elizlizabeth's reviews
222 reviews

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A perfect conclusion to the series. It did feel a bit too fast on the last third vs the rest of the book, but it kinda helped to keep the stakes and tension high so.
I loved all the side characters and how the book picked up on past connections and details, it truly felt like closing the loop -and by Zeus I hope that verdict for Max was guilty.
Audiobook takes full advantage of the format and it makes for a great experience 10/10 would recommend.
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Cabin Fever by Antonella Menoni

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
The writing and the story were a bit juvenile, but the last straw for me was a detailed pandemic recap that had nothing to do with the actual timeline. It is not bad writing per se, but the characters and themes are hilariously dumb, which ruins the mystery/horror part for me.
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The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green

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hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

Some of these hit very deep, but a couple of the ones dealing with football and sports didn't so much. Overall it reminded me of the simple prose that Green uses and why I liked his books so much, might even use one or two of these as class reading material for my students.
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Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

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emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Really enjoyed the audiobook version. I wonder if Holly meant for the story to always go this way or if she picked up the loose threads from the previous book to weave here. Either way, it was nicely done. I have to be honest, I didn’t quite like
the idea of Stanley redemption arc, but his death scene was so emotional that I have to look past my own pet peeves.
Throughout we are accompanying Pip as she deals with grief and trauma, which I liked, but it definitely lends for a slower pace than other books of the genre so maybe be aware that this might get a little introspective.
I have nothing else to say except it’s past midnight on a school night and I’m still going to start the next one because I need to see how my girl is faring.
Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Exactly what I needed to cheer up. Kinda wish I'd read it chronologically from House of Dreams but that's on me for not paying attention.
The Regrets by Amy Bonnaffons

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dark funny medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No

2.0

Both the main characters kept insisting that Everyone around them was annoying and that they were the specialest boy/girl on earth when in fact I was surprised that Anyone would want to be around them in the first place. Such a shame because this one doesn't shy away from the monstrous but alas.
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The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you ever thought "oh I wish Jane Austen had written urban fantasy", look no further. Delightful, a little absurd, somewhat anachronistic but SMG nailed the tropes and pacing of a period novel.
Frank Lloyd Wright; An Interpretive Biography by Robert C. Twombly

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informative inspiring medium-paced

3.0

Interesting. Probably not the book I'd choose to first get into FLW but it's the one I had on hand so. 
A very fair assessment of the architect himself, though at times I would've appreciated a show-not-tell approach with the building descriptions and interpretations. Misogynistic prejudices are prevalent especially on the first chapters that deal with Frank's childhood where the author tries to diminish his mother's influence in favor of the father even though he has little to zero evidence of this.
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That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? No

2.0

I was expecting a fantasy comedy with monsters and honestly it only half excelled at comedy and sucked at the rest. The world building had its moments but overall it was shallow and dismissed as soon as the stakes were too high or the MC needed a way out. As for the comedy I could see where I was supposed to laugh but the chronically online jokes didn't land and I'm afraid will only get worse with time. Skipped the smut scenes, first because they were cringe but they quickly devolved into problematic bioessentialism. 
On that matter, for all the author's claims about diversity there were so many questionable choices, especially the slavery plotline. Which you know, if it was just a silly book I wouldn't question much but if you're gonna sell yourself as "diverse fantasy writer" maybe put the work behind the words.
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The Deal by Elle Kennedy

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Trope by trope, eeeverything I could want in a romance. Except maybe more gays, but it's got hockey players and they kinda loop around in the macho to homo scale so.
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