Heartbreakingly good. I read “A Little Life” a very long time ago (aka i remember how it felt but not rly what happened) and this had similar vibes. It was beautiful but bleak- I know people who grew up like that, and it just feels rly shitty. Glad I read it tho, and overall it was hard to put down- HIGHLY recommend the audio version 💗

Wasn‘t sure how to rate this one bc, tbh, I didn‘t finish it. Wasn‘t a bail per se- I ran outta time with the library. But that is such a rare occasion that I can‘t help blame it a little on the book itself. It was good, and something I‘d usually go for, but probably the wrong time for it…the story was rly bringing me down and just didn‘t feel worth it. I‘d like to get back to it sometime, maybe when the waitlist is not so long.

Meh- I know this is YA but it felt rly young. I think I‘d have enjoyed it if I was a teen? Kinda silly as it is, and I didn‘t like any of the characters so 🤷🏽‍♀️

I haven‘t rly enjoyed the last “fairytale-esque” books I‘ve read, but this restored my faith in the genre. Beautifully written, magical and simple- I adored the MC and all the other characters. It gave “The Village” vibes, if you‘ve seen that movie.

This was good but I think I was hoping for more. The story and characters, I liked, but I dno, something abt it kept me from loving it. Also, not sure why but I wasn‘t into the narration for the audiobook 🤷🏽‍♀️

This was deranged. Deeply sad but also funny, it was so weird being in Abby‘s head. It was also disturbing how many bits and pieces of this story felt relatable. Gosh, relationships with people (and with yourself!!!) are hard. This heavily centers motherhood and marriage as seen thru the eyes of an unhinged MC, parading around her childhood and mental health. For 3/4 of the book I wondered if I‘d consider this a horror, but it‘s a yes after all.

Nice lil primer on “hands on” labor law- where to find your main rights as a worker, things you didn‘t know you could get away with, basics on solidarity and organizing. It mentions some notorious court cases and a few other writings that you can look into for more info…some of it is a bit dry, but all the info is clear, useful and to the point. Kinda left me wanting more details on many sections but hey, I get it, can‘t include everything here.

Short but impactful, well worth the library waitlist!
Super interesting concept, felt surreal but also so so relatable and current. If you‘re into feminism, fairy tales/folklore, and modern fiction, this is it!

So beautiful and lyrical- and SO satisfying, for such a short tale. Loved it. #DumpHim

Fairly predictable but still pretty good

I don‘t recall where I got this rec but i enjoyed this detective novel! Might read more of the series. It‘s set in Scotland and the narration was great, rly brought the plot to life. If you ignore the detective bit (there‘s some backstory and info on his life and such) it‘s as good as any modern domestic thriller out there. Solid read.

Ok, so this was a lovely book. It‘s beautifully written, and it‘ll give you many feels. Howeverrrrr it gives very strong fairy tale vibes (not in the sense that it was young, but the whole magical realism thing just has a certain flow), and that‘s not what I was in the mood for. I planned on going back to it, but it‘s been months since I “took a break” and it‘s time to call it. Maybe next year?

Maybe it gets better after I stopped (at 40%) but it wasn‘t doing it for me.

Fun, cheeky high fantasy! Def recommend the audio version if you don‘t mind cool af accents. It has lots of music and effects well worth the few times you‘ll have to rewind to confirm what was said lol

Worth the hype

I loved this book, and if I didn‘t already have chickens I‘d be investing in some. Not that you‘ll get a great ROI, monetary speaking, but they‘re wonderful pets and def worth keeping if you like quality eggs/meat and don‘t mind getting your hands a bit dirty. There‘s so much good info here, history, culture, training, biology, meat industry details… I listened to this in two single session, and loved every minute (even the sad ones)

Coupla books that I DNF. they weren‘t necessarily bad, but both felt kinda young and maybe a bit silly for my mood at the time. Kate in Waiting is your “typical” high school romance and In the Lives of Puppets is exactly what you‘d expect from these past TJ Klune books (but worse), a slow burn romance/self discovery journey with kinda childish characters. I probably won‘t return to either 🤷🏽‍♀️

Finally caught up to the second book in my #BLITSY package from February! Thanks @Chrissyreadit 💗
I was sure abt this book at the beginning bc it was just so bleak and heart wrenching, but it picks up quick. It doesn‘t necessarily get happy but many aspects of it feel relatable and relevant and remind you that life can be so so weird even when things seem mundane.
Also, what a beautiful cover- very worth having a copy ✨

Eerie novel with intriguing British characters moving thru London, Edinburgh, and the beyond…this was super charming and mysterious and a bit sad. It felt like a grey area where you don‘t know what‘s real and what‘s not, what‘s fiction and what‘s fantasy. And I was rly into!

The elusive Florida fiction! Bleak and interesting, but I must say that I had a bit more animal death than I like in my books (which is none). I enjoyed this one, it was short and weird and heartfelt.

There was a story within a story and unfortunately that smaller story lost me… too many people dragging around a plot that lost my interest. I‘ve hear good things tho and I think it might be worth another try later on, but for rn it‘s going in my list as a DNF.

Too much going on, didn‘t keep my interest and I‘ve been trying to get thru it for MONTHS. time to make some room for better stuff!

Don‘t remember how I got this exactly but it was free thru prime, so I had to give it a listen! It was good! Thru the first 75% I kept thinking it was fairly predictable but the last quarter def made me go “huh”. I do wish it had a dif ending or it developed dif but it was a quick and entertaining read!

No story, just anxiety. No ending either, just more anxiety. Super well written tho, I enjoyed it overall. Double up on the lexapro and jump in

A group of memoir essays from a young person (prob around my age- and I just point it out bc memoirs have a very dif feel when written by someone u der like 30…not bad at all, just dif) who came out later in life. It‘s sweet and hesitant and rly positive overall. I hope Katie Heany is very happy :))

Sweet and cute story focused on not one but TWO assexual people. Kann does a great job at kinda explaining things without making it sound like an explanation- the characters are rly likable and while this book keeps it real (life and relationships and self discovery are HARD!), it still feels light and enjoyable 💗

Decent teen mystery- likable characters and a buncha family drama. Also the setting is pretty cool, as it takes place in an island resort during peak tourism season

Rly rly great book. Like… this book makes me want to be a better person 🤘🏽 and also 🤟🏽

Twisty story over the coarse of a road trip, essentially. Took me only 2 days to read it, so yeah, I‘d say it was good, but not as exciting as tiktok is making it sound. Starts a bit slow, but picks up with time…mildly disorienting, with a decent amount of action cool quick thriller.

If you like hating on MCs, this is it! Overall rly good, funny and poignant. I‘m sure there are people who behave exactly like this- and much worse- but the narrative did feel slightly repetitive and cringey at times… super solid tho.

I have a hard time w essay collections but this was decent- and I got rly excited abt some of them! I guess it‘ll vary according to your fave horror movies or your background… but most of these had some solid points I never considered, and it was interesting revisiting some cool movies with a deeper outlook.

Like the first book, not too much plot, but tons of character drama. I loved it tho. Some bits left me frustrated bc I wanted MORE. Some bits made me hate the entire world and be flooded with hopelessness. The story/timeline/concept was confusing but not enough to put me off (kinda like the prequel, it‘s just a lot going on). It gives off Umbrella Academy vibes, and like in that show, I just love all the characters. Def worth a re-read.

Oh just a book abt grown men growing up. Honestly, I liked this. It is definitely a book marketed for the straights, and I found myself kinda rolling my eyes a coupla time, but it‘s good. I dno if it‘ll change any “conservative” mind, but I do appreciate the representation and all the intersections this covers. I do wish the women/gays were better written but… they‘re there! So…yay? Anyhoo, if you like action and reformed main characters go for it

Super cute, swoon worthy sapphic romance with a pepper or two 🌶️ I got this for free on prime reading, in preparation for my stuff your kindle selections. I‘m not huge into romance but this was a good, quick primer 🥰

Nice YA, high school crime mystery- reminiscent of 90s slashers (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer) but more focused on the investigation rather than the killer/the murder. It was pretty entertaining and twisty, I had a good time reading it!

Also- did y‘all know I love The Storygraph?! 🥰

This was honestly so good(and hella dark/heavy). It‘s a book abt ghosts and ghouls where the scariest thing is actually the real world- events caused and perpetuated by white supremacy and heteronormativity. There‘s lots of “food for thought” here, but I felt like it also left lots of room for bad takes…it‘s good to have some opportunities for interpretation, I guess? I loved the backstory and the action and the romance. Solid 🤘🏽

I thought this was a completely dif thing (didn‘t realize it was a middle school book- and honestly didn‘t rly notice that aspect), so it felt overhyped. Too many characters, which made the narration kinda confusing (like, who knows what?) and the pacing felt off for me. Interesting concept but I just thought it‘d develop differently.

This was nice and entertaining, a quick kinda high-school memoir. It felt a bit empty for me but I‘m not sure what I expected- it delivered what was promised. Maybe bc she has other books I thought it coulda have been longer, like she coulda merged another one here or something? Saved me a few bucks 🤣

Solid, action packed but also kinda confusing. My least fave Buehlman so far…pretty good and ominous tho, if you‘re into holy war typa stories (like the actual 1300s ones, not a modern metaphor)

This was magical and wild but it also felt very real in all the important ways. Great entertaining read that felt light even though the themes were heavy 🐙

Ok I‘ve had a bumpy relationship w Ruth Ware. I liked one of two of her books in a way that made me wanna read more. The last one I read, I remember taking issue w the narrator. Imogen is good, but she sounds the absolute same in every Ware novel (I dno if this was an active choice by the author/producer or if thats all she‘s got). In addition, all characters in Wares stories are the same. If you stick to one or two books that‘s ok, but….cont:

I‘m torn. I‘ll give it a 🤘🏽bc it‘s a decent book, and if you like the genre it‘s worth a read. I‘ve always thought it was overhyped- I heard someone describe it as a worse “Night Circus”- but I saw two recs for it recently and thought why not. I struggled w the characters and the story-telling. I‘d say I was pretty into it for the third quarter of the book but quarters 1,2, and 4 were just ok.

After writing this I wanna change it to so-so 😂

A pick, for sure, but it had some dips and slow moments throughout. For me, the book coulda been shorter, or maybe the series shoulda been longer (it‘s a trilogy). Also, the main character is very annoying. Very much so.

I‘ll read the second book but I‘m thinking I‘ll need a fairly long break.

Listened to this one during a walk w my dog. Rly cool story, short but well thought out and succinctly written. Very Gillian Flynn-ish!

Did not disappoint! Suburbian but feels eventful, and the characters kept me interested and invested. It did have a bit of a closure moment at the end, but it also makes you think that the characters learned from these experiences and their life will go on. Which is kinda nice.

Thought this was a novel. Oops.
I still read maybe 1/3 of it, and it wasn‘t bad but I dno…a book abt a white Christian lady (who came out later in life and seems to be fairly grounded and reasonable, to be fair) is just not what I wanna spend time on. It was alright but some bits felt distinctly self-helpy (I do read from that section and I enjoy essays/memoirs, but this felt like one of those 90s motivational talks which I didn‘t appreciate)

Empire wars and revolution and magic that does not feel completely overdone like much of the genre. Rly nice to read a story like this in a world that feels diverse. This is not totally ground-breaking-blow-your-mind, but it‘s entertaining and I rly enjoyed the development and interactions of the characters!

Short lil horror book, this one rec‘d by reddit. I read it maybe 10 days ago and while I remember liking it well enough, I cannot remember anything abt it‘s plot 😂 which I won‘t detract points for - my memory is bad and not every book should stay w you forever 🤷🏽‍♀️ set your expectations accordingly and enjoy this quick one!

I “liked” a tiktok recommending this thriller the other day and now all my fyp is all booktoks for creepy/mysterious/scary books. I‘m not complaining but… it‘s gonna be sm work to look for other book content/recs so my feed is diverse 😩 plus, it‘s gonna cost me a lot of money bc I‘m a sucker and MUST. BUY. ALL. BOOKS.

Anyways, this was good! Gimme your book tiktok recs if you‘ve got ‘em! 💗

Lovely, slow fiction that could very well be real. Nice low key commentary on family, culture, queerness, and grief. I was a bit indifferent in the beginning but once you make it past half way the characters rly grow on you.

This was one of my gifts from @Chrissyreadit for the Black History Month Swap 2023 organized by @Chelleo 💗 thank you both 😘 if you haven‘t participated on this one yet, watch out for the next one! #BLITSY