melissa_keen's reviews
81 reviews

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An interesting read, had me hooked! Though there are some plot holes for sure that I felt needed to be answered (like the phone case). It was a bit farfetched in places too, and felt a little unresolved. Why is Josie the way she is? She effectively ruins her whole life and ruins the lives of all those she apparently loves, for no good reason... Still, an addictive read that I finished in 2 days 

The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, Michael Dooling

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

A lovely children's book that is surprisingly close in details to the Disney cartoon film! I remember this being read to me as a child so I found it very sweet and nostalgic. There are some slightly darker bits that young children may not like.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

I'd seen this book gaining a lot of traction, so wanted to experience it for myself. Being completely honest, it's a well-written book and is nice enough... But I've no idea why it's sold out the way it has. One of the main characters, Sadie, is borderline unlikeable and extremely annoying as a person. There's a really random bit in the story about BDSM which feels really out of place. And there were several pages I found myself glancing at and flipping through, because they dragged or felt irrelevant to the story. I felt there was little character progression. Both main protagonists kept falling out for extremely trivial, it seemed to me, reasons, and this was extremely frustrating to ensure for 430+ pages. I think that level of selfishness, or bad communication, is ok when you're young, but we watch these characters age over the course of 15+ years and they remain just as stubborn, selfish, and uncommuicative. for a book that's supposed to be about friendship, they are dreadful friends to one another. All in all, it was an ok read, but didn't leave me feeling strongly either way and I wouldn't read it again.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

dark fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very dark, graphic book. Extremely well-written and unique; it's fascinating being in the mind of a psycho. The ending is left a little too open for my liking, but a great book nonetheless 

Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money by Robert T. Kiyosaki

informative fast-paced

2.0

I've read a few of Robert's book and he tends to say the same things over and over. He alludes to advice that feels like it could be really useful, but he never really gives any detail. To sum up, Robert basically tells the reader to... improve their financial IQ (which is what I got the book for?!) but he is very vague about HOW to do this other than to hang out with people you admire, attend lectures and read books (but then Robert says reading is the worst way to learn something...) it all felt a bit pointless in the end!

The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life by Steven Bartlett

informative fast-paced

3.0

I found this quite motivating for work. There were some excellent case studies and quotes from very successful people, the book was fast paced and easy to digest. A lot of it is fairly obvious, but its good to have the reminder sometimes! 

However, I've docked one star point for a rather specific reason. Steven is a big supporter of the corporate world - of course he is, it's made him a lot of money. But the way he talks about his employees is... Rather odious, to say the least. He refers to those who don't follow his company culture in a "cult like" way, "bad apples" who will "infect the barrell". To be fair to him, he also covers good (and poor) leadership styles. But it's just very obvious he sees employees as beneath him, regardless of how clever they are. He seems them as cogs in his machine.

Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey

informative fast-paced

4.0

A very interesting read. As a redhead, I have faced a lot of discrimination, and it's really interesting to see where that has come from and where this is shown in history and art. Books like this will hopefully educate people on why this discrimination in not ok! 

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

A nice book, definitely targeted at older kids/teens - some dark parts that aren't kid-friendly. Heavily influenced by LOTR, but not as rich or deep - a teen-friendly version, for sure. I felt the book couldn't quite decide if it wanted to be mature or not, so you can feel it change a bit from chapter to chapter. On the whole though a nice fantastical read.

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A very sweet, easy read. The show is far more fleshed out and entertaining, in my opinion. This is a very simple, easy read - something you could take on holidays and finish on a day.

The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A great read, by all accounts - but about 75% of the way through, this book takes a very unexpected turn...

The Year of the Locust is Terry Hayes' second novel. He is a terrific writer - his first novel, I Am Pilgrim, is one of my favourite books. This book starts out in a similar fashion, introducing us to a new character who is also part of the world of espionage. A terrorist threat looms, and our protagonist must save the day - exciting stuff! The characters are well fleshed out, the baddie is brilliantly believable and scary. The first 600 pages were brilliant.

However, about 75% of the way through, the book takes a completely different direction. It suddenly becomes a time travel/zombie apocalypse/sci-fi story. I found this really jarring and, if I'm honest, very disappointing - it was like suddenly reading a completely different book. I felt the writing felt quite lazy at this section of the book, too. Weird decisions are made that don't feel in line with the characters. It's almost like Terry had someone finish writing the book for him. However, I was very much bought in by this pointz so I pushed on to the finish.

While the ending was satisfying, I can't shake the feeling that the odd ending didn't align with the way the rest of the novel was written (which feels much more realistic). The sci-fi twist for me was completely unnecessary - the bad guy was already scary in a realistic way, why make him into an "orc"? The entire book suspends disbelief, but this was one step too far and took a lot of enjoyment out of the ending.

All in all, I still really enjoyed Terry's writing style and would read any other releases. A really great spy thriller, just with an unusual ending!