staceen's reviews
104 reviews

I assigned this book for our work DEI book club. Despite having some of the same organizational issues that other reviewers found, I thought it was really, really good! Dr. Geronimus did an excellent job of explaining scientific research in layperson's terms using really smart anecdotes to solidify the point. I learned so much. 

I was shocked not to like this as much as EH's other books. I had a really hard time connecting to Daphne as a character and I get impatient when romantic leads don't do what they want to do (kiss, have sex, be together etc) for ....reasons. I love the way Emily Henry writes characters but I found the leads this time around to be kind of bland. I'd read Ashleigh's love story. That being said, this is still a great little romcom. 

I couldn't put this down. When Margo gets pregnant with her professor's baby, she decides to try Only Fans to tackle her titular money troubles. I loved the writing and the fleshed out characters. It felt surreal but also very true, much like The Knockout Queen, which I also really enjoyed. 

i love science writing, especially about the ocean. This unique memoir in science essays worked really well. The metaphors weren't cringy, and the author's thoughtful commentary and personal narrative gave new weight to popular science and kept my attention throughout. 

Lucy doesn’t remember the night of her best friend’s murder in which she has become the prime suspect. Now, 5 years later, she returns home to confront that night with a podcaster doing his own investigation. This was good not great for me. I know I wasn’t supposed to find Lucy necessarily likeable, but I found it hard to root for anyone. I kept hearing people recommend the audiobook because of the podcast element but I didn’t find that it added much for me. 

I generally like Christina Lauren’s books, even though the shifting perspective each chapter thing is getting a bit stale for me. This one started so strong, the characters were great, and the Pretty Woman billionaire fantasy was great escapism. The class commentary, while I absolutely think it was important to include and necessary for the story, I could have done without in my romance book. 

Absolutely loved. I didn’t know much about Julia before reading. What a fascinating life. The audiobook read by the author is a must. 

I love Chelsea's podcast, and I really enjoyed her book. I could have read it in one sitting, but I wanted to take my time with it. Her stories are both shocking and incredibly relatable. Not a linear memoir, she jumps from a childhood in the southwest to college in New York to performing comedy in Chicago. Chapters are named for important women in her life, it's so fun to read a memoir from a true girl's girl. The theme of overcoming adversity with glamour, style, and sheer will had me cheering and crying the whole time. The most striking and powerful piece was the redacted bits. It was chilling to see how much women's stories are silenced and censored. I'm so grateful she chose to include the black bars. 

Parts of this were really interesting, but I don't love historical fiction and reading this was starting to become a chore. Just a little slow-paced for me.