rachelmerrie's reviews
360 reviews

Weyward by Emilia Hart

3.5

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

adventurous challenging funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this and will probably end up purchasing it in the future. 

The “he can do x number of impossible things before breakfast” threw me off at first, I wasn’t sure if I was about to read an Alice in Wonderland spin-off. 

Lady Mourningwood.. really?

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I’m not entirely sure what I just read or how to rate it. I’ve never read anything like it; it was beautiful and sad, but I don’t think I fully grasped the purpose. 

Update: 

I’ve never read anything like this and it is something that continues to come to mind even weeks after finishing it. I believe it was beautifully written and I loved the way he viewed the House as a place to be loved and cherished and nurtured. I loved his admiration for everything the House had to offer and the way he felt blessed by everything the House gave to him, even the dead. 

Through my Book Club meeting on this book, a conversation was sparked asking if we believed the House was real, or if Piranesi was going through a psychotic break. It was in that moment I realized the House very easily could be the result of his experiencing extreme trauma, but of it being his only true comfort and of him finding the beauty in what he is given from the House. I believe if the House were to represent his mind and the way he copes with trauma, that the police officer was the only one able to “find” him because she was the only one willing and able to ask questions in a respectful way that allowed him the ability to share the beauty that came from the trauma. An example of this being the Other frequented the House, yet he never respected it or saw the beauty of it, therefore, Piranesi has no way of sharing his truest deepest gratitude toward it with the Other. 

Now that I’m writing this review, I almost wonder if his encounter with the Prophet wasn’t Piranesi’s way of remembering his abuser in the vaguest sense and refusing to villainize him for his own sanity? Maybe he forgot about the traumas he was put through because of the Prophet and when it was brought to his attention, he chose a different mindset over reliving the mental agony of remembering his abuser and what was done to him? 

I love the way he associates his two names with the two different times in his life. Before the House and during the House. After we go through traumatic events, we lose pieces of ourselves (or sometimes our entire selves) and the person who is going through the thick of the trauma is not the person who has yet to endure it. And those who come out on the other side are neither of the two and evolve into an entirely new person, which he did. I love that he holds his past selves in his heart for safe keeping to always love and protect. 

Disliked (?):

-Piranesi felt very young to me and it was strange picturing him as a 30 year old educated man. But now writing this review and thinking of the book as a psychotic break, I can see how the character wouldn’t have the same mindset he had before everything happened. He is navigating this new world and re-wiring his brain to cope with his losses and it’s as if he has to start this new path from infancy and crawl before he can walk. 

-I wish there was more backstory on Arne-Sayles, why he went to prison, what his crimes were, and how Piranesi got to the House. However, those are mainly questions I’d have if I chose to believe the House was real and not part of Piranesi’s mental health journey (unsure what to believe at this point). With the mindset of believing the House is in his head, maybe it doesn’t matter how or why Piranesi became involved with Arne-Sayles or what he’s done to deserve his imprisonment. Maybe the author left this piece vague so everyone who has been through a trauma event could see the world through Piranesi’s eyes without the specifics of what he went through segregating the reader? 

Unsure, but overall I believe this book will forever be flowing and crashing through my mind. 

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

medium-paced

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

3.0

Everything I loved in the first book is missing in this one, but hey, there’s a 6’4” giant man with a giant … so I guess that makes up for the lack of communication. Also, I probably would’ve enjoyed it more if I didn’t listen to the audio. Cindy Kay’s voice is unbearable. LOVED the ending though. 

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? No

5.0

Just what I needed, right when I needed it. 

I really loved all of the characters and the open lines of communication between each of them. None of that “I’m mad/sad/frustrated, but not going to tell you why, and won’t talk to you for a few days with absolutely no explanation.” No awkward tension for months on end because they wouldn’t let situations get to a place of resentment. 

The ending GUTTED me. 

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

5.0

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

3.0

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This book frustrated me in many ways, but the generational traumas that were preventing each generation from succeeding in the next society bothered me the most. America (especially the south) may not be where we want it to be, but neglecting to acknowledge the lengths EVERY race has gone through to get to where we are today will only continue the momentum of segregation. Choosing schools, therapists, friends, clubs, etc. on race and having the inability to see people for who they are today and not what their ancestors did in the past will continue to segregate and limit us from growing TOGETHER. Terrible things happen every single day to every single race from same-raced or different-raced people, and although this creates racial biases, believing that an entire population of people think/act the same is not the way to progress. 

“I cry for my ancestors, for my family, for my mother, for all of my people for the thread of death and violence forcibly woven into our blood and the resistance we had to grow to survive it. I cry for the deaths I witnessed and couldn’t stop. I’m not the chosen one. I am the product of violence. I just want to be my mother‘s daughter and my father’s. I just want to be me, but I know it will never be that simple again. I will never be that simple again. My lineages are bound together in inextricable, horrible truths, and there’s no untangling them from my destiny whether I’m ready to face it or not.” 

I believe it is one thing to acknowledge and educate about past generations; and an entirely other thing to make our children believe that because of the sad realities of our generational histories, that they will never be able to break these cycles, that they should have to carry the traumas of the past in order to be tied to their lineage. 

The Hobbit: or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.0

Riddle me this: how are modern day individuals meant to digest this text?

I had the most difficult time finding/holding interest in the writing and the story. It wasn’t until the end that the purpose of the adventure was explained. 

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

challenging hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

My review may be biased on the fact that I recently read Tuesday Moody Talks to Ghosts and didn’t enjoy that one a little more than I didn’t mind this one. 

Maybe a 3.5 rounded down? It just didn’t hold my interest enough to want to continue on through the series. Maybe that’s because I hated every single character? Maybe it’s because there was a lot of “Emily wouldn’t have wanted it this way” when Emily is insignificant and it doesn’t matter what a teenage girl would or wouldn’t have wanted? 🤣 She’s not even a main character or part of the main puzzle in my opinion. 

Additionally, I felt that some riddles were guessable, and I suck at riddles. 

The ending is the only thing that may have gotten me to continue reading, but I’m not sure I care for any of the characters enough to care how it turns out. (Maybe after some time away, my mindset will change).