bayleereads's reviews
150 reviews

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

4.0

This was such a beautiful memoir. I feel like this book wasn't necessarily written for an audience, but more for the author herself, as part of her grieving and healing process. Listening to Michelle talk about her family using such raw emotion was both heartwarming and devastating. I also loved the food aspect, given I'm a foodie (and I've never had Korean food before, but this book definitely made me want to try it!) I thought this was a heartbreaking yet powerful book about a mother and daughter’s bond and how irreplaceable that bond is, which reminded me a lot of mine and my mother's relationship. I’m not rating this 5 stars since it didn’t *amaze* me as much as other memoirs have and some parts felt choppy/non-cohesive. Definitely recommend, though!

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Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wanted to love this one more than I did, but I still liked it! I am not a fantasy TV show watcher (like GoT), so this one didn't really resonate with me as much as it might have for others. I am also not into cosplay or fan-fiction, so this is another reason why it didn't hit the mark for me. A lot of the cosplay/fantasy/fan-fiction references went over my head. I loved the plus size representation and Marcus' love for April, however I found it almost too good to be true-- very insta-love-y. I also found our FMC to be quite dense and judgmental, which made me dislike her for most of the book. I liked the dyslexia, familial emotional manipulation, and anxiety representation too. Overall, this book was okay and I *did* like it, just not as much as I had hoped.

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What Doesn't Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness - Lessons from a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller

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challenging informative sad medium-paced

4.0

I finished this one a couple weeks ago and still haven’t written a review because I have so many thoughts about it. I found this book to be an excellent hybrid of memoir and advice. Tessa is articulate and clear about what chronic illness patients go through. It also contains a wealth of information that can be useful to someone newly diagnosed and even to some who have been ill for years (like myself). It's very graphic and very honest, and I think every Spoonie can relate in some way to this book, whether you suffer from IBD or other types of painful invisible illnesses. While I did love it and found it informative and relatable, I did find myself skimming through some of the repetitive and preachy parts. Overall, I definitely recommend :)

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The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

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emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

Okay, y'all-- don't hate me. I liked this one, but I didn't *really* like it. There were some really unique parts I enjoyed that I don't see often, such as the family running a funeral home, falling in love with a ghost, and of course the ever so popular family drama trope. However, I found myself bored through some parts and just felt "meh" for half of the book. It felt overly descriptive, a lot of which seemed unnecessary. I wanted more of Florence's story about the murder she solved as a teenager (I could read a whole book just on that!) and I really wish this would have been dual POV, including Benji's POV as well. Although I predicted the ending early on (within the first 100 pages), I still enjoyed the ending nonetheless. I was a little confused and weirded out that it took three months (if you have read this, you probably know what I mean), which borders the miscommunication trope for me, which I wasn't a fan of. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book! It just didn't hit a lot of marks for me.

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Happy Place by Emily Henry

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was such a cute romance! It has a lot of different tropes, such as second-chance, forced proximity, found family, fake dating, small town, and I'm probably missing some! This was cute and light-hearted, but it also dealt with topics such as grief and career-changes. I loved the LGBTQ representation with Cleo and Kimmy, too! This one didn't quite hit 5 stars for me because 1) there were too many characters with not enough background development (I had a hard time remembering who was Kimmy and who was Cleo) and 2) although I loved Harriet, she drove me bonkers with her secret keeping and miscommunication. Lots of things could have been avoided in this book if people just SPOKE TO EACH OTHER!!!
Overall it was a cute read and I will continue to read every book Emily Henry writes!

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You Just Need to Lose Weight: And 19 Other Myths about Fat People by Aubrey Gordon

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Aubrey Gordon does it again! As a fat person, listening to this book healed parts of my own anti-fat biases towards myself, and towards the fat community. I highly recommend this book to everyone, but definitely more to people who are passionate about human rights and social justice, and to those who haven’t had the chance to unpack their own anti-fat bias/fatphobia yet. The format was really digestible, and I really appreciated that every chapter included reflection questions, as well as actions readers/listeners can take to fight for fat justice. I BEG OF YOU TO READ THIS-- especially if you have a fat friend or family member, provide medical or mental health treatment to fat folks, or if you tell yourself “I don’t mind fatness in others, I just don’t want to be fat myself.”

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Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

All. The. Stars!!!!! I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! In my opinion, the hype is SO worth it and I totally understand why this book has taken over bookstagram. Nate and Stassie are the cutest couple EVER and I loved every moment reading about them. Y'all know I *hate* the miscommunication trope, so imagine my surprise when I found NO miscommunication anywhere in this book. Seriously-- these people know how to regulate and express their emotions in a healthy way! Also the smut in this book??? DIVINE. I loved the subtle LGBTQ+ representation AND the disability representation! It's not often we get to see a sidekick in a wheelchair-- ESPECIALLY in a SPORTS romance! Seriously I'm screaming from the roof tops how much I love this book. Even though the epilogue contains one of my least favorite tropes, I still adored it because it fit Nate and Stassie so well! Favorite read of 2023 so far! OH AND-- screw you, Aaron.

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Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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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

4.0

I'm seemingly the last person on earth that hadn't read this one yet, but I finally got around to it, and I'm so glad I did! I really liked following Daisy & the Six, and their odd dynamic as they try to work together. I always adore strong female characters, so I loved getting to read about Daisy, Karen, and Camilla (ESPECIALLY Camilla). Even though this was a great read, it is HEAVY and deals with a lot of heavy topics such as addiction, cheating, and abortion. I wasn't a huge fan of the script-like/interview style writing in all honesty, and there were a LOT of characters to keep up with (I'm still not entirely sure who Warren and Pete were or what they added to the story???) Overall it was a great story and I look forward to watching the series :)

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How Y'All Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived by Leslie Jordan

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

It's strange to read about the life of someone shortly after they pass and learn so much about them that you didn't know before. I'm happy that I was able to learn more about Leslie Jordan, as I did not know much about him or his life. This book has some great reminders about authenticity, kindness, and loving the life you've been given. I enjoyed Leslie sharing stories about his southern upbringing and much more. It sounds weird, but I love the way he talked! He was so hilarious, humble and had a heart of gold. This book seemed scattered and the stories were not arranged in an order that I understood. I also found myself uninterested in some of the stories and realized I wasn't paying attention. Overall, if you loved Leslie Jordan, you'll love this book-- especially the audiobook with his narration :)

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Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

5.0

My first 5⭐️ read of 2023! This book told such an amazing story, the characters were diverse and loveable, it was sexy, and it dealt with a lot of bigger themes that aren't talked about a lot in romance novels. As someone who has dealt with chronic migraines for nearly ten years, I was blown away by how migraines were portrayed in this book. I related SO much to Eva and her chronic pain. Second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, so to see these two high school lovers fall for each other again was just lovely. I cried, I laughed, I gasped... I just loved everything about this book! Eva and Shane deserve the entire world, regardless of how messy and dysfunctional they are. I will recommend this book until the day I die!!!

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bayleereads's reviews 150 reviews

bayleereads's reviews
150 reviews