rubybereading's reviews
70 reviews

Mother Country by Etaf Rum

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Heartbreaking but beautiful! This is one of the best short stories I've ever read. Such a full, heartfelt, deep, emotional and heavy story told in so few words. She captured something so hauntingly relatable for so many women. This made me think and realize it's time to try to get to the point where I can confront some of my own deep-seated thoughts, fears and emotions surrounding my own experiences with motherhood-from both sides. I appreciate this piece more than I expected to. I could've finished this in one sitting and in under an hour, but I had to keep putting it down to reflect on some of the messages being conveyed. This was very dark but hopeful and extremely relatable in so many ways. It brought up memories from my own childhood that I had tucked away. This was a very therapeutic experience for me.

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

***Damn near a 5⭐️ though!!!***

Wow.. just wow! I had to wait to write this because I was literally speechless afterwards. And my heart was ripped to shreds! Just...wow! This was an intriguing read that pulled me in from the beginning. Although it was kind of just okay after the first few chapters, about halfway through, I couldn't put it down and stayed up WAY too late to finish this! Even though it felt predictable and a little too obvious, it still had enough suspense to keep you engaged. And right when you think you've had it all figured out and you know what's about to happen, you're STILL at the edge of your seat, and then it blows you tf away! I saw a couple of people say that this one will sit with you for a while and, trust me, IT WILL! Omg! The tears wouldn't stop rolling after I hit the last few chapters. I felt like I got punched in the heart. And I was literally (!!!) speechless! Smh! 

Side note: I usually kind of hate when a book is a solid 3 to 3.5 throughout like 90% but then the last bit is the part that hits you so hard that it suddenly, allIll out of the blue (!), becomes a 4-4.5 or even edging toward a "5". But this one?? This one did that so well that I can't even be mad at it. It's a good 4.5 for sure, but I had to give it a little extra bump for how well-written and well done that ending was. Just WOW!!

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

dark funny medium-paced

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

4.75

4.9⭐️

1 did NOT expect a book about serial killers to have me smiling, laughing, blushing and going “awwwww!!!" from beginning to end. I didn't expect a serial killer to become one of my book boyfriends. I didn't expect to want a serial killer to put his **** all up in me. I didn't expect to want to hug another serial killer so tight and let her know how special she really is. I didn't expect to have dreams about this book and I didn't expect to be so sad that this is over. But all that happened. I have only a couple of small issues with this book, but not enough to care or even mention. The main one, though, is that I just wish it was at least twice as long because OMG I was obsessed! The banter. The obsession. The slow build. The angst. The genuine love. The lust! The everything. I loved all of it. The gore didn't even bother me. I'm legit sad that it's over. I almost went right back to the beginning to reread it as soon as it was done. Not even joking. I wish I could read this like it was my first time over and over again. 😍😍😍

The Teacher by Freida McFadden

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Don’t judge me, y’all!! Just hear me out…this is not getting 5 stars because I love pedophile stories. Ok? Please don’t do that. And, though I don’t necessarily agree with ppl who say this “glorifies pedophilia”, I completely understand why they feel that way. That part creeped me tf out and made my blood boil. I just don’t agree and I can’t say why without spoilers. But I can’t NOT give it 5 stars. It’s not even because it was so entertaining and well-written. It was as basic and middle of the road as any of her other writings. But, damnit man!!! This one hit me hard. First of all, the twists?? I can’t believe this was so unpredictable considering this is a Freida McFadden book. But the twists??? They were twisting!! And they threw my ass across the gotdamn room! I was SO pissed once this was done. PISSED!! I had a visceral reaction! I felt betrayed and taken advantage of. Bitch I felt like I was groomed my gotdamn self! I can’t explain without spoiling it. But, just for the reactions, I’m sorry!! This earned all 5 stars. I even made myself sleep on it before deciding how to rate this, & I’m STILL pissed. But she earned that 5! DON’T JUDGE ME! Smh! 

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

*Exasperated sigh*… I really REALLY wanted to like this one. This is my 2nd Liselle Sambury read, the 1st being “Tender Beasts” which I did not enjoy, however I felt the author was a decent writer and wanted to give her a 2nd chance. I have, and she perplexes me. It’s not the worst book I’ve read, but it’s not  that good either. It was so incredibly, exasperatingly, horribly, mind-blowingly boring. It was boring as all FAWK! Mostly because there was more tell than show, and the characters weren’t interesting. And it was twice as long as need be. I wanted to DNF so many times, but I wanted to give it a chance to redeem itself. Out of 50 (or so?) chapters, only the final 2 shed a small beacon of light. I even almost shed a random a** tear. But said tear was halted by the reminder that I was bored and confused out of my ever loving mind throughout the first 48 of 50 chapters. I felt like making the last -0.0001% of the book tug at your heartstrings was cheap and lazy and insulted my intelligence. I didn’t hate it, but I also kind of hated it. Kind of a lot. Still, it’s perplexing, because it still gets a 2.5 out of me. I’m so confused! 

Btw, why is this listed as a “horror”?? This was creepy for sure, but horror? No. If I read a horror, I wanna be…ya know…horrified. No? Is that too much to ask? But I digress. Anyway, I think I’m good on Liselle. Bless her heart, but I’m good.

The Magician by Rebecca Serle

emotional reflective 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? No

1.5

The ending made me smile (literally the last 2 lines), and I loved the free-spirited attitude/nature of the mom, but this was incredibly boring and gave me NO reason to care about the characters. I'm glad it was only -0.00002 seconds long, but that's probably also part of the problem. This felt lazy, even for a short story. Like the writer didn't care and was just like, "hunh. Just take this. I'm sleepy", and Amazon was like "Sure. Whatever. It'll do."  Smh. I could've saved my -0.00002 seconds of time, but oh well. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Binding 13 Part 2 by Chloe Walsh

dark emotional funny sad tense slow-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

4.5

4.5⭐️, but would’ve been 5 if it wasn’t so long, wordy and repetitive with the inner thoughts, dialogue, and interactions among the characters.

Pros: So cute seeing their relationship and feelings grow! And how protective they both were of each other. It was even  adorable how they tried to fight it! I loved their best friends too. Especially Gibbs!

Cons: long-winded and redundant AF! This book could’ve easily been 1/2 as long. Its adorableness made the length bearable though. 

Overall: I loved it! It reminded me of some of my own puppy love from HS (but theirs was WAY more intense). Still, it rode the middle for me through most of the book, UNTIL (!!!) the “Songs for Shannon” playlist! 😍😍😍 I was through after that! I fell apart and could barely get myself back together. I hated the cliffhanger at the end, but I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Not right now, though! This was WAY too long. I need a quick break from this story before I dive back in. Sheesh! 🙄

Binding 13: Part One by Chloe Walsh

emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This is very long-winded and wordy, but it's so adorable. Reminds me of high school. Puppy love is so cute! 

Listening to Part 2 immediately!! ❤️❤️❤️

The Other Side of the Road by Andrea Bartz

dark mysterious fast-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

4.0

This was a heart-thumping suspenseful and almost scary short story. I did NOT expect that ending AT ALL! I need to read or watch something fluffy so some of those scenes don't work into my dreams tonight (the mental image of somebody watching somebody else through their window scares the CRAP out of me!!!). Sheeeeeesh! The only thing that could've made this story better is if it was longer and more drawn out to build even more suspense. 

Actually, now that I think about it, it kind of read like it WAS originally a longer story that was cut short in big chunks-not delicately edited--but that's fine. If not for that, though, this would've been closer to a 5-star read for me.

We Were Mothers by Katie Sise

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.75

1.75 

This book was a hard one. I chose it because it was already in my kindle app from YEARS ago (it was a free Amazon First Reads selection) so it was easily accessible and I was trying to get out of a 2 decade long reading slump. But, MY GOD, this was hard to get through. The first half dragged on for what felt like months. Way too much character building and background story to lead up to the action. I almost nf'd it so many times, but I was determined to finish it since I hadn't read a book in vears (I've read mabe 4 or 5 books in the past 20 years-most between 2016 to 2018-though I own many books and was a very avid reader before I had kids). 

I'm trying to get back to the kind of reader I used to be when I was reading at least 2-4 books a week in my teens and early 20s, so I forced myself to finish it. I'm a little glad I did though. 

Once it picked up the pace, just over halfway through it, it did get okay enough. It did feel like all the action and the "twisty" stuff got jammed in real quick like they just wanted to go ahead and get it over with, but it was suspenseful and had some good twists and turns that made me stay up late to finish it the final night of the TWO whole weeks it took me to force-feed it to myself. That being said, I actually would maybe even give it 2.5 stars if the climax had started to build a little sooner. Overall, it was okay at the end. I even almost shed a tear, but that was because one little piece of the end hit close to home. I definitely won't be reading another one by the writer, but she tried. I can appreciate that if nothing else. I do wish I had chosen a better book to get me out of my slump though. Oh well.