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erinkellyreads's reviews
632 reviews
Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I really enjoyed listening to Amanda Montell read her book, "Wordslut", via audiobook! I am already a fan of her podcast "Sounds Like a Cult", so I knew that Montell would have a great, upbeat, conversational voice to add to her writing. There was a lot of very interesting history and studies in this book on the evolution of language from the past to now and where we could be going, particularly in relation to gender, sex, and stereotypes. This book was published in 2017, and I think my biggest wish is that it gets a second edition that updates everything post-shutdown with the pandemic and now that America is on the verge of another election with the same guys. Fingers crossed, and, in the meantime, her books "Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism" and "The Age of Magical Overthinking" are up next.
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
I won an ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway - thank you to Goodreads for the opportunity.
I loved this book from start to finish. I was immediately a fan of our main character, Jolene, from the moment her snarkiness started putting sarcastic remarks in white font at the bottom of emails to jerks in her office. The growth of Jolene, while obviously the subject of the book, truly had me perched at the front of my chair the whole time, rooting for her, cringing for her, laughing with her, and even shedding a tear or two for her.
Beyond Jolene, every character in this book was fully fleshed out, even the ones you couldn't help but hate at the beginning. The interactions were realistic, even when they were silly, and the tension! Oh, my anxiety had some flares with some of the awkward situations they all ended up in. The schadenfreude!
Truly, this is a book for everyone. Late 20's or 30's? This is our lives. Worked in a soul-sucking office? Yup, you'll relate with this. Been stuck with a group who doesn't understand the fundamental part of you (like your anxiety or the culture of your family)? You and Jolene are going to totally get each other.
The book is slated to come out on May 21st, 2024 (the day before my birthday!), and I encourage you to support this debut author and pre-order! I've also seen the book advertised in a couple of monthly subscription boxes!
I loved this book from start to finish. I was immediately a fan of our main character, Jolene, from the moment her snarkiness started putting sarcastic remarks in white font at the bottom of emails to jerks in her office. The growth of Jolene, while obviously the subject of the book, truly had me perched at the front of my chair the whole time, rooting for her, cringing for her, laughing with her, and even shedding a tear or two for her.
Beyond Jolene, every character in this book was fully fleshed out, even the ones you couldn't help but hate at the beginning. The interactions were realistic, even when they were silly, and the tension! Oh, my anxiety had some flares with some of the awkward situations they all ended up in. The schadenfreude!
Truly, this is a book for everyone. Late 20's or 30's? This is our lives. Worked in a soul-sucking office? Yup, you'll relate with this. Been stuck with a group who doesn't understand the fundamental part of you (like your anxiety or the culture of your family)? You and Jolene are going to totally get each other.
The book is slated to come out on May 21st, 2024 (the day before my birthday!), and I encourage you to support this debut author and pre-order! I've also seen the book advertised in a couple of monthly subscription boxes!
Dark Magic by Raluca Narita
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway -thank you Goodreads for the opportunity.
Things I enjoyed about this book -
1. A very interesting concept around a world combined with myth and folktales - the idea of many different levels of gods, goddesses, demons, and the Grimm Brothers somehow ruling it all.
2. The action scenes were fun to follow and jam packed.
3. I love strong female characters who have a vulnerability that actually becomes a strength.
4. I enjoyed Lucifer's character. The quippy, obsessive, and scorned nature of his character was interesting and had some great one-liners.
Things I did not enjoy about this book -
1. I echo what a few other reviewers have said - this book could have benefitted from a strong development editor to trim down on extraneous material and double check that all plot devices and characters connected with no holes. The author has some great potential for ideas and a gift for action scenes; pairing her with someone very right-brained could've cleaned some of this up for me.
2. I didn't really love the main character or the love interest. The main character went from wise powerful elder goddess to petulant teenager multiple times, and the swings broke me from the connection that I kept trying to build with her. The love interest needed more time on the page doing more than just reacting to the main character - what makes this guy tick? And, since I didn't really love them apart, I didn't feel invested in them getting together. Lucifer was a stalker, but at least he was fun lol.
3. Some of the details about clothing, books, Starbucks, etc, threw me from the world building and felt more like fanfiction. I think these were meant to make the world more relatable, but I think we got that from the locations and characters (like the nurse at the hospital, etc) without needing those fanfiction-esque touches.
Overall, as you can see from the reviews on the book, this book has and will find its readers. I think readers that love sassy and sarcastic powerful female leads with a push/pull relationship with both of the love interests (sassy Luci and broody Atlas) in light toned, modern-esque fantasy worlds might enjoy this. I could see this doing really well with the YA market in particular.
Things I enjoyed about this book -
1. A very interesting concept around a world combined with myth and folktales - the idea of many different levels of gods, goddesses, demons, and the Grimm Brothers somehow ruling it all.
2. The action scenes were fun to follow and jam packed.
3. I love strong female characters who have a vulnerability that actually becomes a strength.
4. I enjoyed Lucifer's character. The quippy, obsessive, and scorned nature of his character was interesting and had some great one-liners.
Things I did not enjoy about this book -
1. I echo what a few other reviewers have said - this book could have benefitted from a strong development editor to trim down on extraneous material and double check that all plot devices and characters connected with no holes. The author has some great potential for ideas and a gift for action scenes; pairing her with someone very right-brained could've cleaned some of this up for me.
2. I didn't really love the main character or the love interest. The main character went from wise powerful elder goddess to petulant teenager multiple times, and the swings broke me from the connection that I kept trying to build with her. The love interest needed more time on the page doing more than just reacting to the main character - what makes this guy tick? And, since I didn't really love them apart, I didn't feel invested in them getting together. Lucifer was a stalker, but at least he was fun lol.
3. Some of the details about clothing, books, Starbucks, etc, threw me from the world building and felt more like fanfiction. I think these were meant to make the world more relatable, but I think we got that from the locations and characters (like the nurse at the hospital, etc) without needing those fanfiction-esque touches.
Overall, as you can see from the reviews on the book, this book has and will find its readers. I think readers that love sassy and sarcastic powerful female leads with a push/pull relationship with both of the love interests (sassy Luci and broody Atlas) in light toned, modern-esque fantasy worlds might enjoy this. I could see this doing really well with the YA market in particular.
Shiftless by Aimee Easterling
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I won this book in a Storygraph giveaway - thank you for the opportunity!
I was excited by the premise of this book with the FMC leaving a patriarchal and unhappy home and learning to have to stop her wolf - then needing to get her back again. Terra is a very interesting character, and, as this appears to be the first in a series, I have hope that she will keep getting to grow when given more time. The writing ebbed and flowed for me, but there were some lovely written moments when Terra is remembering moments from her past, and when she sees a happy family that she wishes she had.
I had a hard time getting into the book initially, and I had a lot of false starts. I think the first scene kind of threw me in, and I struggled to get my bearings until I got to understand why Terra was the way she was in Chapter 3. I also struggled with calling the MMC Wolfie. Doesn't exactly inspire romance or attraction to me. The situation with her sister, father, and nephew felt rushed, but perhaps in the later books that is more resolved and those characters are more fleshed out.
Overall, if you are wanting a PG werewolf novel, this could be the series for you. I don't know that I'll continue this series at this time, but I'm not closing the door on the series fully.
I was excited by the premise of this book with the FMC leaving a patriarchal and unhappy home and learning to have to stop her wolf - then needing to get her back again. Terra is a very interesting character, and, as this appears to be the first in a series, I have hope that she will keep getting to grow when given more time. The writing ebbed and flowed for me, but there were some lovely written moments when Terra is remembering moments from her past, and when she sees a happy family that she wishes she had.
I had a hard time getting into the book initially, and I had a lot of false starts. I think the first scene kind of threw me in, and I struggled to get my bearings until I got to understand why Terra was the way she was in Chapter 3. I also struggled with calling the MMC Wolfie. Doesn't exactly inspire romance or attraction to me. The situation with her sister, father, and nephew felt rushed, but perhaps in the later books that is more resolved and those characters are more fleshed out.
Overall, if you are wanting a PG werewolf novel, this could be the series for you. I don't know that I'll continue this series at this time, but I'm not closing the door on the series fully.
On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.
I really wanted to like this book, as the topic is really interesting and something I'd love to dive into more. I think the two things that made this a DNF for me were:
1. The author reads the book, and her inflection is sooooo monotonous that it made it really hard to stay engaged. It was not conversational at all. I even put it on 1.25x speed to try and see if that helped.
2. I think that there are lots of people who would love and resonate with this book in their feminist journey. I think, for me, I'm a little past this point, and it felt a little too much like preaching to the choir.
I do think that others should pick it up if it sounds interesting to them, but maybe the physical copy.
1. The author reads the book, and her inflection is sooooo monotonous that it made it really hard to stay engaged. It was not conversational at all. I even put it on 1.25x speed to try and see if that helped.
2. I think that there are lots of people who would love and resonate with this book in their feminist journey. I think, for me, I'm a little past this point, and it felt a little too much like preaching to the choir.
I do think that others should pick it up if it sounds interesting to them, but maybe the physical copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
Fourth Wing (Part 2 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation) by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
** spoiler alert **
*Since I've already review the book, I'll be continuing reviewing the Graphic Audio narration*
Part 2 of the Graphic Audio picked up where we left off with Violet's discovery of Andarna's *special gift* and went all the way until the end of the book. There is SO MUCH action in this section, it is a little strange that they decided to split the story here. However, I was glad for very few stops between all of the events in this half, so I'll give it a pass.
Things I loved: I continue to be impressed by Violet's actor - she showed a full range of emotion, and I think she was a good pick. The scenes with back and forth dialogue with lots of characters really came to life with the different voice actors, and I think that is really the highlight of listening to a book this way. Imogen, Ridoc, Jack, and Liam continued to give stand out nods.
Things I did not love: The kissing sounds. Y'all, I have listened to all of ACOTAR in Graphic Audio - even ACOSF, which is like half smut. But I don't know if they are just louder or not edited together as well, but the kissing sounds were just a little ick for me. I also initially liked the dragon sounds, but in the big battle scene towards the end, there were a few moments where Tairn sounded a little bit like Chewbacca. Took me out.
Overall, seeing the shock on my fiance's face whenthe Venin showed up, when poor Liam died, and when Brennan comes back was worth every minute of it. I think he's hooked now, lol
*Since I've already review the book, I'll be continuing reviewing the Graphic Audio narration*
Part 2 of the Graphic Audio picked up where we left off with
Things I loved: I continue to be impressed by Violet's actor - she showed a full range of emotion, and I think she was a good pick. The scenes with back and forth dialogue with lots of characters really came to life with the different voice actors, and I think that is really the highlight of listening to a book this way. Imogen, Ridoc, Jack, and Liam continued to give stand out nods.
Things I did not love: The kissing sounds. Y'all, I have listened to all of ACOTAR in Graphic Audio - even ACOSF, which is like half smut. But I don't know if they are just louder or not edited together as well, but the kissing sounds were just a little ick for me. I also initially liked the dragon sounds, but in the big battle scene towards the end, there were a few moments where Tairn sounded a little bit like Chewbacca. Took me out.
Overall, seeing the shock on my fiance's face when
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A tense, quick thriller that will have you frustrated and engaged from page one. I loved that it was told in short vignettes; it kept the pacing up as well as gave you nuggets of information one at a time. I was frustrated by the characters, but it also all made sense. Definitely a must read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Fire/Fire injury