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mellowreading's reviews
148 reviews
Chef's Kiss by Jarrett Melendez
2.0
outdated awkward humor , repetitive story beats, underdeveloped romance, and overall boring lol. The art style was visually appealing but nothing unique
I fell in love with hope by Lancali
2.0
The fact that this book has an average 4.1 rating is ASTOUNDING to me. I could go on an hour long rant about this book so here’s just some bullet points. This is full of triggers and spoilers so beware
- extra flowery writing felt more out of place and cringey than anything, articulate prose ≠ good writing
- The whole thing feels extremely unrealistic and bizzare, esp the hospital setting. This place needs to be shut down bc who tf are taking care of these kids? NOBODY. The girl with one lung is SMOKING ON THE ROOF and SPRINTING AROUND THE HALLS REGULARLY. This patient’s dad REGULARLY BEATS HIM in the hospital during visits and nurses come check on him immediately after and just??? Don’t notice the bruises??? Tells a suicidal girl bad medical news, she runs away and nobody thinks “oh maybe we should go after her/check on her” no she just wanders the hospital freely and tries to kill herself ? 😭
- This book being marketed as a romance is criminal. Love at first sight with no proper development just immediate I KNOW YOU AND I LOVE YOU YOU SAVED MY LIFE. Main character makes conclusions/describes his love interest with ?? No actual substance or interactions to back them up? They’re all based on his dead ex? The pacing of their relationship is AWFUL. Also the whole sequence of him describing her as he ran to go find her during her suicide attempt cracked me up bc how TF did you know all of this about her?? 2 pages ago you didn’t know the very obvious fact that she was suicidal and now you’re like “you are a girl and you are flawed and you are messy and you love plants and you hate yourself and this is how depression makes you feel” Like sir WHERE did you get that from 😭 I get that technically she is the same soul or whatever, but as that reveal comes at the very end their relationship just seems very ridiculous.
- The storytelling timeline is all over the place and a bit confusing at times. “Oh yeah I need to explain this thing for this situation to make sense, let me just throw in a flashback with no clear segue back to present day”
- Way too much telling as opposed to showing. Would make me giggle when characters would psychoanalyze each other as a way to move the plot along/characterize them for the reader.
- I’m okay with no plot just vibes but the vibes were very unclear. Felt like sometimes it wanted to have a plot and sometimes it didn’t.
- The whole reveal at the end with Sam’s identity felt like an afterthought, even though the book hammered you over the head with the “sAm iS nOt who tHey sAy thEy ArE” like 10 times. Could’ve been interesting or impactful but just felt tacky.
- This book felt like it had,,, so many missing scenes. Like we’d jump from one scenario to the next and it’d be like “oh this is happening now” and I’m like??? Since when??? How?? Why?? The biggest example being the cut to Neo dying. (Not in a death is unexpected way, in a , literally we were just walking down the hall and now after a flashback we are some time later at his death bed way) Again the pacing was a mess. I feel like the author had a list of everything the book was meant to include but then just poured it all out without refining or properly structuring the story.
- As a story it was extremely lackluster and messy - but I appreciate the overall intent of the book, and value that the author was mostly trying to express what it is like to live with a chronic or terminal illness, and bring hope into those situations.
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
I do not reccomend the Tor Nightfire audiobook lmao. I was not a fan of the narrator. She added strange inflections to her voice that made random sentences sound like questions and pulled me out of the story. These random odd inflections and voices also made scenes that had the potential to be eerie or creepy just seem ridiculous and unserious. Also, her Phil voice sounded like Con O Niel so I could only picture him anytime he spoke (love con, do not think Phil would resemble him in any way)😭
As for the actual book:
- the “humor” was cringey and awkward and not to my taste lol
- the pacing was v off. The beginning of the book was very slow and repetitive, the end was super rushed and erratic, and the outcome of the book was obvious from the beginning, but not depthful. You were hit over the head with the same surface level “wink wink nudge nudge this is happening” without making any of it actually interesting.
- this should’ve either been a short story or the more supernatural/magical plot points should have been more fleshed out and intriguing. Because of the length and lack of substance I was just bored.
As for the actual book:
- the “humor” was cringey and awkward and not to my taste lol
- the pacing was v off. The beginning of the book was very slow and repetitive, the end was super rushed and erratic, and the outcome of the book was obvious from the beginning, but not depthful. You were hit over the head with the same surface level “wink wink nudge nudge this is happening” without making any of it actually interesting.
- this should’ve either been a short story or the more supernatural/magical plot points should have been more fleshed out and intriguing. Because of the length and lack of substance I was just bored.
The Stranger by Albert Camus
2.75
I get that this book is supposed to be meaningful and profound or whatever but I just did Not care lol
Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For the girlies with religious trauma <3 I was NOT expecting where this was going and was a bit unsure at first but ultimately liked it.
“I was made in his image too. So why doesn’t He love me the way he loves you? Why does He let you do this? Why doesn’t He tell you to stop?”
“I was made in his image too. So why doesn’t He love me the way he loves you? Why does He let you do this? Why doesn’t He tell you to stop?”
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Give me dark, tragic, gay academia and I’ll give anything 5 stars. The ending. I don’t know how to feel 😭 also making Fillipa date the Professor was so random and unnecessary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia