xoxobookishgirl's reviews
464 reviews

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod

Go to review page

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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

4.0

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rep : (Implied) Lesbian MCs, Sapphic Romance

🛏️Only One Bed
❤️Regency Historical Romance
🖤Recently Widowed
📖Pride and Prejudice Retelling
😔Discussions of Grief
👭Friends to Lovers
🏳️‍🌈Discovering Sexuality

'How long can one hold a friend's hand without being thought odd?'

'She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the ache. A lifetime's worth of repression spilling out. "I thought I was quite alone."'

What I Loved
1) The regency vibes were perfect!

2) The discussion of what it's like to be a widow in the regency era and the expectations put on a widow

3) I love all the disses to Mr Collins in Charlotte's head. They had me laughing so much.

4) The banter and chemistry in the romance was exactly my taste. The slow burn had me so invested!

5) The discussion of Charlotte grieving Mr Collins not being in the way that is expected I could see make a lot of people being seen.

6) Often in books with one person discovering their sexuality, the other is really pushy but in this I truly felt Mary was being respectful and waiting until she was 100% comfortable with anything.

What I Disliked
1) After the couple got together, it basically went from a complete slowburn to being a lot of sex scenes at once and it's just not my personal preference.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little Brown Book Group and Lindz McLeod for this arc in exchange for an honest review

Content Warnings

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.0

Gruesome Getaway by R.N. Cogley

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

⭐⭐✨
Rep : Achillean MC

🍀Set in Ireland
🎃Near Halloween
😮Cult Horror

What I Liked
1) I love that the MC is a forensic psychologist since its the career path I want to go into

2) It was entertaining enough but it was so surface level. It sort of feel like the first 100 pages in a full novel setting up stuff but then immediately skips to the climax. The pacing was really off I wish more time was spent learning about the cult as personally the cult vibes are why I was interested in this.

What I Disliked
1) I hated that the main focus of this book was the MC being cheated on because it just took up way too much of what is meant to be a horror.

2) I'm usually not bothered by pop culture references but there was a lot and it just took me out of the atmosphere.

3) To say he is meant to be a forensic psychologist he does not take all of the signs that some shit was going on serious enough.

4) Declan was sooo dumb it was frustrating to read. Their actions and reactions to stuff don't make logical sense its like they don't have a sense of danger.

Thank you to Netgalley, Cranthorpe Millner Publishers and R.N. Cogley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

Content Warnings