thosebookishpages's reviews
112 reviews

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This was such a perfect mystery thriller with great conversations that YA books often tend to ignore.
I loved how the effects of a murder were explored through the eyes of people with various experiences.
Thoroughly enjoyed this one and I’m really looking forward to reading this trilogy!

Autumn by Ali Smith

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challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Verity by Colleen Hoover

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dark tense fast-paced

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

1.0

getting straight to the point- if you've read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and then read Verity, you know exactly what im gonna talk about in this review.
I feel like Colleen Hoover read Rebecca and decided that she wants to write Rebecca Fanfiction, and thats how this book was born. so many of the plot points, character arcs and plot twists have been picked up from Rebecca and just directly thrown into this book, so i made a list of those :)

Rebecca and Verity:
- Title is the wife’s names (Rebecca and Verity)
- Nameless character-character with more than one name (lack of identity)
- Older man falling in love dynamic
- Wife dead/can’t move around by her self so incapable of doing things
- The house’s description, the driveway, everything
- Trusted maid/nurse who judges the main character and doesn’t like her (Mrs. Danvers and April)
- Verity’s office- Rebecca’s morning room
- The conflict of not being as good as Verity/Rebecca
- Landscape surrounding the house
- Husband killing the wife and getting away with it

i honestly tried so hard to like this book but it just wasn't for me. the main reason for this was the fact that the author's originality was lost amongst all the points she took from Rebecca. even the writing just wasn't doing it for me. i feel like it lacked nuance and wasn't refined.
SO MANY of the things in this book were disturbing to an extent that it was physically hard for me to continue reading. the way in which the things were described was so traumatic and unnecessary, i feel like this shouldn't have been the case and it shouldn't have been written in the first place. (please read the trigger warnings before reading the book)

i don't know what else to say about this apart from the fact that i didn't like this book.
the only good critique is that Colleen Hoover is fairly good at writing horror/supernatural elements and i would've enjoyed this book much more if i got to see more of that.

Content Warnings

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

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adventurous dark funny slow-paced

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

2.5

this book is getting a 2.5 star rating simply cause it was funny and entertaining but that’s where it end.
otherwise i’m mad at it.

-spoilers-

i don’t like how grace’s hard work went down the drains only for her price to be claimed by a man at the end, it
it was unfair
the attention to detail was good but the book dragged on so much. i feel like you could eliminate 40% of the things in here and still have a perfectly good story that would be even more entertaining

in conclusion this was funny and entertaining but i’m mad at the ending

Content Warnings

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

When I started reading this book it was a solid 3 star in my opinion. But it definitely got progressively better by the time I reached the mid way mark. Max's entry in the book added another layer of complexity that i enjoyed reading. Even Ilsa Hermann was a great character to read about, so needless to say Max and Ilsa were my favourite characters in the book.

Unfortunately, I found myself losing interest in the plot after Part 6 or so. The book was an up-and-down graph after that, therefore I rated it 3.75 stars.

The entire 'narrated by Death' thing is really cool. My only critique is that the book did drag a bit for me and certainly there were parts that could've been eliminated all together. But overall I enjoyed it and do recommend you to pick it up as it gives great insight into the hideous side of a War that is explored through the perspective of an innocent girl and in turn narrated by Death.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced