Review: Sky Daddy

Sky Daddy
Sky Daddy by Kate Folk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ok this story is weird. Like super super weird. And even though it’s tender in the end, I do wish it had a bit more depth because there was more there and it could have been explored.

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Review: Hollywood, Ending

Hollywood, Ending
Hollywood, Ending by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love John Green. I love his writing. I love the way he looks at the world. I love how he can write about being human with such tenderness and such keen observation. I am so glad he is writing again.

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Review: Whale Harbor

Whale Harbor
Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Mary Beth Keane. The types of stories she tells are exactly the types of stories I prefer to read. Slow burn stories about families that navigate challenges and learn and grow. Whale Harbor is no different. This book focuses primarily on this one family with eleven sons who lose their mother at a young age and slowly immigrate out of Ireland in different ways and towards different futures. Parts of it are so very sad and other parts are funny and many parts are endearing. Like life. It’s beautifully written with characters and stories that will stay with you long after the last page.

with gratitude to Scribner and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Tell Me Something True

Tell Me Something True
Tell Me Something True by Michael Robotham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was different than the previous Michael Robotham stories I’ve read. It was slower and more character-driven. There is a lot here around forgiveness, small towns, coming of age on top of the usual people hiding and covering things up and making selfish choices. I liked the slow burn and I liked how I could completely visualize this small town. I also really enjoyed the author’s note at the end of the book.

with gratitude to netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Exit Party

Exit Party
Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found myself a bit disconnected from the narrative on this one than usual. I feel that Emily St. John Mandel is better read with my eyeballs for me vs listening. Her language is so beautiful and I always enjoy it better when I read her novels. Nonetheless I loved this one.

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Review: The Poison Daughter

The Poison Daughter
The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not entirely sure how to rate this book as it’s not the kind of book I usually read. But it gets 3.5 stars for my wanting to just keep reading it at a time when I really was stuck finding books to read. Lots of trigger warnings and lots of spice in this one, if those things make your reading experience harder, I’d stay away.

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Review: The Knave and the Moon

The Knave and the Moon
The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i read both of these back to back which was likely a mistake.

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Review: The Knight and the Moth

The Knight and the Moth
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not sure why I decided to read this. it was good but I never fully got into it. which begs the question on why i then continued to read #2.

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Review: The Song of Stork and Dromedary

The Song of Stork and Dromedary
The Song of Stork and Dromedary by Anjet Daanje
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It’s been a long time since I read a 700+ page book with my eyes. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book the moment it came out because I had read so much about it and I wanted to read it so badly. And it so so did not disappoint. I will say that I think the descriptions I’ve read, for me, didn’t really do it the kind of justice that connected with me.

Yes this book starts as being about two writer sisters (likely modeled after the Brontes) and there’s a lot about them in the beginning. But the structure is really like a collection of short stories with super short chapters weaved in and the we progress in time with every story. As we get closer to modern day, the connection to the original characters gets more tenuous. In fact, I think that’s one of the reasons the last story was my least favorite.

While most of the stories are about sisters, some are also about brothers, and some are siblings. There’s a lot of death in the book. There’s a lot about marriage. A lot about being a woman. A lot about identity and belonging and autonomy. Every story was unique and incredible in its own way.

Even though I wish there was one more circle back to the original sisters at the very end, and even though I didn’t love the last story as much as I did the others, this book will stay with me for years to come.

And since I read it, I also reread many parts on audio and I was so worried it wouldn’t hold up its magic but it absolutely does. It’s perfect on audio so if you’re into audio, you have a winner here! Henrietta Meire does the most incredible job.

with gratitude to netgalley and Brilliance Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Passengers

Passengers
Passengers by Alexander Maksik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book even though I ended up reading it very slowly. For people who are very plot-focused, this will not be a rewarding experience. But if you’re into books that are a-moment-in-time and character-based, you might enjoy this as much as I did. It’s about a woman and her dad, stuck at the airport while their flight gets delayed again and again. It’s about connection, loss, family, hope, despair and so much more. I truly enjoyed it.

with gratitude to netgalley and Europa Editions for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Tear Me Apart

Tear Me Apart
Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fast read but only mildly interesting and I have already completely forgotten about it… eh!

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Review: Bodies of Magic

Bodies of Magic
Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I don’t really know if it was the particular audio reading or my mood or some other aspect but I picked up and put down this book several times. I didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters and didn’t find myself rooting for anything. At some point I wasn’t even curious about what happened. Even though I loved the idea of this book something lacked in the execution for me. I am very sad that this was a miss for me.

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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