t0ast_and_t3a's reviews
393 reviews

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

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

5.0

Well, this is the first mystery/thriller book I’ve ever rated 5 stars, but holy crap was this good from start to finish. The way the information was doled out; the MC and her entire backstory/development; the side characters; the found family—the freaking ending! Just all SO good. I was hooked! 

I listened to the audiobook, but I get to meet the author in a couple weeks and I’m VERY excited. 
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sometimes you just read a book and realize you’re not alone in how you think and it’s both scary and liberating. 
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5🌟

A unique genre-meshing story. There’s mystery, romance, time travel. It’s often a bit dull—a bit mundane—but there’s a reason for that. It’s the build for me, the “oh shit” moments, the “well, of course” passages. I think the unreliable narrator is essential to the overall arc, and usually I don’t care for longer chapters, but they’re sectioned out with purpose and tension and juxtaposed with the shorter ones at just the right moments. You may find yourself questioning things while reading—but again, there’s a reason for it. Trust the story, let it take you through time.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

“The way you get sideswiped was by going back.” 

This is a book about grief, about mourning, and about going back in order to go forward—and about learning to live with never really losing the hope that you can “run the film backward” in order to get just a little more time with someone you love. 
Rootbound by Tarah DeWitt

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Cute and entertaining. The story has a complete arc, but the ending was a bit unsatisfying—in the sense it took away from the FMC reclaiming her life after everything with her ex-husband. Overall though, it was a good romcom. 

1/5🌶️
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

First, Yanagihara, I will never forgive you for this story. Second, while people claim this is trauma porn, I think—and this is my OPINION, not a JUDGEMENT—they may have missed the point of the story. Third, this book is HEAVY. I can usually finish a book pretty quickly, but boy was I not prepared for, well, everything. If you’re looking for a story that has a happy ending, this is not the book for you. (Though, there’s much to be said about the ending, and how
Jude—even under the circumstances—finally claims control of his own life.
) It’s tough and raw and scary and just all around emotional, it is a story that makes you think about people—about what you may not know about them, about why they act and react to things, and how, in the end, there are few people who really understand, who care to look at us when they know the deepest, darkest parts of us. It’s a story about life and just how profound it is, and that is what makes it a story worth reading. 
Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book wasn’t for me, I’m going to start with that. I listened to the audio version, and even though it had dual POV (and narrators) I just couldn’t get attached to the characters. It almost felt written for the trope’s sake—rich girl, poor boy—and that was all. Again, I wasn’t the targeted audience for this book (in fact, I just need to stop listening to college-age romances). The romance was a bit TOO cheesy for me and it was about 100pages too long for the arc of the story.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is a more a story about finding one’s way through grief, and learning there is something after even when it doesn’t feel like there can be, than a romance. It’s a bit magical, a bit hopeful, and the ending, and the lead up to it, is well done for what the story is really about. Great supporting characters, who really help the FMC more realistic and human.

*Switched between physical and audio version. Narrator fit the character nicely.*

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In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

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

5.0

Another incredibly powerful story from Serle, with an utterly realistic MC and a relentlessly unapologetic story arc. There are many emotions during the trajectory of the story, from giddiness to grief to despair to uncertainty. What I find so powerful in each of the books I’ve read by Serle is how captivating they are in their brevity. We get everything we need, when we need it, and understand how it all ties together effortlessly in the end.