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sarah_thebooknerd's Reviews (879)
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
No
I really really enjoyed this audiobook! I do think the narrator or Irene sometimes came across as monotone.
Irene is healing from a leaving her husband who has been cheating on her for years. She is a doctor, has to hold a level of success for her family and their reputation. Remi owns a car shop on Madison Island and she and Irene have never really been friendly. Irene is very put together and Remi is going with comfort, ease and is direct. I liked their banter and build to a relationship. Although this is a slow burn when it takes off it really takes off!
I think I wanted a little more emotional depth to the characters and this would have been 5 star.
Irene is healing from a leaving her husband who has been cheating on her for years. She is a doctor, has to hold a level of success for her family and their reputation. Remi owns a car shop on Madison Island and she and Irene have never really been friendly. Irene is very put together and Remi is going with comfort, ease and is direct. I liked their banter and build to a relationship. Although this is a slow burn when it takes off it really takes off!
I think I wanted a little more emotional depth to the characters and this would have been 5 star.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I am so appreciative of Libro.Fm and the publisher for an audio copy of the book.
I love Elizabeth Acevedo and the way in which she writes these beautiful books in verse. I fell in love with her YA work and was eager to see her adult book. I think there are elements of what I loved but I think I struggled with this book in audio due to the amount of POVs and lack of a linear storyline. If either there were 6 narrators, headings with the names or maybe if I had the physical book in front of me at the same time it would have made a difference.
In the book we get the POV of 6 women in the family. The dynamics, struggles, love, life, death, grief, infertility, illnesses, relationship issues etc... There is a lot packed into their stories that add a richness to each of the characters.
I love Elizabeth Acevedo and the way in which she writes these beautiful books in verse. I fell in love with her YA work and was eager to see her adult book. I think there are elements of what I loved but I think I struggled with this book in audio due to the amount of POVs and lack of a linear storyline. If either there were 6 narrators, headings with the names or maybe if I had the physical book in front of me at the same time it would have made a difference.
In the book we get the POV of 6 women in the family. The dynamics, struggles, love, life, death, grief, infertility, illnesses, relationship issues etc... There is a lot packed into their stories that add a richness to each of the characters.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ashley Poston has quickly snuck up on my auto-read authors.
She has this beautiful way of making you feel like the characters are relatable, realistic and by the time I close the book I always want more from them. She adds in a twist of magic, tied in with the romance and I am hooked. Highly recommend!
She has this beautiful way of making you feel like the characters are relatable, realistic and by the time I close the book I always want more from them. She adds in a twist of magic, tied in with the romance and I am hooked. Highly recommend!
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 rounded up.
I had the pleasure of receiving this book as an E-ARC to read and review. I actually used this book as a buddy read with my son, who is 9 and we both really enjoyed this book. I am going to let him type up his review below mine.
This book follows 2 children- Piper (6) and James (15) and the dog- Miss Bella. Miss Bella, the dog is navigating through the wasteland looking for a new pack leader. She comes upon Piper and James who are trying to stay alive in this post apocalyptical world setting, The Wasteland. James has a prosthetic leg and I really loved seeing that representation in the book. James is injured after venturing into the Wasteland with Miss Bella. Miss Bella alerts Piper and Piper and Miss Bella go off to help find James.
what I loved- I really liked the dynamics with James and Piper. Piper, despite being in such a horrific world she is sweet, kind hearted but also so strong and that is due to James really helping raise her, keep her safe but he always wants her to be a kid and he shoulders a lot of the responsibility for their survival and this time Piper takes the teaching from her brother and uses it to help him.
What I wanted more of- I wanted to know more of the back story to why the Wasteland happened, what happened to James and Piper's parents and even his leg with amputation. I also want to know more about the magic with the raider.
I definitely would continue to read more from this world and by this author.
My son's review: Rating: 4.7; Personally I thought the book was really good towards the end but at the very end they kind of cut it short. Also I thought that we needed to know a bit more about their backstory, how the wasteland started, what happened to James and Piper's parents, and how James lost his leg. I really like that they are some of the last people left trying to survive the deadly world. The beginning caught my attention because it had plenty of action. I enjoyed the book a lot
I had the pleasure of receiving this book as an E-ARC to read and review. I actually used this book as a buddy read with my son, who is 9 and we both really enjoyed this book. I am going to let him type up his review below mine.
This book follows 2 children- Piper (6) and James (15) and the dog- Miss Bella. Miss Bella, the dog is navigating through the wasteland looking for a new pack leader. She comes upon Piper and James who are trying to stay alive in this post apocalyptical world setting, The Wasteland. James has a prosthetic leg and I really loved seeing that representation in the book. James is injured after venturing into the Wasteland with Miss Bella. Miss Bella alerts Piper and Piper and Miss Bella go off to help find James.
what I loved- I really liked the dynamics with James and Piper. Piper, despite being in such a horrific world she is sweet, kind hearted but also so strong and that is due to James really helping raise her, keep her safe but he always wants her to be a kid and he shoulders a lot of the responsibility for their survival and this time Piper takes the teaching from her brother and uses it to help him.
What I wanted more of- I wanted to know more of the back story to why the Wasteland happened, what happened to James and Piper's parents and even his leg with amputation. I also want to know more about the magic with the raider.
I definitely would continue to read more from this world and by this author.
My son's review: Rating: 4.7; Personally I thought the book was really good towards the end but at the very end they kind of cut it short. Also I thought that we needed to know a bit more about their backstory, how the wasteland started, what happened to James and Piper's parents, and how James lost his leg. I really like that they are some of the last people left trying to survive the deadly world. The beginning caught my attention because it had plenty of action. I enjoyed the book a lot
DNF at 53%. I hate to DNF books that have fat rep in them because we need more not less but I am struggling with reading any ebooks right now that I cannot continue to push myself reading this book when I am not liking it.
Pluses:
- The lottery winning aspect is fun and we all have those kind of what if we win and what we would do with the money.
- I liked the small town and side characters for the post part
- Rosie is starting to come into her own and am loving that part of it.
Downsides:
- Rosie is very insecure in her ability to pull a guy, any guy much less an "attractive" one because she has constantly learned through horrific fat shaming as a child and teen that she is not to be desired. Although, this is not abnormal for fat bodied people to experience, I find it extremely triggering as a fat woman to read this kind of rep throughout a book that is trying to show positive fat rep. Rosie feels that she is less than because of her body size and it is playing into the man feeding her that she is worthy trope and that is going to bug the hell out of me.
- The random fat shaming scene in the diner, I know this exists again, I have been in a fat body for a long time and I have been shamed for sure but to just take it and not push back against the woman drove me up a wall. Is Rosie, right that odds are the woman wouldn't care to know sure, but I am just tired of constantly seeing this be the go to with some fat rep.
- Angus is supposed to be a grump but you have to pull off grumpy vs asshole and here there is not a good pull off for it and as a result I find myself to be very put off by Angus.
-This book brings up a very interesting discussion about SA in the military and I was actually like yes! let's talk about this but it is very focused on women being SA'd in the military and how Angus does not feel that he is prepared as a counselor to be of help to them because he is a man vs his clinical training being helpful? I've seen this play out in therapy side for so long while working with SA survivors that their counselors constantly do not want to help them with SA trauma or bring up gender as the classification of why they would not be good instead of looking at it through the lens of giving the survivor power to decide. If they picked you as their counselor, they knew your gender that you present so why not bring it up more in a conversation to allow space and ensure for safety but also relationship counseling on realizing that it might be helping them to work with someone who is not harmful from the gender they were assaulted by. Also--- men have SUPER high rates of SA in the military close to 50 men are assaulted sexually a DAY in the military it is not just women.
Overall, for me it just comes down to the fat rep not working for me personally given how insecure Rosie is and how re-traumatizing that is for a fat person to read and be in that head space is really what made me put it down.
Pluses:
- The lottery winning aspect is fun and we all have those kind of what if we win and what we would do with the money.
- I liked the small town and side characters for the post part
- Rosie is starting to come into her own and am loving that part of it.
Downsides:
- Rosie is very insecure in her ability to pull a guy, any guy much less an "attractive" one because she has constantly learned through horrific fat shaming as a child and teen that she is not to be desired. Although, this is not abnormal for fat bodied people to experience, I find it extremely triggering as a fat woman to read this kind of rep throughout a book that is trying to show positive fat rep. Rosie feels that she is less than because of her body size and it is playing into the man feeding her that she is worthy trope and that is going to bug the hell out of me.
- The random fat shaming scene in the diner, I know this exists again, I have been in a fat body for a long time and I have been shamed for sure but to just take it and not push back against the woman drove me up a wall. Is Rosie, right that odds are the woman wouldn't care to know sure, but I am just tired of constantly seeing this be the go to with some fat rep.
- Angus is supposed to be a grump but you have to pull off grumpy vs asshole and here there is not a good pull off for it and as a result I find myself to be very put off by Angus.
-This book brings up a very interesting discussion about SA in the military and I was actually like yes! let's talk about this but it is very focused on women being SA'd in the military and how Angus does not feel that he is prepared as a counselor to be of help to them because he is a man vs his clinical training being helpful? I've seen this play out in therapy side for so long while working with SA survivors that their counselors constantly do not want to help them with SA trauma or bring up gender as the classification of why they would not be good instead of looking at it through the lens of giving the survivor power to decide. If they picked you as their counselor, they knew your gender that you present so why not bring it up more in a conversation to allow space and ensure for safety but also relationship counseling on realizing that it might be helping them to work with someone who is not harmful from the gender they were assaulted by. Also--- men have SUPER high rates of SA in the military close to 50 men are assaulted sexually a DAY in the military it is not just women.
Overall, for me it just comes down to the fat rep not working for me personally given how insecure Rosie is and how re-traumatizing that is for a fat person to read and be in that head space is really what made me put it down.
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved the 90s romcom, While You Were Sleeping and this is a take on it but historical romance version with a grumpy Scotsman. I enjoyed it a lot and this was my first Sophie Jordan and will not be my last.
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I will admit this book took me a minute to get into. I read 40 pages, worried it was not for me and that I just wasted money buying the book and closed it. I decided to come back to it a week later and finished the book in 24 hours.
The FMC, Meg found her calling with design lettering for special events, planners or other things, a year ago she hid a message in a wedding invite by writing the word "mistake" in the program. The MMC, Reid is really great with patters and realized that it said that and called off the wedding. He shows up a year later to ask her why she did it. The two of them strike up a walking around the city plan and a friendship builds with them.
Meg is such a relatable and realistic character by the end of the book. I felt like there was so much depth to them. The author also did some creative aspects with bringing in emotions and fonts to signal feelings throughout the book which at first through me for a loop but it was so cool by the time I figured it out and got into the book. It made for a very immersive experience through the world of Meg. I immediately want to dive into the author's other books.
The FMC, Meg found her calling with design lettering for special events, planners or other things, a year ago she hid a message in a wedding invite by writing the word "mistake" in the program. The MMC, Reid is really great with patters and realized that it said that and called off the wedding. He shows up a year later to ask her why she did it. The two of them strike up a walking around the city plan and a friendship builds with them.
Meg is such a relatable and realistic character by the end of the book. I felt like there was so much depth to them. The author also did some creative aspects with bringing in emotions and fonts to signal feelings throughout the book which at first through me for a loop but it was so cool by the time I figured it out and got into the book. It made for a very immersive experience through the world of Meg. I immediately want to dive into the author's other books.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reading Around the World: Germany
This thriller is told from the perspective of 3 POVs.
1. a Father, Mattias whose daughter went missing 13 years ago when she was 21.
2. A 13 year old little girl, Hannah who is autistic
3. A women who is hit by a car escaping who goes by Lena from her captive but her name is Jasmine.
The narration was really great each character had a different narrator and all of them did a great job.
I liked the twist and did not see it coming. I think the ending left me sitting and wondering and I think that is great. The middle parts some of it was predictable and we have seen done before with thrillers but overall it was entertaining and kept me wanting to know how it would end.
CW: sexual assaults', kidnapping, captivity, murder, death of a child, injury, car accident, medical content
This thriller is told from the perspective of 3 POVs.
1. a Father, Mattias whose daughter went missing 13 years ago when she was 21.
2. A 13 year old little girl, Hannah who is autistic
3. A women who is hit by a car escaping who goes by Lena from her captive but her name is Jasmine.
The narration was really great each character had a different narrator and all of them did a great job.
I liked the twist and did not see it coming. I think the ending left me sitting and wondering and I think that is great. The middle parts some of it was predictable and we have seen done before with thrillers but overall it was entertaining and kept me wanting to know how it would end.
CW: sexual assaults', kidnapping, captivity, murder, death of a child, injury, car accident, medical content
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Reading Around the World: Pakistan
I have wanted to read this book for awhile. Malala's story and activism post shooting has been incredible.
I really did like the parts where it seemed that Malala's voice shined in the story and not the co-authors. It is really clear when the co-authors parts were coming in due to the heavy historical and political conversation with it that would match that author being a journalist writing more in information than emotion. It gave the book some background information but at times it got really dense with it and I wanted more of what was happening from Malala's perspective vs the informative one. I also think there is a lot of background about her parents more than again Malala's story of growing up, which is understandable given the history of the parents was relevant to what happened.
Overall the book was really eye opening and informative.
I have wanted to read this book for awhile. Malala's story and activism post shooting has been incredible.
I really did like the parts where it seemed that Malala's voice shined in the story and not the co-authors. It is really clear when the co-authors parts were coming in due to the heavy historical and political conversation with it that would match that author being a journalist writing more in information than emotion. It gave the book some background information but at times it got really dense with it and I wanted more of what was happening from Malala's perspective vs the informative one. I also think there is a lot of background about her parents more than again Malala's story of growing up, which is understandable given the history of the parents was relevant to what happened.
Overall the book was really eye opening and informative.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Complicated
Reading Around the World Challenge: Japan
This is a short book about a woman who begins working at a Convenience Store when she is 18 years old and continues to work there and finds it to be a place of refuge. It is never stated that the FMC is neurodivergent but based on the masking, social que needs and having a hard time navigating friendships and relationships because everyone continues to think that she is "odd" or "not right" makes me think that she definitely is and the convenience store allows her the space to find her masks to be able to participate in society the way that works for her. She is faced with pressure to get married, find a partner or find a more successful job and is even faced with someone who is trying to take advantage of her situation and desperation for that. Its a very character driven book and may not be for everyone.
This is a short book about a woman who begins working at a Convenience Store when she is 18 years old and continues to work there and finds it to be a place of refuge. It is never stated that the FMC is neurodivergent but based on the masking, social que needs and having a hard time navigating friendships and relationships because everyone continues to think that she is "odd" or "not right" makes me think that she definitely is and the convenience store allows her the space to find her masks to be able to participate in society the way that works for her. She is faced with pressure to get married, find a partner or find a more successful job and is even faced with someone who is trying to take advantage of her situation and desperation for that. Its a very character driven book and may not be for everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Sexual harassment