msmichaela's reviews
522 reviews

Another Jasmine Guillory delight. The secret romance went on a bit too long for my taste, but I loved these characters and the world of this novel. 

Really enjoyable, despite some lagging in the first third amid the protagonist’s lengthy period of marital / maternal self-loathing and misery. (It’s real! But maybe didn’t need to go on so long.) I appreciated plot developments that felt less like twists than inevitabilities by the time they occurred, due to skillful character development. 

Overly long, relatively predictable and so pretty damn entertaining. 

Magical realism is not generally my thing, and I struggled a bit with this novel as a result. The conceit is fantastic, though the book bogged down in the middle for me. 

Micaela is a friend so I am not unbiased — but this is such a well told audio memoir! It’s funny and relatable and so self aware. Really really great. 

Fun! It bogged down in detail a bit, and some of the reality tv plot seemed highly implausible… but otherwise a delight. 

I struggled with this novel in the beginning — it felt a bit too saccharine, which is not a vibe o usually get from Monica Wood. But as the plot developed, that sickly sweetness eased up, making room for more complexity. Still, something about the tone seemed off… until a reveal at the very end. I’m still not sure how I feel about that decision, but I’m happy to have pushed through my initial disdain. 

It feels like the author should have waited a few more years / done some more therapy before publishing this memoir. It’s well written, but for all her self-criticism, her insight is lacking. 

Too similar to the first book in this series in terms of falling in love with a long-standing celebrity crush. I may have read them too close together though. 

Intriguing—especially the first third or so. The novel bogged down for me in the Tahiti sections in the second half. Still, I was really immersed in the story.