designsbymeghen's reviews
230 reviews

If you need a reason to be thankful for what you have, take a moment and read this memoir. This story is if the dad from Captain Fantastic meets Frank from Shameless. You couldn’t have made up a more complicated, conflicted, and loving father than Rex Walls. The levels of poverty this family survived are nothing short of incredible. Just wow. Now, I need to watch the movie to see how it compares. 

I needed some Backman writing in my life. I enjoyed getting to see Britt-Marie’s character explored more in-depth. Backman has a wonderful way of unraveling people to shine a positive light on their often misconstrued “flaws.” He also has a way of making you fall in love with a sport, even if you couldn’t give a hoot about sports, to begin with. This is a story of putting yourself out there and stepping away from people who don’t appreciate you. 

Jodi Picoult’s books are always so well-researched and detailed that you’ll surely lose yourself in a good long narrative. Suicide is such a detrimental thing for everyone close to the victim. What upset me the most about this story was Emily’s lack of psychological help. It seems like if she had a professional to walk her through her complicated emotions about Chris and trauma from her childhood, this all could have been avoided. It’s also a lesson for future me to never pressure my children into any particular career path or relationship. It does a number on one psyche. 

This story had a totally different tone for a haunted house story than anything I’ve read before. It was very matter-of-fact and to the point, with no lack of rational thinking. I’ve never read a character who was more of a black sheep than Anna. Their reasoning for disliking/not trusting her feels laughably far-fetched. In the end, kudos to Anna for staying true to herself. Her family can FOAD. 

Not a bad read. This book is kind of the definition of all men are trash 😅 I enjoyed Alicia’s POV much more than Theo’s. Partially how it was written and partially the woman narrator. It was a bit of a slow burn, and I think I should have guessed the ending before I did. Theo was icky from the beginning. His character was thrown a lot of softballs while doing his detective work. 

I really enjoyed this book. Toxic masculinity is bad for ALL of us. Liz does a fantastic job breaking it down with statistics, stories, history, and the state of the current world. It shifted my thoughts on being more compassionate to the men in my life and ways I can be more supportive and thoughtful to young boys. Everyone should read this book. 

Not bad. A lot of internal turmoil with clear mental health issues so you know the main character is dealing with some shit. I kind of liked the ending, but it felt a little drawn out.

I did like the twist with the orphanage. It’s totally fucked up that they swapped the girls. But the whole, hiding the wife thing seemed like a reach.

 

 This was very dark. But the writing style for this novel was so compelling. Poetry, prose, tweets. It was unique and beautiful, and tragic. It sheds light on an often overlooked tragedy that men can be victims of sexual assault too. 

I was hooked from the start. This story was a great read with continual escalation. The subject matter is pretty dark, but the perspective it’s written from makes it much more palatable. Claire and Lydia are fantastic characters, and I love them. Some scenes felt a little too convenient, but it still works.

Paul got what he deserved. I’m glad this story has a good ending.

 

Typically, when I start a new book, I go in pretty blind, so I don’t know what to expect. The 20th-anniversary edition had a forward by Gillian Flynn, and I feel like it gave away the most crucial points 😅 The story felt like a slow burn, but that may be because I knew what to expect. Regardless, this is such a messed up situation to create for your children. Unimaginably cruel. Cathy and Chris are incredible characters, forced to grow up way sooner than they should have. Thankful for a relatively happy ending.