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stormlightreader's Reviews (934)
It's possible this book is a little misleading because going into it, I didn't realise it is more of a memoir with a lot of information on Mexico’s history and culture. This book is told from the POV of a reporter who loves his home country but who is also heartbroken by what is happening to it. He has an unwavering hope that Mexico can rise above the violence of the drug cartels only to be saddened by the reach that the cartels have.
The writing is a little melodramatic at times, so much so that it made me forget I was reading nonfiction at times. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from this book. Corchado writing about his Mexican-American identity and Mexico's history was so interesting. The writing feels a little all over the place, but with nonfiction it doesn't bother me too much. The introductory chapters set out the current problem and the majority of the rest of the book revisits previous encounters that inform the reader of events leading up to those initial chapters. Corchado provides a grim perspective of what it's like to live in Mexico, particularly as a Mexican who is not rich.
The writing is a little melodramatic at times, so much so that it made me forget I was reading nonfiction at times. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from this book. Corchado writing about his Mexican-American identity and Mexico's history was so interesting. The writing feels a little all over the place, but with nonfiction it doesn't bother me too much. The introductory chapters set out the current problem and the majority of the rest of the book revisits previous encounters that inform the reader of events leading up to those initial chapters. Corchado provides a grim perspective of what it's like to live in Mexico, particularly as a Mexican who is not rich.
This one was okay but I liked Big Chicas Don't Cry more. I did like Gabby's growth in the story, though I found her anger in the face of a generous offer of a house/money a little odd, but I guess due to her loyalty to her mother, it was somewhat understandable. The romance was a little underwhelming for me. I think the issue there was that I initially pictured the Mayor to be someone much older, so didn't initially see them as a realistic couple but more of a condescending older man talking down to a younger woman. Anyway, they finally won me over but I would have appreciated less of the miscommunication trope. It's my least favourite trope, but the pacing of these books means that these scenarios are resolved quickly. The audio narration was good for this one.
This was a fun read. I listened to the audio and the narration was very good. I can't explain why but some of my favourite parts were the family getting together to make tamales! I loved following the family navigating life and the look into Mexican culture, especially the importance of family. The family aspect of the book was lovely. I liked the different perspectives, I particularly liked Selena's and Mari's POVs. Overall, a very cute contemporary read.
Monstrilio is such a fascinating and bizarre book. It's a very nuanced perspective on how grief is dealt with, how it affects the people involved, both in response to the death itself and in response to how each person is dealing with their grief.
The POVs of Magos and Lena went from strength to strength. I sympathised with Magos but questioned some of her choices/comments. Then we move to Lena's POV and I really liked those chapters. I think Lena was my favourite character. Her POV kind of confirmed some of my feelings towards Magos and highlighted her flaws a bit more. Throughout Lena's POV I felt so much for M, the way Magos and Joseph were trying to deal with him and alter his behaviour, but I could also see how difficult M must have been to manage.
The momentum takes a bit of a dip with Joseph's POV, in my opinion, but the I liked the introduction of Uncle Luke, he was a nice character to have going into M's POV. Like Joseph's POV, I found M's to be slower than the POVs of Magos and Lena, but it gave some much needed insight into M's behaviour and how he was dealing with being created. The writing style also changes with M's POV, becoming quite short and choppy, which seems to align more with M's character.
The POVs are nicely paced for the most part and then towards the end of the first two POVs there is a noticeable time jump which does make sense and I appreciate that otherwise the story could have been substantially slowed down. I don't particularly agree with this book being categorised as horror, although, I can see why it has been.
The POVs of Magos and Lena went from strength to strength. I sympathised with Magos but questioned some of her choices/comments. Then we move to Lena's POV and I really liked those chapters. I think Lena was my favourite character. Her POV kind of confirmed some of my feelings towards Magos and highlighted her flaws a bit more. Throughout Lena's POV I felt so much for M, the way Magos and Joseph were trying to deal with him and alter his behaviour, but I could also see how difficult M must have been to manage.
The momentum takes a bit of a dip with Joseph's POV, in my opinion, but the I liked the introduction of Uncle Luke, he was a nice character to have going into M's POV. Like Joseph's POV, I found M's to be slower than the POVs of Magos and Lena, but it gave some much needed insight into M's behaviour and how he was dealing with being created. The writing style also changes with M's POV, becoming quite short and choppy, which seems to align more with M's character.
The POVs are nicely paced for the most part and then towards the end of the first two POVs there is a noticeable time jump which does make sense and I appreciate that otherwise the story could have been substantially slowed down. I don't particularly agree with this book being categorised as horror, although, I can see why it has been.
First read: I'm all caught up on the Reacher series, reading over 23 years of Reacher in under 4 years (2*)
Re-read: a pretty standard Reacher mission but even on reread it wasn’t any more exciting. It also felt fairly repetitive (2*)
Re-read: a pretty standard Reacher mission but even on reread it wasn’t any more exciting. It also felt fairly repetitive (2*)
I'm thoroughly enjoying this series so far. I still need to finish the last couple of episodes of the series but I'm enjoying seeing how the story is playing out slightly differently on the page and onscreen. One difference is Uhtred's relationship with Hild and I much prefer this relationship onscreen. We also meet Finan in Lords of the North. I adore Finan! He is my favourite character. He brings so much the books/show and he is such a good friend/companion to Uhtred. He's just wonderful. I'm excited to carry on with the series!
I liked book 1 and the idea of a series centred around a haunted house that follows the lives of the various inhabitants over the centuries was very appealing to me but book 2 tailed off a lot and wasn't as enjoyable as the first.
I enjoyed it. Michael Crichton's books always fascinate me and the fact that he provides a reference list at the end of his books is excellent!
I only read the Reacher short story.
First read: a short story that doesn't really fit the typical Reacher characteristics that I've come to know (carrying a bag), but that do get a semi-logical explanation. However, the simple resolution was a bit hard to believe. Are the authorities that happy to choose a believable explanation because it allows them to close a case on a bad guy? I'm not so sure. (3.5*)
First read: a short story that doesn't really fit the typical Reacher characteristics that I've come to know (carrying a bag), but that do get a semi-logical explanation. However, the simple resolution was a bit hard to believe. Are the authorities that happy to choose a believable explanation because it allows them to close a case on a bad guy? I'm not so sure. (3.5*)