redlipstickandreading's reviews
425 reviews

Caught on Camera by Chelsea Curto

funny lighthearted 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? No

4.0

Sleep Tight by J.H. Markert

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I genuinely have no idea how to rate this book. I Who Have Never Known Men is a speculative sci-fi book about a group of women surviving all alone after being held prisoner on an alien planet. So much is left up in the air/unexplained and it is deeply introspective. This book is so melancholy with ribbons of hope woven throughout. It felt very much like a cloudy spring day when all the trees are in bloom. Highly recommend, this is one that will stay with me for a long time. 

Camera Chemistry by Chelsea Curto

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore

funny fast-paced

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

4.0

When I was younger, I was a Bachelor/Bachelorette girlie. But despite a brief return during the pandemic that mostly fizzled out when I left undergrad. But I used to joke about going on just long enough to go on one or two trips and then you get to be a D-List celebrity and do Dancing With The Stars. Which is basically the FMC's Jac plan; a struggling author she plans to make it to hometowns, become America's sweetheart and drum up book sales. But it becomes clear once she arrives in the house she's being painted as the bitch of the season. 

This was a fun read. The behind the scenes view of how they film that show was interesting and a little horrifying. Apparently the author based it heavily on previous contests memoirs/interviews. It was an interesting reminder that they are selling a story and what we see is likely nothing like actual reality. The romance plot (I hesitate to say side plot because it's so interwoven) was frustrating but only because the author wrote them as flawed hurt people so it felt justified in its own way. All the characters are flawed and make bad choices but you end up at least feeling sympathy for the majority of them. I was a bit on the fence at the beginning but ended up really enjoying this one. 

When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

This one got so much hype on booksta for a few months, so I was excited to start it. Overall I finished being underwhelmed. I liked the setting and the magic system was interesting though a bit to get through to understand it. Plus the authors prose is beautiful. But the pacing was inconsistent and at multiple points the prose while beautiful felt repetitive and unneeded. I spent a lot of the book wanting it to hurry up to the 'twist' and the action. Forewarning this book starts with a chonky lore drop which was a lot to start with. And then the characters...ugh the characters. So much felt like the author just taking the popular 'booktok' tropes and mashing them together to try and make a viral book. I didn't really like any of them which contributed to the pacing issues. There was a little surprise at the end but not enough to make me eager to reach for the next one

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters

challenging sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to like this one more than I did. My company buys us a book every year for Black History Month and this was on the approved list. I was intrigued by the premise, that the modern world is as we experience it except the Civil War never happened and slavery has been codified in the Constitution. The narrator (who goes by several names) is a former slave who finds runaway slaves for the Marshal Service. And he's put on the case of a young man called Jackdaw who may have to potential to upend the whole system. 

Despite a really interesting premise I just didn't connect with any of the characters or ever really vibe with the writing style. I spent most of the book just trying to get to the conclusion. But once I did I found out the author is a white man; writing from the perspective of a runaway slave dealing with being a slave catcher doesn't feel like a story for a non-POC to tell. 

Penelope in Retrograde by Brooke Abrams

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

2.0

And here is where the March 5 star streak ended. I don't know what the point of this book even is. I was just looking for a quick read (this is under 250 pages) but this took a long time to finish. Honestly this book showed me I need to be better at DNF-ing books. Truly this book was pointless and made no sense. 

PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly

challenging emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book very unexpectedly hit me right in the feels. This book focuses on Maddie processing the death of her brother Josh while completing his last wish of spreading his ashes in the 8 states he never visited alongside Josh's best friend (and Maddie's kind of ex) Dom. Quick personal story, early 2024 my brother (who I'm very close to) had a medical crisis and lost the ability to walk. For some time no one could explain why or if it would get better to continue to progress. Luckily now a little more than a year later, he's walking with assistance and in a much better place (and about to get married!). But this story really tapped into all those feelings of uncertainty and loss and I felt very connected to the characters. It reminded me that one of the many reasons I love reading is seeing your emotions in characters and getting to someone else play them out. 

Not what I was expecting at all when I started this one but  a welcome surprise. 

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous mysterious 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

4.75

I'm only a little late to the party for Onyx Storm. Honestly after seeing all the reviews I was worried going into this one, there seemed to be a lot of negativity. Honestly I loved Onyx Storm and definitely thought it was better than Iron Flame. I thought Onyx Storm brought back a lot of the humor and banter from Fourth Wing while still sticking with a overall more serious tone. I've seen a lot of comments that there was unnecessary world building but I found all the new info both necessary to the story and actually interesting? I loved seeing all the new islands. Also as someone who is terrible at remembering characters I surprisingly had no issues with this one. While I wish the book was shorter (it's a door stop to be sure) it kept a pretty consistent pace, except for the ending. The POV switches were a little disjointed. I think I'm in the minority but I loved it.