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erinkellyreads's reviews
632 reviews
Dear Prudence: Liberating Lessons from Slate.com's Beloved Advice Column by Daniel M. Lavery
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
I had a great time with this one! It was lovely to hear Lavery's reflections on topics and specific letters alongside indulging my nosy gossip side with all of the letters. I honestly think there is something in this book for everyone, and it was nice to listen to it on audio to chunk it, almost like podcast episodes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I think I'm torn on this one. I'd like to give it a 4, I think. I enjoyed reading it, and the tournament system was fun to read. I also don't know if I ever really came to love the characters? Except maybe poor Ibrahim. I'd like to learn more about the gods and how all that works. I'm going to read the second one. But I think I'm a little surprised after how much I've read people gush about this series.
((Also - and this is petty because I have read way too many vampire books and also all of Maas' work - I'm not a huge fan of winged vampires. Shapeshifting to have wings? Sure. Turning into animals a 'la the old myths? Of course. But... feather wings and bat wings? I dunno.))
((Also - and this is petty because I have read way too many vampire books and also all of Maas' work - I'm not a huge fan of winged vampires. Shapeshifting to have wings? Sure. Turning into animals a 'la the old myths? Of course. But... feather wings and bat wings? I dunno.))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death and Child death
I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Scholastic for this ARC copy!
"I Hope This Doesn't Find You" feels like a happy mix between "To All the Boys I Loved Before" and the anime "Kare Kano" (His & Hers Circumstances in the English Dub). Our protagonist, Sadie, pressures herself into appearing to be the best at everything - school, sports, clubs, leadership, helping her family, and doing everything anyone asks her to with a smile (even if that smile is forced). However, inside, her resentment for classmates and teachers does have one outlet - her email drafts. She lets it all rip in these emails, with one person receiving her ire most of all - fellow school captain, pretty boy, and general annoyance, Julius. When "somehow" Sadie's decade worth of emails leak to the whole school, Sadie has to grow and find her voice, process her actual feelings (and where those stem from), and, of course, is forced into community service and close proximity to Mr. Annoying Julius himself.
The premise caught my interest because that is literally one of my greatest fears and why I don't write email drafts lol. I felt like I got thrown in right away at the beginning a little too quickly and wished there was a little more ease into the characters and world of the school. I would say after the initial push, however, it was easy to root for the characters, enjoy the will-they-won't-they tension, and read with a smile. I also really enjoyed seeing the inclusion of her mother's bakery and the snippets of Mandarin used to give extra dimension to her mother's quirks (honestly would love even more there about her mother's upbringing - there's a throwaway line about herding goats and throwing rager parties). I kept forgetting that they were in Melbourne - we talk about it at the beginning, and we mention that Julius has an American accent even though he hasn't lived there - but there's not much else mentioned there. I also, as a former high school teacher, thought that the sparse usage of social media was interesting - if something like this happened at my old school, it would be all over TikTok/Insta/Snap, memes would be made, etc. But, maybe it is different in Australia?
Overall, this book is great for people who like anime because it has a lot of tropes you'll find in shoujo (the dueling school captains, the class trip, sports day, etc), and I also think YA romance fans will enjoy the school setting and banter of the characters. It could also make a cute adaptation were it to be picked up by Netflix/Hulu. The hardback comes out on February 4th, and I hope you'll pick it up and let me know what you think!
"I Hope This Doesn't Find You" feels like a happy mix between "To All the Boys I Loved Before" and the anime "Kare Kano" (His & Hers Circumstances in the English Dub). Our protagonist, Sadie, pressures herself into appearing to be the best at everything - school, sports, clubs, leadership, helping her family, and doing everything anyone asks her to with a smile (even if that smile is forced). However, inside, her resentment for classmates and teachers does have one outlet - her email drafts. She lets it all rip in these emails, with one person receiving her ire most of all - fellow school captain, pretty boy, and general annoyance, Julius. When "somehow" Sadie's decade worth of emails leak to the whole school, Sadie has to grow and find her voice, process her actual feelings (and where those stem from), and, of course, is forced into community service and close proximity to Mr. Annoying Julius himself.
The premise caught my interest because that is literally one of my greatest fears and why I don't write email drafts lol. I felt like I got thrown in right away at the beginning a little too quickly and wished there was a little more ease into the characters and world of the school. I would say after the initial push, however, it was easy to root for the characters, enjoy the will-they-won't-they tension, and read with a smile. I also really enjoyed seeing the inclusion of her mother's bakery and the snippets of Mandarin used to give extra dimension to her mother's quirks (honestly would love even more there about her mother's upbringing - there's a throwaway line about herding goats and throwing rager parties). I kept forgetting that they were in Melbourne - we talk about it at the beginning, and we mention that Julius has an American accent even though he hasn't lived there - but there's not much else mentioned there. I also, as a former high school teacher, thought that the sparse usage of social media was interesting - if something like this happened at my old school, it would be all over TikTok/Insta/Snap, memes would be made, etc. But, maybe it is different in Australia?
Overall, this book is great for people who like anime because it has a lot of tropes you'll find in shoujo (the dueling school captains, the class trip, sports day, etc), and I also think YA romance fans will enjoy the school setting and banter of the characters. It could also make a cute adaptation were it to be picked up by Netflix/Hulu. The hardback comes out on February 4th, and I hope you'll pick it up and let me know what you think!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Heartbreaking and tense and lovely, this duology is easily in my top reads from the last few years. I saw a joke on Instagram that "Divine Rivals" is to Swift's Folklore as "Ruthless Vows" is to Swift's Evermore, and, yes, I feel this, haha.
In terms of differences between this and it's predecessor, the stakes are higher and so is the tension. I had to take a couple of breaks from it while reading it simply because I was nervous for the characters and was putting off any potential pain. However, the bonds between all of the character continue, and we add in a few more interesting connections between existing and new characters. The one thing that I didn't love was the final showdown feeling too quick (and not necessarily easy, but... I think you'll see what I mean when you get there). I've seen other people saying that they felt DR was slow, but I didn't feel that way. If you did feel that way, I think you won't for RV.
Overall, the beauty of the writing and the atmospheric nature of the world and the souls of our characters are stunning, and I would 100% recommend this duology to anybody. A fantasy book that feels like contemporary history, a war book that feels like poetry, and a love story that feels like releasing a breath on a sunny, windy day.
In terms of differences between this and it's predecessor, the stakes are higher and so is the tension. I had to take a couple of breaks from it while reading it simply because I was nervous for the characters and was putting off any potential pain. However, the bonds between all of the character continue, and we add in a few more interesting connections between existing and new characters. The one thing that I didn't love was the final showdown feeling too quick (and not necessarily easy, but... I think you'll see what I mean when you get there). I've seen other people saying that they felt DR was slow, but I didn't feel that way. If you did feel that way, I think you won't for RV.
Overall, the beauty of the writing and the atmospheric nature of the world and the souls of our characters are stunning, and I would 100% recommend this duology to anybody. A fantasy book that feels like contemporary history, a war book that feels like poetry, and a love story that feels like releasing a breath on a sunny, windy day.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit