megansmith's reviews
201 reviews

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I have mixed feelings on this, but overall drudging through the beginning really was worth it for the end!

I read her more recent book, which has some similar overlap (rich couple at the center who both suck as people, island thats got history to it thats sorta spooky, etc) and this felt at the beginning, pretty lackluster in comparsion. The characters felt much more flat and this wouldve failed the bechdel test spectacularly. I get sex and covering up secrets are peak reasons why people murder but cmon, we couldnt do any better? It also just took so long to read post-election so, maybe if id read it sooner itd hit different.

The ending though, was so good - a real Lucy Foley classic. Once I hit those last 100 pages I was in a stride and I needed to know what happened, so much so my lunch has been over for almost 30 minutes whoops.

Overall, not my fav Lucy Foley, I still liked Hunting Party the most, but this redeemed itself by the end. 

Death Valley by Melissa Broder

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

meh. it was fine! not my favorite but i see its merits. I liked how quick it went (almost felt like i picked out a short story), the author’s writing style, and the bits of humor mixed in. The story just didnt excite me and by the end, dove too much into fantasy to enjoy. I’d still try another book of hers to see what I think? 

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I have such mixed feelings on this one but overall i dont think i  liked it and im super disappointed in that! Id been looking forward to this for awhile and it just didn’t give what i thought it was gonna give. I dont know how Sally Rooney manages to have both such a distinct style and approach to books but each one seems to be so devisive among her fans. 

I could follow what I was reading in her last book but this one was far more confusing to follow. Peter’s section was rouuuugh to get through. Ivan’s I could get through easier but I dreaded anytime we jumped back to Peter. This book was also just slow and LONG, like truly this couldve tied itself up a bit more cleanly and not over 454 pages. I also just couldn’t get over how the women were treated / discussed in this book, idk it wasnt the worst but it felt strange how most interactions were just pivoting to sex and half the time it was at really awkward or inappropriate times. And a lot of the female characters felt so flat, anchored so heavily to their relationships with men. It felt like when we discussed these women outside of their relationships to Ivan and Peter, it was mostly only about: Margaret’s ex-husband, Naomi’s only fans, and Sylvia’s accident (the main portion of that being that she cant have sex anymore). We had pockets of moments outside of these two defining characteristics per woman, but they were rare in comparison. I just found it hard to balance these with two very flawed men, one being an on again / off again self-identifying incel? His views had changed but also he still mentions at once point that’s a part of him and maybe he is an incel? I just found the characters super unlikeable to an extent I couldnt enjoy the story, and for a novel focused on interpersonal relationships, it was hard to get past it.

I do think the buildup to the climax was interesting and the last 100 pages pulled me in more than I had been. But overall this was not my favorite work of Rooney’s. 

None of This Rocks by Joe Trohman

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

This was a romp - maybe a bit too horny at times of a romp - but a semi-nostalgic, emotional, honest romp and I enjoyed it overall! Parts of it really came detached from me out of nowhere, ie when a moment got suddenly very raunchy with little lead up (i dont discriminate against a little horny humor but ease into it a bit more, ya know? or dont go SO heavy handed?), or sometimes the storytelling went in several directions and i felt lost in chapters. Others I think tied themselves back in nicely but at times I felt like I was getting a midnight roundabout story at a local fast food joint where I wonder halfway through, “how did he get to this point?”. All that aside, it had a lot of heart and honesty and I found myself getting emotional reading this. So Joe, thnx for the memories, Im glad Im leaving this book with some new perspective on my favorite band. ❤️

Worry by Alexandra Tanner

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.5

This book stressed the literal hell out of me❤️ although my own mom and aunt differ wildly from Poppy and Jules, I could see a lot of similarities to their relationship and I dont know if that contributed to the stress, or the fact that these characters are all pretty freaking insufferable and learn nothing, or the near constant berating and anxiety throughout. I know that’s what the name implies! But for some stupid reason I didnt think it was going to worry me this much fron start to finish. There isnt really a point of resolve or relaxing and the ending honestly was kind of underwhelming. I do think the author did a wonderful job capturing a lot of specific moments in time and ideologies and it felt incredibly realistic, at the cost of it being so stressful. I give her my props but I don’t think id reccommend this one. 

The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

4.0

I enjoyed this! I dont know if I have a ton to say, other than I love the combo of John Green’s prose with learning fun facts about the world around me. I’d listened to the podcast for a while back in the day so this was fun to revisit in a new form. I will say, it is dense at some points to try and finish quickly but, it is also a very digestible way of learning new info. I do also feel he couldve used less annotations / notes (i cant think of the formal word but when you make readers jump to the bottom of the page for more info), but its just a personal preference since they make me lose my rhythm when reading. I recommend if youre looking to ease into nonfiction and enjoy his novels, or just enjoy deep dives into the anthropocene. 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

I have mixed feelings about this book - its a very well written book that covers a sensitive topic that’s rarely discussed. The writing is well done and very descriptive which I enjoyed. But man, this is heavy. It was hard to get through 300 pages of such heavy moments, even the “light” moments were quickly heavy again. I give my props to the book for what its done but I wish it balanced the dark tones a bit more past the past 20 pages. It also felt slightly too long and dragged out by the end, imo. 

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-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

5.0

UGH this was so good. This hit a sweet spot for me, a new genre of books that I am falling in love with that I'll dub "New England 90's Rom Com Cozy" or something similar. This hit the same notes I was looking for in Writers and Lovers and while I'm sure there are literary critiques that are valid of this book, I am blind to them currently just for how much this hit my wants and desires in books currently. I liked the mix of serious problem setup and satisfying resolution, and even if parts of the ending felt predictable, it felt well executed and refreshing still. It was heartfelt, very tenderly written, and compelling from start to finish. The beginning grabbed my attention and the rest kept me going, wondering (similar to Phoebe whenever she watches or reads anything with a wedding) how the wedding was going to go even if I thought I knew what was going to happen. I really enjoyed this and would highly reccommend! 

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

This review is going to sound kind of passion-less but, I liked it! I'm not like very fervently in love with it, I truly feel kind of neutral.

I think if you like the idea of cozy books, but hate the quality of the writing of the genre typically so you avoid it, this is a good choice for you. The writing held up fairly well from start to finish and I never found myself TOO annoyed with how things were written. I think each funeral is unique and I find that to be kind of impressive considering society has pigeonholed at least American funerals into a very specific image that few deviate from. It's lighthearted but still feels meaningful in a not-cheesy way, which I appreciate. 

My complaints honestly only apply to small instances, but in some cases, cleared themselves up. A few were also personal preference.

I didn't love at the beginning how Naomi's interactions were almost solely her yelling at one of the men in the book, it felt really flat and just poor writing to me overall. But I think she felt more actualized towards the end. It might have come with writing her chapter but I'm glad it got resolved.

I personally just did not like the Jordy / Jordan couple for a few reasons. I get the name thing was to be quirky and also, based on a couple in real life, but man I did not freaking like it! Mainly because it felt like the two did not have a distinct personality other than being gay for each other and for one of them being from Columbia, and that they traveled to Italy once, until towards the very very end. And if I made the whole beginning of the book hinder on one of them dying and wanting a funeral for the other Jordan before his real funeral, I would have wanted them more fleshed out as individuals versus a slightly amorphous couple blob. The name thing didn't help but that wasn't the only reason these two blended together. The whole book kind of suffered from a personality problem at times and in some ways thats how friend groups work, but by the end it felt unrewarding that some characters got more depth while others did not, like the Jordans. 

At times this book also suffered from what I'm now dubbing the "cozy book plot hole", which is when a cozy / fluffy book says one thing and does a completely other thing. It's usually minor but this always happens in lighter / fluffy books and it bothers the shit out of me for some reason. This could've been caught with some more eagle-eyed editing but, like I said it's usually minor in the case of good books like this one. The one example immediately coming to mind was towards the end, they made a note to say they weren't going to make it to the pier to watch Jordy race but then they immediately flip to Jordy's POV and he sees them on the pier. Stuff like that just bothers me with the genre and while I think it'd benefit me to read more light books like this, it bugs me enough that I end up back at dark/moody books with less plot holes lol. 

My complaint section was kind of long but honestly, it didn't bother me enough to hate this book that much. Like I said I'm kind of neutral on it, didn't absolutely hate it but didn't like, love it to pieces either. It's interesting for the genre and has it's merits and I'd reccommend if the premise interests you! 

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

dark emotional sad 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

2.5

This book moved its way on and off my TBR list a few times and honestly, I wish I had kept it off. 

I will start by saying, i hate books about affairs and cheating. I took this book off my tbr for that reason a few of those times. But the premise intrigued me and I kept seeing it reccommended by other bookstagramers so i figured i’d give it a go. 

This book was painfully slow, and it took up until the last 40-50 pages for anything truly interesting to happen. I get how thats war sometimes - its a lot of tension and buildup to the moment of implosion, but it just didnt work for me. I can appreciate the author weaving all these storylines together and it did feel satisfying towards the end but, i needed better pacing to get me to that point. 

Another gripe I have is towards the end, there is one sex scene that is most definitely rape, which I was really annoyed by! It summed up this strange possessive relationship between the two characters, swearing to each other its love but its just horny jealous sex. The relationship was terrible and nothing i could find myself rooting for. Cushla, give it another year to develop a frontal lobe and i promise youll get over this old man.

I probably have more to say but this just fell flat, I was wishing for more but it underdelivered.