taylasversion's reviews
99 reviews

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

If I was reading this on Wattpad or ao3 I’d give it a higher rating. But this is a PUBLISHED book that is being adapted into a movie, so it gets one star from me. 

It’s repetitive. It constantly contradicts itself. It’s cliche. It tries to be all pro women but is also really belittling to fan girls and to boy bands, which is rich considering the author is making a living profiting off the both a particular boy band and their fan base. 

The age gap thing is portrayed so repulsively in this, shown by just some of the examples below:

“… there was something so boyish about him that it almost felt wrong. Almost.” 

“His skin: so flawless, soft, like a baby’s”

Referring to him as ‘this sweet boy’ while sucking his dick?? 

I’ll still be watching the movie, both because of Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway and from what I’ve seen of the trailer, they’ve just taken the idea (heh) of middle aged mother falling in love with young boyband member which in itself is a compelling story. 

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I really didn’t care much for this. Very underwhelming and unsatisfying. The main character was very ‘literary sad girl’ but not in any way that was even remotely interesting. Even her being a vampire didn’t make her interesting. Probably the shortest book that has taken me the longest to read. 

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

informative slow-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

3.0

I’ll be honest, this book was a slog for me to get through. The first third was the hardest, and then it started to pick up for me as it introduced the suffragette movement, but once it fizzled out I was bored again. I just kept waiting for the next thing to happen and it just never did. 

This is a wonderfully written book, well researched and I learnt quite a bit while reading it, but it just didn’t go anywhere for me or give me what I as hoping or expecting. 

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I love love loved the concept of this. I really enjoy post apocalyptic stories, particularly ones that deal with people and situations that aren’t typically shown in mainstream portrayals of the end of the world. This book had potential. 

I liked it more when it was just about Fran and Beth, once more characters started getting introduced the messier it got. Many times the chapter or portion of a chapter would just start mid scene and found myself getting to the end of it still not really understanding what just happened and who these people were. There were lots of characters that were brought up so sporadically that I couldn’t remember who they were and what role they were playing in the story. Lots of it felt disjointed and irrelevant to the story at hand. 

It’s brutal and graphic, which I can appreciate, however after a time it feels like the book relies on shock value. It often read as too casual? I don’t think every book needs to be a literary masterpiece but the language used felt too laidback and relaxed, more like a blog post than a novel, which would be fine if it were portrayed as such but it isn’t.

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It’s insane how it’s not even inconceivable that people would rather eat humans than be vegan if meat wasn’t available. 

This book was very surface level. I really enjoyed the message and sentiment behind it, but it was very short and could’ve been explored a lot more in depth with a decent sized novel.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Premise: 5/5
Execution: 3/5

The premise of this was so good that I forced myself to get through this. I was perpetually frustrated at what was happening and why, because nothing made any sense to me, and nothing was clarified for the choices that were being made by the characters. Then when things were revealed it wasn’t some big moment where it all falls into place or a wow moment it was just like …okay then, I guess this is happening. 

I get the idea of exposition through story, but I wish there was more world building and explanation of what’s going on and why. So many times I sat there like ‘Why is that a bad thing? What is the significance of this?’ I just wanted more of a background to begin with so I knew the stakes. 

It was painfully slow but also way too fast at the same time, like the plot is drip fed to us but the timeline feels way shorter than a year. 

I really wanted to love this. The premise has so much potential, and it was squandered on one dimensional characters, an insufferable main character, and surface level ideas. 

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Hard book to rate. I didn’t particularly enjoy it all that much, it was written really well and I liked a lot of the themes. 

With this book I strongly relate vegetarianism/veganism with how men treat women. The complete disregard for their thoughts, feelings, and bodies. The constant take, take, take. The need for control. The way the wives are there purely for the enjoyment of men, as if they aren’t their own being.

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As a vegan I had to (try, at least) to put aside a lot of my own personal thoughts and feelings to enjoy this, but I 100% did. 

This is such a brilliant book. It reads horrendously pretentious, and I think that’s entirely the point. I’ll honestly say I learnt a lot of new words reading this. It’s so incredibly well written.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

hopeful reflective 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

3.0

It’s not that this is a badly written book, it isn’t. But the concept has been done time and time again and this book doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It got repetitive REALLY quick, and was painfully predictable. I enjoyed it just fine but I was just so underwhelmed considering the hype around this book.