velvetyaverage's reviews
273 reviews

Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant: How Nannying for the 1% Taught Me about the Myths of Equality, Motherhood, and Upward Mobility in America by Stephanie Kiser
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.

I’ve read other memoirs that discuss these same things—especially poverty and social class—but better. I gravitated to this book for discussions about motherhood and so far what little we’ve gotten has been only surface level. There’s just not much that I’m enjoying or taking away from this so I’m cutting my losses.

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians by Phil Elwood

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt

V. E. Schwab's ExtraOrdinary #2 by V.E. Schwab

adventurous tense fast-paced

3.0

Runnin' No More by G.T. Dípè
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.

Thank you to the author for the advanced copy through StoryGraph’s giveaway!

Unfortunately, this is just not the book for me. The writing style is incredibly stilted and in need of another pass of editing. The characters are two dimensional and leave the story’s world feeling hollow. Which makes the insta-love even less believable. A quarter of the way through the book and the only thing they mention consistently is finding each other sexy. There’s no chemistry. I genuinely was starting to wonder if this was meant to be erotica because of how obsessively the physical attraction is mentioned and how frequently these two are trying to—unsuccessfully—bang. I’m pretty sure they attempted hooking up three times in the span of a single chapter! They’re just horny all the time! By chapter 6 though it felt like the book was turning toward melodrama and the characters are not strong enough to maintain my attention through that. I’m tapping out.

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't A Guy At All Vol. 2 by Sumiko Arai

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

My Kind of Trouble by L.A. Schwartz

funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The House of My Mother by Shari Franke

dark emotional sad medium-paced

I'm not sure I can settle on a star rating for this one. It's well written, impactful, and definitely worth the read. There were portions of the book that I took a little too personally, though. I grew up Mormon and, although I have since distanced myself from the church, I could see some of my own experience with the church reflected in this book. The fact that church leadership chose to take away Shari's temple recommend after she came forward about being a victim of sexual assault made me sick to my stomach. And I am still so upset, even hours after finishing the book, that I don't trust myself to be impartial in my rating.

Definitely recommend the book, though. I have a lot of respect for Shari choosing to reclaim her story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking

Moderate: Sexual assault

The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m conflicted on this one. On the one hand, I can see why everyone is raving about Talia Hibbert. Objectively, this is a good romance novel. On the other hand, personally I’m not a huge spice fan and there’s a lot of it in here. Like… a lot. So I think I’m going to settle on a four because the book deserves it, even if it’s not to my particular taste in some ways.