mmrohbock's reviews
744 reviews

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

3.75⭐ on 🎧

Wow this book was so creepy and wild. I loved how atmospheric this book and it set this truly incredible setting but I do think the pacing was pretty slow and setting the stage for all the action to happen in the last 20% of the book. I'm not a spooky girl generally but if you want a Haunted Mansion Gothic creepy-not-funny read this October, this is a good one.

Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire by Alice Wong

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

This is one of those books where it does not feel right to rate it because you're then judging every authors' lived experiences and stories. Which just makes it even more important to read and understand what it's like to live and love as a disabled person.

Sad Grownups by Amy Stuber

challenging dark 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

3.0

3⭐

I requested this advanced copy on a whim because the description promised so much nuance what it means to be happy or sad as adults navigate a complex world, but I found the short stories to be told in ways where the narrative had gaps and felt underbaked and just a bit weird.

The Secret to a Southern Wedding by Synithia Williams

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

3.75⭐
PG-13🌶️

I love a small town romance with a fiercely smart heroine so much!! I love less a instalove connection that doesn't ever fully feel substantiated. I love a true conflict outside of the main characters. I love less when people keep secrets they know are going to explode and could just make better decisions. So I was a bit conflicted about this book but I really love Peachtree, Georgia and I will be coming back to read Halle's football themed book this fall!

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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

5.0

5⭐ on 🎧

If there is one book for every person to read before the US presidential election so they understand the importance of their vote, their activism and their freedom, it's this one.

The Rich People Have Gone Away by Regina Porter

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

3⭐ on 🎧

I contemplated DNFing and I probably should have. This is one of those books that poses as a thriller about rich people but it was so focused on the minute details of past mistakes of said rich people to drive the plot forward. Read if you like rich people behaving badly books but skip if you like your thrillers to be super twisty.

Marriage & Masti by Nisha Sharma

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-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? Yes

5.0

5⭐
R🌶️

I don't know if there is a more perfect romance trilogy than this one. Nisha Sharma is a genius. Read this book, this series, and just like all of Nisha'a books!!!

Long Island by Colm Tóibín

reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5⭐

To me, Brooklyn is a masterpiece that captures what it's like to leave home and always feel caught between your new life and the life you grew up with. Unfortunately Long Island convinced me that there really did not need to be a sequel in this story as it centered on bad decisions and indecision.

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.75

3.75⭐

I've been a fan of Claire Swinarski's work for a long time and was so excited for her adult debut! That being said, I wish this book had been really upfront with content warnings for PTSD, graphic mass shooting, cancer and a couple fatphobic comments. I thought this would be a save-the-community cozy read and the graphic descriptions on page made this book much more challenging.

I love the community that Claire built in this story and thinks she captured the beauty of the Midwest so well in this book. Esther and her family and the lake were this beautiful place where people come together in the good and the bad times and help each other learn about life. This book has some beautiful moments but it also has some really hard parts that I think would benefit from a few beta readers on the future. I look forward to seeing more adult novels from Claire!

Also where the heck did Cooper charge his Tesla in northern Wisconsin woods? There's no way there were Turbo Chargers up there.

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

4⭐ on 🎧

An important book for election season as we think about how we can influence our lawmakers to create policy that better helps poor people vs protecting rich people. Matthew Desmond definitely selectively picks his statistics a bit and I didn't agree with all his recommendations, but there is so much here that we must do better at, as Americans, to make it better for everyone.