sarahrahrah's reviews
98 reviews

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

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

4.0

Delightful, read in one-sitting (staying up far too late...)
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

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adventurous funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

I'm glad I read The No Show prior to this one, because I was really put off by the choppy writing style of Leon's chapters. But because I loved O'Leary's other novel, I stuck with it and grew to love this one too! 
The No-Show by Beth O'Leary

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I was immediately intrigued by the blurb/premise, and for the first half of the book was fully engrossed in figuring out this Joseph Carter fella, and how he could be so perfect and charming while dating three different women (cheating bastard!). But by the end, I was in love with all the characters and each love story and liked how the author revealed the different timelines and each character's "happily-ever-after". The story touched a lot on mental health, grief, trauma, gaslighting, harassment, etc., etc., and I think the author did a lovely job of depicting them realistically without it becoming triggering. I loved it, can't wait to read more from Beth O'Leary 
Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

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

4.0

Easy, feel-good read and now I'm itching to plan a trip back to canylonlands and "to-hell-you-ride" 
The Winners by Fredrik Backman

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

Thes last few chapters and character's  conclusions are devastating and emotional, but wrap up the sage so well. I enjoyed reading this series 
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The 2nd installment of the Beartown trilogy drew me in and captivated me just as much as the first. I enjoyed the focus on characters and their various motivations. 

As when I read Beartown, when I started reading I was a bit annoyed by the writing style of giving glimpses and hints of what's to come, or outright telling you vaguely, but then the characters and the story captivated me and I flew through reading to the end. 

I both liked and disliked that this one was more focused on the nitty gritty of the politics, but Backman writes in an interesting enough way to not make it tedious or boring. 

Very enjoyable continuation of this series! 
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Amazing read! Loved the journey from cover to cover, and couldn't get enough of the brilliant and magnanimous Elizabeth Zott! 
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 60%.
I really tried to get through this book, but found it too be too boring and a little too ridiculously easy for the MC to get past every hardship. I liked the concept, and loved all the interwoven book references, and also found much of the Scottish highland descriptions to be really well-written. But the plot was so boring, it felt like Nina just kept stumbling upward into success, and I couldn't get past how STUPID and unbelievable it was that the train was able to stop in time to not obliterate her and her stalled car on the tracks. I also did not care at all about the intrigue of the train conductor love interest or even maybe the farmer landlord? which I think was really the only thing left to read about now that she had gotten her little van bookshop up and running. OH, and my god what a STUPID name she picked for her new business - the little shop of happily ever after. Maybe I'm just too critical and jaded, but *gag* it's just too much
Beartown by Fredrik Backman

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I went into reading this knowing nothing about it, other than having seen lots of praise and recommendations for it. It right away starts the intrigue with the short chapter one and the "this is the story of how we got there," and then goes on to develop the town and characters and explain all the various aspects of living in a "hockey town". Because of that first chapter, I assumed that the "violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil" from the back blurb was about someone killing someone else with a shotgun. Even though Backman does a phenomenal job of hinting at what's coming through the character development and locker room culture, I was still unprepared for when
Kevin rapes Maya
and emotionally had a hard time continuing to read after that moment. But all in all it was a fantastic book with lots of interesting themes and thoughts about the human experience wrapped up in an interesting story about a small hockey town.
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