specificwonderland's reviews
846 reviews

Jillian by Halle Butler

dark funny tense medium-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

4.5

I loved this book. I highlighted many passages. I find Halle Butler's writing style hilarious. It can be very dry, straight, poignant observations on life, followed by something totally irreverent. 

----
"The bus was the same as always, the elevator and the halIway were the same as always, the greeting from Jillian was the same as always, the way her desk felt was the same as always, the slowness of the
computer was the same as always, and as always Megan's mind idlyfloated to the subject of suicide." 

----

"She made her browser window as small as she could, paused for a second, and then looked up Carrie Wilkins. She found Carrie's website, and on it, this bio: 

Hi, my name's Carrie. I'm 26. I make things. I paint and I write, but mostly I design. I like
to make things beautiful, or creative. I make my own food and I'm trying to grow my own beets. A lot of people around me seem unhappy and I don't understand why. I
freelance because I know I'd go insane if I couldn't make my own schedule-I believe variety is the zest of life. I know I want a dog
some day soon, and sometimes I make lunch at 3:00 a.m. I believe in the power of collaboration, and I'd love to work with you! 

What a total asshole. What does she have, some kind of a pact with Satan?"
----
"What would be the most just vehicle to wrest me from this mortal coil? A Vespa? Yes, I want to be hit in the neck by the front tire of a Vespa, that way my face won't be covered by a car when I die." 
----
"Infinity's moment sounded like the jargon of a pedophile, and the phrase repulsed Megan, but she couldn't stop thinking it"

I don't know, something about it, I just love. It's so cutting and dark. It feels like the way I thought in my 20s, or even now. I would absolutely read more work from Halle Butler. The only thing I think could be better is the plot could be a little more driving, there wasn't a huge story arc for some of the character's. The character development eclipsed the plot in this case but I enjoyed the journey from a to b. 

Daughter by Claudia Dey

mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

3.0

This book was kind of boring. I heard about it from a YouTuber who named dropped Monsters by Claire Dederer in relation to this book. It is tangentially related but this book was a sad slog. I am not sure if I would read anything else from this writer. It was very introspective and I think I prefer less rumination and more plot propulsion. It was okay. 

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous

dark sad tense 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

4.0

Ok I found this book from a tiktok trend where you type in "book" and the the first book that comes up is algorithmically aligned with you and you'd probably like it. This was my book. 

When I started it, I thought 'How strange Tiktok aligned me with this book,' because it was ruthless and violent and mean. I do read those kind of books and I'm not sure how Tiktok knew that. I was kind of bored though - after Cows, I feel like violence for the sake of violence (especially against women, perpetrated by a man) is boring. Change the record. I'm tired of that. What an uninspired tale. But this book pulled out of the lurch! The guy was a piece of shit for awhile but, just like in real life, sometimes people change. 

He got sober. He stopped inflicting senseless violence against women. He moved and started over. He is now a workaholic. He stays focused. He goes to AA. I was rooting for him. Which is why the 2nd half was such a shock. He is slowly duped in a karmic twist, just like he describes in Saving Private Ryan. Just because he's changed doesn't mean everyone around him is benevolently rooting for him, or just quietly ignoring him. No he attracted another psychopath with his pheromones or wounded puppy archetype. This was pretty good! I was really wondering where it would end, and I found the ending satisfying. I would watch a movie of this!

Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim Vandehei, Roy Schwartz, Mike Allen

informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

I made a Google doc with the chapter 23s cheat sheets to refer back to at work. I also loved the axioshq smart brevity tool - you can upload a piece of writing and it will smart brevity-fy it with suggestions. 

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

I was geared up to find this mediocre. But it was really cute. I found it very sweet! Liz was a fun main character. I think the characters were nuanced enough. I had a good sense of Liz's healing from her internal monologue and her actions. I could feel her grief; her whole family and community experienced this loss in different ways and I appreciated the way the author told that story. I would chuckle at parts and also tear up at others. I thought it was a bit prudish for high schoolers, I was a bit more sexualized than the characters but for a book aimed at s younger audience, I let it slide! 

Hell House by Richard Matheson

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

This was boring. Something about the story never really held my interest. I didn't like the audio narrator, one male voice doing all the characters. As I filled out the review, I think the character depth was missing for me. I didn't think the characters were faceted. 

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Two people I think would enjoy this book in my life are 

1. A recruiter 
2. A pro choice friend living in SF 


I would read more by this author. I liked the pacing and the plot. The atmosphere did a good job of feeling suffocating and artificial. Her friendships felt possibly rooted in reality for someone in that lifestyle. For someone working in tech, this felt omniscient at times, especially when Cassie can't find a moment's peace in the office, even in the bathroom.  And hey, we have the same name, this Cassie in tech feels that Cassie's pain. 

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

If I rated the book up to 55%, it'd be a lot closer to 5 stars. After that point, I felt like the book could've ended several times. There were just too many gotchas and surprises. I didn't find myself attached to the ancillary characters but I did connect with Annie. 

After Annie's escape, I don't think we needed to keep exploring the backstory of how The Freak obtained her. I was perfectly happy knowing he got his justice and wouldn't hurt anyone else. I suspected the mom because of their dynamic but yeah the plot just kind of ran amock with Annie banging Gary, Luke and Christina banging while she was gone, and her uncle or whoever in prison meeting other criminals. The last 25-50% dragged for me, I was getting fatigued being thrown more plot points.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Death of parent

Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London's Ottolenghi [A Cookbook] by Yotam Ottolenghi

3.5

Flock by Kate Stewart

adventurous mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I liked this book and will go onto #2 (Exodus) but I do think her dialogue is a bit fake. The dramatic discussions between characters didn't ring true to me, but maybe I can't remember what it's like being 19. I liked the role of music in the book and discovered a new song, K by Cigarettes After Sex. I liked that this was a bit deeper and complex than your average romance. I feel like the average romance I read is Debbie Macomber-esque, fairly clean, Puritanical, straight-line strangers to matrimony, and simple. These characters had more depth, characteristic-wise, but the same weird hangups DM MCs usually have, where the female kind of spins out over something small (how could he ever accept me when he finds out I like to crochet or some shit) and the male is kind of distant and broody. I liked that these characters weren't all good or all bad. 

I honestly think Dom and Sean seem a bit toxic but it was still a fun romp, and I'll keep going to see more about The Frenchman, Horner Industries, and the Ravenhood. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer