designsbymeghen's reviews
230 reviews

If there was ever a testament to how unbased and ridiculous racial bias is, this story is it. We waste so much energy as a species worrying about what “someone is” to fit people into a neat little box in our heads. How boring. How limiting. This book is full of people trying to fit in a box because, unfortunately, their survival depends on it. It was very well written and brings up quite a few complexities of how those boxes affect each characters' life. 

This book is what happens when I don’t have multiple audiobooks lined up. It was…so bad 😅  The whole story is full of dumb and shallow characters. Like, gurl. It’s about as deep as a kiddie pool. The one redeeming quality is that I didn’t quite predict the ending, so kudos to McFadden. 

I couldn’t put this one town. I read three pages and was instantly hooked. The format of oral history is interesting and so well done. Reading how each character remembered the same event pretty much the same or completely different felt genuine—brilliant writing. Jenkins writes in a way that brings the characters to life in a way that feels real, like this band and these people actually existed in history. 

Some of these stories were pretty interesting; some were just okay. The first one reminded me of “Scary Stories We Tell in the Dark,” but R-rated. The audiobook was good, but there needed to be more separation between the different stories. They ran into each other seamlessly, so sometimes I didn’t realize it had moved on to another story 😅 

On-again, off-again relationship stories are normally a no for me. However, this instance felt appropriate for Connell and Marianne. We get to live through each character’s life as they’re on the brink of adulthood, experiencing all of the social pressures that come with “fitting in” and discovering who they really are.

I’m unsure how I feel about the ending 🥴. It felt like Marianne was doomed to a life of insecurity, and Connell would never quite get the hang of expressing his feelings clearly. I wish there would have been a more definitive solution to the problems between them, but I suppose that’s the story's whole point. People are flawed; nobody is perfect. But when you find someone who feels right, you celebrate those moments because nothing lasts forever.

 

This is a cute story that illustrates the power of human interaction. I couldn’t help but love Eleanor and all of her social awkwardness. Watching her character progress felt wholesome and satisfying. Friendship is one of the greatest gifts we experience in this life.

I spent most of the story waiting for Eleanor and Raymond to get together, but honestly, I’m glad they just stayed friends. There was never an “ulterior motive” on Raymond’s part, and it’s also a lesson that you don’t need to be in a romantic relationship to live a happy and fulfilling life. My favorite part of the whole story was Raymond bringing her a cat and Eleanor naming her Glen after the vodka she gave up 🥹

 

This one popped up in one of my book club newsletters, and I instantly fell in love with the cover. It’s a bit of a slow build, but all-in-all great storytelling. I really resonated with the complicated feelings Monica was experiencing in her love life. This story delves into the idea that the “obvious” answer is not always right for you. At the end of the day, you have to be true to yourself and force yourself to answer the hard questions. 

I honestly didn't hate this one. I enjoyed the Spanish / Latino references and phrases. I just didn't feel like reading a story with a bunch of punk kids going on a killing spree. 

This was a solid mystery story. Following the audiobook with all the characters and timeline jumps was a little tricky, but I got the gist. The story illustrates how class differences affect people and situations with entirely different outcomes and expectations. There are quite a few tropes, but somehow, it doesn’t feel overdone or boring: punk wealthy daughter, female detective, lesbian (speculation) camp leader, spoiled rich bitch frat boy, over-medicated housewife. 

One last spooky book to finish out October. I called the ending from the very beginning. It was an interesting read, but if I’m being honest, I wasn’t paying attention entirely. The characters weren’t all that interesting to me, but there were some cringy (in a good way) gruesome scenes.