to tell me” (ive learned that if the acknowledgements credit people in a writing workshop, that im definitely gonna need some help understanding what happened). But I also dont mind that, either. I look forward to reading some discussions and seeing what I missed. Overall it’s thought provoking but interesting, and I’d recommend it! 

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing sad 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

LOL this wrecked me in the best way, and i mean it! The first half felt kind of sloggish but, youll see later you need the exposition and buildup for the rest of the book. Once the major turning point happens about halfway (iykyk) I was really hooked and then by the end I was crying a bunch and I now have a massive pile of kleenex at my feet. But I really liked how it came together. It felt cozy and gratifying to see these stories of love come together in the end.

I only have two complaints - one, the slowness of the beginning, and two,

I dont think prior to William trying to kill himself that there was truly *enough* to make the connection with Sylvie so tight that she risked it all when he was dying, but ce’st la vie.

 

Overall, definitely recommend! Very glad I could read it, thank you storygraph and penguin random house for the giveaway read! 

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.75