michellekiara's reviews
66 reviews

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

emotional funny sad slow-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

4.5

Broadly speaking there are two kinds of people. Those who understand the beauty of this book (people with taste), and those who don’t. 

Going in, I already had a rough idea of what it was about since the movie adaptation was so popular. I knew it followed a grumpy old man living in a neighborhood and assumed it would be about him slowly softening. What I did not expect was how much I would actually relate to Ove. Yes, I am a 23-year-old girl, and he is a 70-something-year-old man, but I saw so much of myself in his bleak outlook on life and his tendency to push people away due to his strict set of principles (literally me AF).

This book had so many heartfelt moments that I could not help but shed some tears. Fredrik Backman’s signature writing style shines here, especially in the way Ove refers to characters by how he remembers them rather than their actual names. One man is simply “the lanky one” because Ove cannot recall his name, and a woman is “Blonde Weed.” More books should do this. It feels so realistic.

My only gripe was that the first half felt slow and only really picked up after the 50% mark. Even so, by the end, I was completely won over, especially due to its perfectly executed full-circle moment.

The Patient by Jasper DeWitt

3.75

I love how this book is formatted like a series of posts under r/nosleep, complete with Reddit-specific lingo like “I can’t believe the mods stickied my post!” I have been searching for a book that reads like an r/nosleep post, and this one absolutely scratched that itch.

The premise feels like creepypasta, in the best way possible. A young psychiatrist takes a job at a mental hospital and becomes obsessed with the case of a patient who has been institutionalized since childhood. No doctor has lasted more than a few days treating him, and no one can explain why.

For the first 75%, I was completely hooked. The tension kept building, and I could not put it down. But the last quarter of the book fell flat. The setup was so strong that I expected more from the payoff. The premise had so much potential, and I wish they had taken it further.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

The premise is fascinating. A psychic on a plane predicts the cause and age of death for a strangers on a plane. Some brush it off, while others become obsessed with trying to change their fate. It is a thought-provoking concept, especially with how the book explores real theories like determinism.

Every time I tried to challenge the idea of fate, I ended up second-guessing myself. How can someone’s death be predicted? Can they not just avoid it? One character is told he will die in a workplace accident that year, and my first thought was, just take a year off. But then the book made me think deeper. What if he cannot afford to? What if his boss refuses? What if fate always finds a way? It really messed with my head in the best way.

I found the passengers’ chapters much more engaging than the psychic’s. The book jumps between them, but I couldn’t get myself to care when it switched back to her.

Also, do not expect a thriller even if it is marketed as one. It feels more like a drama. If you go in expecting suspense, it will probably feel slow and anticlimactic, but as a drama, it works.

Tastes Like Candy by Ivy Tholen

fast-paced

2.25

This was my first ever slasher book, so I really wanted to love it. It was a quick, easy read with creative kill scenes that made for some fun moments, but unfortunately, I figured out who the killer was within the first quarter of the book. There were so many hints that when the big reveal finally happened, it did not feel shocking at all. I just sat there thinking, “Yep. Called it.”

One thing that confused me was the book’s intended audience. Based on the characters’ ages, the stereotyping, and the overall childish motivations, it felt very YA. But then the murder scenes were quite graphic, which made it feel like it was trying to appeal to an older audience. Even the author describes her books as “Fear Street but more violent,” so she clearly leans into that. I just could not figure out who this book was actually for.

One of the most redeeming qualities is the cover and title. I joined a TBR challenge because I kept picking up books outside my list, and this was the first one I grabbed simply because the cover was so eye-catching. I just wish the story itself had been as strong as its aesthetic.

The Family Experiment by John Marrs

fast-paced

3.75

When I found out this book existed, I was ecstatic. I loved The One, and The Family Experimentsounded so similar in concept that I knew I had to read it. I love John Marrs’ sci-fi thrillers and how they all exist in the same universe. This book constantly references The One and The Passengers, which made me so happy. Black Mirror only wishes it could still release bangers like this.

The premise is fascinating. The government launches a reality show where contestants raise AI children, or MetaChildren, from birth to eighteen in just nine months, to introduce this new technology that they claim is the future of family life. Like The One, this book follows multiple POVs, showing how different people are affected by the technology, with each character having their own backstories, and every chapter ending on a cliffhanger.

Even though it had the elements I loved in The One, something about it did not hit as hard. Maybe the novelty has worn off, or maybe The One was just stronger. That said, John Marrs makes his sci-fi thrillers feel disturbingly possible, and even if this was not my favorite, I still had a great time reading it.

Rouge by Mona Awad

dark mysterious medium-paced

2.5

I picked this up while looking for books that give the same feeling as The Substance, a movie everyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with. The premise sounded so good. A woman obsessed with skincare returns home after her estranged mother’s sudden death and gets pulled into a mysterious, cult-like spa that promises transformation but hides something much darker.

I love how Rouge critiques modern beauty standards and just how much people are willing to sacrifice for perfection. Mona Awad’s writing is insanely vivid, to the point where I could picture everything like a surreal horror film happening in my head. The imagery, the atmosphere, the eerie, dreamlike quality are all well done.

But wow, this was exhausting to get through. Awad’s writing is so lush and poetic that sometimes it felt like it was drowning in its own descriptions. The flowery, almost hypnotic prose made for some stunning visuals, but it also made the pacing feel painfully slow. The book kept lingering in its own atmosphere instead of pushing the story forward, which got frustrating. I felt like things only started getting interesting about halfway through the book, which is very very late in my opinion.

This was my first successful buddy read though, and I think my friend enjoyed it a lot more than I did. Your enjoyment of Mona Awad’s books will heavily depend on whether you vibe with her writing style. If you love lush, almost fever-dream-like prose, you will probably love this. If not, you might find it a bit of a slog like I did.

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

dark fast-paced

4.25

I first tried reading this book two years ago but stopped at 30% because the language felt misogynistic and was hard to push through. I picked it up again because the premise intrigued me, and I wanted to explore more extreme horror.

Set in a near future where all animals have been infected with a deadly virus, humans are forced to eat “special meat” AKA human meat. The book serves as a brutal social commentary, with the rich consuming while the poor become the product. Some characters even suspect the virus is a government conspiracy to control overpopulation.

The main character works in a slaughterhouse, and the descriptions of meat processing are disturbingly detailed, mirroring the real-world cattle industry. The writing style is detached and documentary-like, often summarizing dialogue using indirect quotations rather than presenting it naturally. It took me out of the story at first, but as I read on, it became clear that this style serves a purpose. The book focuses less on plot progression and more on explaining to the reader about this terrifying reality.

The misogyny I initially found off-putting ended up fitting within the world of the book. In a society where humans are treated as meat, misogyny and objectification naturally follow. This is not a book for character development or traditional storytelling. It is social commentary, delivered in a graphic and horrifying way.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I finished reading this book at work and had to hold myself together to still look presentable instead of being a complete trainwreck. The book has four interconnected stories, and since the first one started pretty slowly and did not emotionally grab me, I did not expect the second half to completely wreck me. I ended up crying multiple times, and this is the only book that has made me cry since Project Hail Mary two years ago.

Before starting, I saw a lot of reviews saying that some of the stories were better than others. At first, I thought I would agree, but after finishing the book, I realized that you can’t really look at these as separate stories. Each one is intertwined with the others, with characters crossing paths and reappearing throughout the book. Together, they create something so much bigger than the individual stories, all to deliver one beautiful, touching message about time, love, and loss.

The premise of a café that allows customers to travel back in time, but with a set of strict and seemingly random rules, sounded a little outlandish to me. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but it ended up making perfect sense in the world of the book. What surprised me the most was how much warmth and comfort the story carried, even in its sad moments. It feels like receiving a hug from someone you lost a long time ago, bittersweet but heartwarming.

The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.75

When I finished the last page of The Answer Is No, I just sat there, smiled, and said, “wow.” This has never happened to me before. I mostly read thrillers and horror, so I am used to big gasps at the end, not quiet awe. The only other book to have elicited this same reaction was Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, one of my all-time favorites.

Reading this book felt like being a kid again. It was heartwarming, clever, and full of memorable lines, like, “He works well in groups as long as it’s groups of fewer than two people,” which made me giggle. I also loved how Lucas, the main character, referred to a board of three people as a “bureaucratic Hydra” and called them Head One, Two, and Three for the rest of the book. It was hilarious and perfectly captured his essence.

Only when I finished the book did I realize this was by the same author as A Man Called Ove, which has been on my TBR for a while. Now I am even more excited to pick it up.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

5.0