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lucybbookstuff's Reviews (381)
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
An excellent memoir essay collection! She seamlessly wove together some general education on disability issues/topics with her own experiences. I had to listen to it in 2 days due to my libby hold expiring, but I found that very easy to do. Her writing and narration are fun and friendly and, dare I say, accessible. It was a very good, informative, quick read.
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
This is a very worthwhile memoir, especially as a white US citizen (and specifically living in a border state) at this current moment in 2025. It was very illuminating for me about the often harrowing details of the undocumented immigrant experience. They are most often just regular people, trying to find a better life for themselves and keep their families afloat. It shouldn't have to be this way. Zamora told his story in painstaking detail and I'm so glad he did. Most of us could stand to learn more about what undocumented immigrants go through.
I do have a couple of complaints that are entirely personal preferences, but they still kept me from having a better experience.
Zamora is a very good writer, and his memory for these events is incredible. However, the book did feel long and I think he probably could have left out a fair amount of detail and kept the same impact. I definitely understand the decision to be so detailed and to make us feel the suffocating monotony and claustrophobia of his experience. But nonetheless, it made my reading/listening experience somewhat tedious.
The biggest thing though, is just that I've learned that I strongly prefer memoirs that have present-day reflection interspersed. I do not typically love memoirs that are told entirely from the past POV; simply the "this happened, that happened" narrative of their life. For some reason, I feel disconnected from the story when it's told that way.
This book has an epilogue from the perspective of present-day Javier Zamora, catching us up to date. I felt the most emotion during that section, because he was reflecting on his past rather than just telling me about it.
Like I said, entirely personal preference. But I still HIGHLY recommend this book for expanding one's empathy and knowledge, especially to my fellow Americans.
I do have a couple of complaints that are entirely personal preferences, but they still kept me from having a better experience.
Zamora is a very good writer, and his memory for these events is incredible. However, the book did feel long and I think he probably could have left out a fair amount of detail and kept the same impact. I definitely understand the decision to be so detailed and to make us feel the suffocating monotony and claustrophobia of his experience. But nonetheless, it made my reading/listening experience somewhat tedious.
The biggest thing though, is just that I've learned that I strongly prefer memoirs that have present-day reflection interspersed. I do not typically love memoirs that are told entirely from the past POV; simply the "this happened, that happened" narrative of their life. For some reason, I feel disconnected from the story when it's told that way.
This book has an epilogue from the perspective of present-day Javier Zamora, catching us up to date. I felt the most emotion during that section, because he was reflecting on his past rather than just telling me about it.
Like I said, entirely personal preference. But I still HIGHLY recommend this book for expanding one's empathy and knowledge, especially to my fellow Americans.
Had this paused for a while. I was hoping to read both Sheff memoirs, but I started this one and was not into it at all. So thought I'd do David's first and then return to this.
Haven't gotten to David's yet, but let's be honest, I probably won't finish this.
It wasn't bad. I just don't really like memoirs that are written entirely from the past POV. I prefer some present-day reflection mixed in. And apart from that, he really was not shying away from the gorey details of his addiction and it was honestly making me physically ill.
Glad he told his story and I'm so glad he's doing well in sobriety, but yeah. I'm good.
Haven't gotten to David's yet, but let's be honest, I probably won't finish this.
It wasn't bad. I just don't really like memoirs that are written entirely from the past POV. I prefer some present-day reflection mixed in. And apart from that, he really was not shying away from the gorey details of his addiction and it was honestly making me physically ill.
Glad he told his story and I'm so glad he's doing well in sobriety, but yeah. I'm good.
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Another excellent novella in the Gael Song saga! This one fits SO well after book 2.
A heartbreaking backstory for a character I didn't think we would hear from directly. Plus some backstory for one of the most detestable villains I've ever read. 😒
Maybe because it's been a couple months since I read book 2, but I didn't feel quite as connected to this one. Hence the 4.25 instead of 4.5. Still very good, though.
Really looking forward to the third novel and novella!
A heartbreaking backstory for a character I didn't think we would hear from directly. Plus some backstory for one of the most detestable villains I've ever read. 😒
Maybe because it's been a couple months since I read book 2, but I didn't feel quite as connected to this one. Hence the 4.25 instead of 4.5. Still very good, though.
Really looking forward to the third novel and novella!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Still really enjoying this series! This one was not quite on par with book 1 for me, but still very good.
I enjoyed the various mysteries, the political intrigue was top notch, and the world continues to be fascinating and extremely well-built.
However, this second installment definitely drove home that the character work is on the backburner after those other things. Which is fine and fair, I just really wanted more from the characters and their relationships. Everything is a bit surface level, and motivations aren't especially fleshed out.Especially for the villains. The mysteries were so interesting, but whenever we got to an actual reveal, it kinda fell flat for me. Not enough villain backstory or hints dropped.
That said, I do really like our main characters, and I really enjoy the other elements and I'm having a lot of fun with this series. Really looking forward to book 3 in November and seeing what becomes of the Treble! 👀
I enjoyed the various mysteries, the political intrigue was top notch, and the world continues to be fascinating and extremely well-built.
However, this second installment definitely drove home that the character work is on the backburner after those other things. Which is fine and fair, I just really wanted more from the characters and their relationships. Everything is a bit surface level, and motivations aren't especially fleshed out.
That said, I do really like our main characters, and I really enjoy the other elements and I'm having a lot of fun with this series. Really looking forward to book 3 in November and seeing what becomes of the Treble! 👀
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enthusiastic 5 stars. I can't imagine awarding this book anything less.
Absolute perfection.
I'm still sitting here with a broken heart. And yet, I feel it also gave me the tools to piece myself back together.
I don't know what it says about me, but I love when a book (or any media) can make me feel this way. It's a sign of a truly talented artist. Any old sad scene can make me feel a bit sad. But not everything can make me feel shattered, ruined, literally physically depressed. Make me explore the depths of human emotion. It hurts, but it's a great feeling to know I get to experience such great art. I feel incredibly lucky.
Her prose is unbelievably gorgeous. It was not overwritten at all, very succinct, very easy to read. But managed to convey such humanity. My favorite character writers of all time always have this ability to cut to the core of the human experience. They could be writing the feeling of a character in 1500s England, but I'll find that feeling so utterly relatable while sitting with my 21st century comforts.
She also managed to provide such vivid imagery. I'm rarely able to imagine the visuals of a book so well.
And that's all to say nothing of the beautiful, heartrending story she conveyed. Even though it must all be either conjecture or completely imagined (even bordering on magical realism occasionally). She made me believe it wholeheartedly, and I never once felt tripped up by thoughts of what the real history might be.
This book is one in a million. Beautiful and devastating. It is safe to say Maggie O'Farrell is a new favorite author.
Absolute perfection.
I'm still sitting here with a broken heart. And yet, I feel it also gave me the tools to piece myself back together.
I don't know what it says about me, but I love when a book (or any media) can make me feel this way. It's a sign of a truly talented artist. Any old sad scene can make me feel a bit sad. But not everything can make me feel shattered, ruined, literally physically depressed. Make me explore the depths of human emotion. It hurts, but it's a great feeling to know I get to experience such great art. I feel incredibly lucky.
Her prose is unbelievably gorgeous. It was not overwritten at all, very succinct, very easy to read. But managed to convey such humanity. My favorite character writers of all time always have this ability to cut to the core of the human experience. They could be writing the feeling of a character in 1500s England, but I'll find that feeling so utterly relatable while sitting with my 21st century comforts.
She also managed to provide such vivid imagery. I'm rarely able to imagine the visuals of a book so well.
And that's all to say nothing of the beautiful, heartrending story she conveyed. Even though it must all be either conjecture or completely imagined (even bordering on magical realism occasionally). She made me believe it wholeheartedly, and I never once felt tripped up by thoughts of what the real history might be.
This book is one in a million. Beautiful and devastating. It is safe to say Maggie O'Farrell is a new favorite author.
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked this! Super quick read, a great balance of humor and darkness. (As someone who grew up in a Catholic-adjacent religion, those parts were hilarious.)
I think this gave me my closest look ever at what the combination of depression and anxiety can look like. Thankfully, I have never experienced either at this level, so this book was an educational experience, while also being highly entertaining.
It was truly an immersive experience in the mind of someone suffering with severe, untreated mental illness. Even when I was extremely frustrated with her, I always understood where her decisions and impulses were coming from.
It got really real, but also kept a great thread of levity. And leaves you with a glimmer of hope as well, without being unrealistic or cheesy.
I think this gave me my closest look ever at what the combination of depression and anxiety can look like. Thankfully, I have never experienced either at this level, so this book was an educational experience, while also being highly entertaining.
It was truly an immersive experience in the mind of someone suffering with severe, untreated mental illness. Even when I was extremely frustrated with her, I always understood where her decisions and impulses were coming from.
It got really real, but also kept a great thread of levity. And leaves you with a glimmer of hope as well, without being unrealistic or cheesy.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Welp. That's over. 💀
Not gonna lie, based on the average rating and the multitude of positive reviews I've seen, I was expecting quite a bit more from this. Or at least something a bit different.
I was not expecting such goofy narration. I was not expecting hundreds of pages of raw science. I was not expecting it to take so long and to be so bored for so much of it.
This was somehow both popcorn fiction and heavy hard sci fi. And that combination felt very weird.
That said, I liked it well enough.Rocky absolutely made this book for me. Their friendship and their banter and Rocky's cute mannerisms were a lot of fun. I enjoyed when they were figuring each other out and doing science together.
I really get why my friends who are either scientists or just science nerds loved this. The general scientific ideas are really smart and interesting, and I can see how the technicalities and the constant use of the scientific method would be so fascinating.
But unfortunately that is just not my brain. I greatly appreciate science and acknowledge the importance of the scientific method. But STEM is so far out of my wheelhouse, I didn't stand a chance of comprehending much of this book. And for someone who likes to comprehend every word when I read, that made this really tough. I had hoped to get through this book much faster than I did, but I could never do too much in one sitting. My ADHD fought the boredom too much.
I also found the main character VERY annoying. The combination of his silly goofy personality and his endless scientific calculations was often grating to read. He also had quite literally no backstory at all. As a character driven reader, that didn't do the book any favors in my estimation.My entire demeanor changed whenever Rocky came back on page, because it instantly became so much more fun. Whenever it was just Grace, I would quickly succumb to boredom and cease caring what would actually happen, as long as SOMETHING would.
I also think that, science or no science, this book used WAY too many words and BY NO MEANS had to be this long. It's almost 500 pages and it could have easily been cut by at least 150 and I, at least, would have gotten the same story out of it, with less boredom.
Damn okay... I was going to give this 3.5 stars, but I think I've talked myself into lowering it. 😅 The more I reflect, the less I enjoyed this. I'm disappointed, because I loved The Martian, and I heard endless positive reviews of this. I really thought I'd love it too. Sigh. For what it's worth, I do think I'll enjoy the movie. It seems better suited to that type of storytelling anyway.
And again, I do get why people love this. But damn, do I wish I was one of them.
Not gonna lie, based on the average rating and the multitude of positive reviews I've seen, I was expecting quite a bit more from this. Or at least something a bit different.
I was not expecting such goofy narration. I was not expecting hundreds of pages of raw science. I was not expecting it to take so long and to be so bored for so much of it.
This was somehow both popcorn fiction and heavy hard sci fi. And that combination felt very weird.
That said, I liked it well enough.
I really get why my friends who are either scientists or just science nerds loved this. The general scientific ideas are really smart and interesting, and I can see how the technicalities and the constant use of the scientific method would be so fascinating.
But unfortunately that is just not my brain. I greatly appreciate science and acknowledge the importance of the scientific method. But STEM is so far out of my wheelhouse, I didn't stand a chance of comprehending much of this book. And for someone who likes to comprehend every word when I read, that made this really tough. I had hoped to get through this book much faster than I did, but I could never do too much in one sitting. My ADHD fought the boredom too much.
I also found the main character VERY annoying. The combination of his silly goofy personality and his endless scientific calculations was often grating to read. He also had quite literally no backstory at all. As a character driven reader, that didn't do the book any favors in my estimation.
I also think that, science or no science, this book used WAY too many words and BY NO MEANS had to be this long. It's almost 500 pages and it could have easily been cut by at least 150 and I, at least, would have gotten the same story out of it, with less boredom.
Damn okay... I was going to give this 3.5 stars, but I think I've talked myself into lowering it. 😅 The more I reflect, the less I enjoyed this. I'm disappointed, because I loved The Martian, and I heard endless positive reviews of this. I really thought I'd love it too. Sigh. For what it's worth, I do think I'll enjoy the movie. It seems better suited to that type of storytelling anyway.
And again, I do get why people love this. But damn, do I wish I was one of them.
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
I think I was expecting a little more from this... I did like and appreciate it, I'm just not having any big feelings about it.
I definitely liked the themes of appreciation for nature and simple living, and the complicated relationships Welsh people can have with the Welsh language. I also enjoyed the sweet relationship between mother and son.
I got through it in one sitting, and I immersion read it, which was nice. Loved the Welsh accent and Welsh words used.
I definitely liked the themes of appreciation for nature and simple living, and the complicated relationships Welsh people can have with the Welsh language. I also enjoyed the sweet relationship between mother and son.
I got through it in one sitting, and I immersion read it, which was nice. Loved the Welsh accent and Welsh words used.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
This is a very beautiful memoir by a young woman who more than deserves to tell her own story. It's definitely more a recounting of events to set the record straight than a display of literary mastery or a deep exploration of any concepts. Which is 100% fine. I'm just glad Shari is reclaiming the narrative around her family's very public turmoil, and now she can live in peace and keep the rest of her life for herself.
This audiobook was extremely bingeable. Quick, snappy chapters and a very straightforward narrative. Definitely recommend for memoir lovers and true crime enthusiasts (though please go in with respect and care).
I will say, it makes me kind of uncomfortable that despite everything, including her seeming understanding of the part it played, Shari is still a faithful member of the LDS church. Far be it from me to criticize her for what brings light and joy into her life after so much pain. But I do find that choice kind of at odds with reality.
This audiobook was extremely bingeable. Quick, snappy chapters and a very straightforward narrative. Definitely recommend for memoir lovers and true crime enthusiasts (though please go in with respect and care).
I will say, it makes me kind of uncomfortable that despite everything, including her seeming understanding of the part it played, Shari is still a faithful member of the LDS church. Far be it from me to criticize her for what brings light and joy into her life after so much pain. But I do find that choice kind of at odds with reality.