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notesbynnenna's Reviews (513)
3.5 stars
Sally Rooney's name has been everywhere recently (or at least it seems that way)! I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and see what the hype was about. After some debate, I decided to start with her first book, CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS.
This book follows Frances and Bobbi, two twenty-somethings who become entangled with a charming, older couple named Melissa and Nick. The book is told from Frances's perspective and it's really a character study on her and her relationships with each of the other main characters.
Sooooo, it took me a while to gather my thoughts on this one and I still have mixed feelings about it. Honestly, I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about it. I need to talk to someone about it!
Frances is rather apathetic. She doesn't care about a career or making money really, except when it comes to having enough to live on. At times, it feels like Frances is just pretending to be an adult. She's still so young (she's 21) and doesn't really know what she wants out of life yet. So in that vein, her aimlessness is understandable.
I think the merits of this book lie in the writing and the characters (although I also thought the characters were somewhat insufferable and pretentious). In her writing, Rooney is good at capturing particular feelings. Feelings about not knowing exactly who you are or who you want to be. I thought the best bits of this book were Rooney's observations about people and her ability to demonstrate how messy relationships can be.
After I finished the book, I was kind of like "huh" (and for the record, I did not like the ending). I read most of this book over the course of two days. During that time, I wanted to keep reading, but at the same time, I don't think I was fully enjoying it. Despite that, there's a quality to her writing that drew me in and kept me turning the pages. I think what it comes down to is that I was hoping to really love this one, but sadly, I didn't (I liked it, but I didn't love it).
Really curious to hear other people's thoughts on this one! If you've read it, did you love it or hate it? If you've also read NORMAL PEOPLE, how did this one compare?
Sally Rooney's name has been everywhere recently (or at least it seems that way)! I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and see what the hype was about. After some debate, I decided to start with her first book, CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS.
This book follows Frances and Bobbi, two twenty-somethings who become entangled with a charming, older couple named Melissa and Nick. The book is told from Frances's perspective and it's really a character study on her and her relationships with each of the other main characters.
Sooooo, it took me a while to gather my thoughts on this one and I still have mixed feelings about it. Honestly, I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about it. I need to talk to someone about it!
Frances is rather apathetic. She doesn't care about a career or making money really, except when it comes to having enough to live on. At times, it feels like Frances is just pretending to be an adult. She's still so young (she's 21) and doesn't really know what she wants out of life yet. So in that vein, her aimlessness is understandable.
I think the merits of this book lie in the writing and the characters (although I also thought the characters were somewhat insufferable and pretentious). In her writing, Rooney is good at capturing particular feelings. Feelings about not knowing exactly who you are or who you want to be. I thought the best bits of this book were Rooney's observations about people and her ability to demonstrate how messy relationships can be.
After I finished the book, I was kind of like "huh" (and for the record, I did not like the ending). I read most of this book over the course of two days. During that time, I wanted to keep reading, but at the same time, I don't think I was fully enjoying it. Despite that, there's a quality to her writing that drew me in and kept me turning the pages. I think what it comes down to is that I was hoping to really love this one, but sadly, I didn't (I liked it, but I didn't love it).
Really curious to hear other people's thoughts on this one! If you've read it, did you love it or hate it? If you've also read NORMAL PEOPLE, how did this one compare?
I’ve heard a lot of talk about Jo Nesbo and I think the sticker on the book says that over 22 million copies have been sold (!!). Well, I thought it was time to find out what everyone was raving about. My overall takeaway can be summarized in three words: it was fine.
On the first snow day of the year, a woman goes missing in Oslo. There’s one detail that strikes detective Harry Hole as odd- the snowman found outside her house. This clue ultimately leads him to connect this case with others and makes him realize that he’s dealing with a dangerous criminal who enjoys playing games.
I feel like most of the mysteries/thrillers I read are based in America, so it was nice to read one in a completely different setting. The writing was acceptable, although I found some of the sentences strange and a bit off (I’m not sure if that was intentional, or as a result of translation). On a random note, there were several references to American politics, albeit politics of the past. I wasn’t sure how these were relevant to the story. Honestly, anything political is a really sore subject right now, so I had to wonder, “Was the author trolling me?”
I will give this point to Nesbo: it was a dark and twisted story, just the way I like it. The author kept me guessing throughout and I was thrown off by red herrings. However, there’s a real misogynistic streak in this novel, which I did not like one bit and which made me feel queasy. I won’t go into the details in order to avoid spoilers, but just be warned.
So there was enough intrigue in this story to keep me flipping the pages, but I wasn’t really blown away. I might try another Nesbo novel sometime in the future, but I won’t be rushing to do so.
On the first snow day of the year, a woman goes missing in Oslo. There’s one detail that strikes detective Harry Hole as odd- the snowman found outside her house. This clue ultimately leads him to connect this case with others and makes him realize that he’s dealing with a dangerous criminal who enjoys playing games.
I feel like most of the mysteries/thrillers I read are based in America, so it was nice to read one in a completely different setting. The writing was acceptable, although I found some of the sentences strange and a bit off (I’m not sure if that was intentional, or as a result of translation). On a random note, there were several references to American politics, albeit politics of the past. I wasn’t sure how these were relevant to the story. Honestly, anything political is a really sore subject right now, so I had to wonder, “Was the author trolling me?”
I will give this point to Nesbo: it was a dark and twisted story, just the way I like it. The author kept me guessing throughout and I was thrown off by red herrings. However, there’s a real misogynistic streak in this novel, which I did not like one bit and which made me feel queasy. I won’t go into the details in order to avoid spoilers, but just be warned.
So there was enough intrigue in this story to keep me flipping the pages, but I wasn’t really blown away. I might try another Nesbo novel sometime in the future, but I won’t be rushing to do so.
I lost my longer review, but the short version is that I loved this book and think you should read it. 5 stars!
I may have missed the point of this book completely, and yet I still enjoyed it. It’s structured like a multiple choice test and based on the Chilean National Aptitude test. I give this all the points for originality with the structure. Towards the end of the book, there are longer essays, which felt like short stories, and were easier for me to grasp. Even though I wasn’t sure I was understanding everything, I felt like I was exercising my mind, which is a good thing. Reading this also made me want to pick up more of Zambra’s work, probably in a format that I’m a bit more used to!
Thank you to Amistad Books for the free copy!
Guys, this book is goooood. It's been a while since I picked up some sci-fi, but once I read the summary on the back, it sounded like something I would enjoy. Lena's grandmother has just died, her mother is sick, and they have a lot of medical bills. She loves her mom and wants to help out financially, so when she's offered the chance to participate in a research study that pays really well, she says yes. But, it's not long before Lena starts to feel that this "opportunity" is too good to be true.
It was such an unsettling read and I felt uneasy the whole way through. Right away, you can tell that something is off with this research study. I had such strong, Get Out vibes while I was reading this. In fact, internally I was screaming at Lena to gtf outta there from the beginning!
I admired how Lena wanted to take care of her mother and you can see the lengths that she is willing to go to to provide for her. There's also definitely commentary on race and the way that black bodies are viewed/treated. I found this easy to get into and I really enjoyed the writing. In my opinion, it's a short, thought-provoking read and an excellent debut novel.
4.5 stars
Guys, this book is goooood. It's been a while since I picked up some sci-fi, but once I read the summary on the back, it sounded like something I would enjoy. Lena's grandmother has just died, her mother is sick, and they have a lot of medical bills. She loves her mom and wants to help out financially, so when she's offered the chance to participate in a research study that pays really well, she says yes. But, it's not long before Lena starts to feel that this "opportunity" is too good to be true.
It was such an unsettling read and I felt uneasy the whole way through. Right away, you can tell that something is off with this research study. I had such strong, Get Out vibes while I was reading this. In fact, internally I was screaming at Lena to gtf outta there from the beginning!
I admired how Lena wanted to take care of her mother and you can see the lengths that she is willing to go to to provide for her. There's also definitely commentary on race and the way that black bodies are viewed/treated. I found this easy to get into and I really enjoyed the writing. In my opinion, it's a short, thought-provoking read and an excellent debut novel.
4.5 stars
I feel like this is one of those books that you need to read several times to be able to pick up on even half of all the illusions. This is the kind of book I think would have better understood if I had read it while I was still in school and could discuss it with my peers/teacher. Still, it was rather fascinating.
I was pretty excited to read the latest installment in the Cormoran Strike series. I love Robin and Cormoran as characters and I was excited to pick up where the last one left off.
Strike is visited by a mentally ill young man, who claims he witnessed a murder decades ago. Meanwhile, Strike is hired by a prominent politician to find out who’s been blackmailing him. Strike thinks that it’s unlikely that the young man actually saw a murder and that the blackmail case will be fairly straight forward, but of course, things are not always as they seem.
I’m definitely into this series for the mysteries, but perhaps even more so for the characters. We’ve seen so much development from Strike and Robin’s characters over the course of the series, and I’m pretty invested in their lives.
Lethal White wasn’t my favorite in the series, but I still throughly enjoyed it. I didn’t find the plot as interesting as some of the previous novels, likely due to my personal tastes. I was also a bit miffed by one of the reveals; I thought it would be much juicier than it actually was.
Regardless, I loved getting back into Strike and Robin’s lives, and seeing Robin’s detective skills grow stronger. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.
Strike is visited by a mentally ill young man, who claims he witnessed a murder decades ago. Meanwhile, Strike is hired by a prominent politician to find out who’s been blackmailing him. Strike thinks that it’s unlikely that the young man actually saw a murder and that the blackmail case will be fairly straight forward, but of course, things are not always as they seem.
I’m definitely into this series for the mysteries, but perhaps even more so for the characters. We’ve seen so much development from Strike and Robin’s characters over the course of the series, and I’m pretty invested in their lives.
Lethal White wasn’t my favorite in the series, but I still throughly enjoyed it. I didn’t find the plot as interesting as some of the previous novels, likely due to my personal tastes. I was also a bit miffed by one of the reveals; I thought it would be much juicier than it actually was.
Regardless, I loved getting back into Strike and Robin’s lives, and seeing Robin’s detective skills grow stronger. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.
3.5 stars
I chose this book for its cosmopolitan setting. The story takes place in New York, London, and Paris, among other places, and focuses on a woman named Grace. Grace is a bored and unhappy housewife who wants a life with more meaning. One day, she discovers that she’s been named in a will and been bequeathed an apartment in Paris. The only problem is that Grace knows nothing about the woman, Eva, who left the apartment in her name, so she decides to uncover this woman’s story and her connection to Grace.
The writing was good in this novel and the author did a good job of evoking the different scents she described. I wanted Grace to have a bit more oomph and gumption as a character, which she did develop a bit over the course of the novel. There was a strong theme of independence and of a woman being able to choose her own path. Thanks to societal norms, women didn’t (don’t) always have a lot of choices, and it was interesting to see both Grace and Eva navigate around societal constraints.
I thought this was a solid piece of historical fiction and I loved reading about the lifestyles in the various settings, particularly the scenes that took place in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. I would definitely read more of Tessaro’s work.
I chose this book for its cosmopolitan setting. The story takes place in New York, London, and Paris, among other places, and focuses on a woman named Grace. Grace is a bored and unhappy housewife who wants a life with more meaning. One day, she discovers that she’s been named in a will and been bequeathed an apartment in Paris. The only problem is that Grace knows nothing about the woman, Eva, who left the apartment in her name, so she decides to uncover this woman’s story and her connection to Grace.
The writing was good in this novel and the author did a good job of evoking the different scents she described. I wanted Grace to have a bit more oomph and gumption as a character, which she did develop a bit over the course of the novel. There was a strong theme of independence and of a woman being able to choose her own path. Thanks to societal norms, women didn’t (don’t) always have a lot of choices, and it was interesting to see both Grace and Eva navigate around societal constraints.
I thought this was a solid piece of historical fiction and I loved reading about the lifestyles in the various settings, particularly the scenes that took place in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. I would definitely read more of Tessaro’s work.
Remember when I talked about the danger of buzzy books? Well I’d seen a quite a bit of buzz about this book, but it disappointed me. Not to say that it was bad, but my expectations didn’t match the reality. After reading two solid thrillers, I wanted to dive into another one. This book is described as a thriller, but really it’s an exploration of these characters that happens to include a mystery, which is not as central to the story as you might think.
Lucinda Hayes is the girl who was murdered. Cameron is the boy who was in love with her, Jade is the girl who grew up with her, and Russ is one of the cops handling her case. The story is really about these three characters and their ideas about who Lucinda was. It’s set in a small town in the mountains of Colorado, one of those towns that doesn’t have much going on.
The book explores how we become who we are as people. Are we shaped by our environment, or the people who raise us, or the way we are treated by others? The answer is all of these things, and more.
While the writing was lyrical, and often beautiful, I wished that the story was stronger. The characters were strong and it was interesting to be in their minds for a while, but I lacked a deeper connection to the narrative.
Lucinda Hayes is the girl who was murdered. Cameron is the boy who was in love with her, Jade is the girl who grew up with her, and Russ is one of the cops handling her case. The story is really about these three characters and their ideas about who Lucinda was. It’s set in a small town in the mountains of Colorado, one of those towns that doesn’t have much going on.
The book explores how we become who we are as people. Are we shaped by our environment, or the people who raise us, or the way we are treated by others? The answer is all of these things, and more.
While the writing was lyrical, and often beautiful, I wished that the story was stronger. The characters were strong and it was interesting to be in their minds for a while, but I lacked a deeper connection to the narrative.