Tag: fiction

Book Review: All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆  
Audience: Adult contemporary romance
Length: 306 pages
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: July 17th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

ALL THE EMOTIONS.

This book tore me up. I love anything CoHo writes. I haven’t read all of her books, but currently I’m at 8 of them and this one might be my favorite yet. Hoover is able to take this intense situations and emotions and create a book that somehow still gives you hope at the end (even if you’re crying).

I really felt this book because of it’s main issue, infertility. This is not a light conversation ever and while I personally haven’t had to deal with this, I know many families who have. I thought the way the book conveyed how deeply infertility can affect someone (and those around them) was done well. There were so many sides to take in and brought in a lot of moments that made the book an easy five stars.

“I love you more in this moment than any moment that has come before it.” 

The now vs. then timeline had me speeeeed reading because I had to know what happened next. It was the perfect stop and starts as I got to see them fall in love, and find that love again. The last couple of chapters with Graham’s letters DESTROYED ME. I seriously went to go kiss my husband after finishing this book because it made me consider a lot. Every couple has to remember why they love each other sometimes and not to give in at the same time. So many truths in this book.

Characters made me want to hug them, yell at them, cry with them, and much more. I couldn’t believe some actions taken by others. It was hard to watch. I am in awe of how great this book was and I am forever a CoHo fan.

Overall audience notes:

  • Adult contemporary romance
  • Language: a bit of strong language
  • Romance: kiss, make-outs, detailed romance scenes
  • Trigger warnings: self-harm (MC cuts her wrist once), infidelity, infertility, miscarriage, depression, grief, cheating,

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Book Review: Recursion by Blake Crouch

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Sci-fi fiction + thriller
Length: 336 pages
Author: Blake Crouch
Publisher: Crown
Release Date: June 11th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Memory makes reality. That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

Neuroscientist Helena Smith already understands the power of memory. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent. 

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them? 

MY HEAD HURTS.

I have an unpopular opinion coming your way. I liked Dark Matter more. This book was only okay. On the lower half of my 3 star rating.

This started out great. My head was exhausted trying to grasp all of the scientific concepts, BUT I was still having a good time. I knew we were building up and the back and forth timelines were keeping me intrigued.

Then at a bit past the halfway point I started to notice the repetitiveness. And over and over again the same situation kept happening. Way more times than I thought was necessary to get the point across (and how awful that Helena kept having to go through the same time frame?!?). At this point I stared scanning the pages til we brought up some more action…but none ever came.

The book felt more dedicated to the relationship between Barry and Helena than it did to the drama and thriller aspects I felt I got in Dark Matter. Yes, I was invested in them and thought their relationship made sense. But, it was dragged out and I only wanted to know the answer to how to stop the world from ending.

What was also totally trippy was thinking about this actually happening and what could result from this. A lot of current aspects were taken into account for this book which made it feel all the more real. I dearly hope our government isn’t hiding some memory machine planning to control the fates. There’s a point to this book, you can’t play God.

Overall audience notes:

  • Science fiction mystery/thriller
  • Language: f-word a lot (too much for me personally)
  • Romance: some kisses, mentions of “f-ing” each other, but not descriptions of the event
  • Violence: murder, guns, see trigger warnings for me
  • Trigger warnings: suicide ideation, multiple descriptions of peoples suicide and mass suicides

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Book Review: Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fiction + Sports
Length: 432 pages
Author: Fredrik Backman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: April 25th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Overeturns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream—and the price required to make it come true.

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

AN IMPORTANT NOVEL.

This left me awestruck. What an amazing and poignant story that brought to life so many things wrong with our culture.

I connected a lot with the life emphasis on hockey. As someone who knows the depths of Southern football, it can rule your life. The pressure to win, be the best, and always do right can be intensely overwhelming. These boys are under way too much stress from parents and other adults who care a bit too much about hockey.

Because I swear, if I heard one more character mention “putting the club before anything else.” I was going to through my Kindle through a window. HOW DARE THEY. Oh I was so angry. Which I’m sure was the intention, which is also why I loved this book so much. I felt so many feelings and reevaluations run through my mind.

As a parent I feel like the story itself hit me on an even more emotional level. I can’t even began to fathom this happening and knowing what to do about it. The strength and courage that some of these characters exhibited in a horrid and disgusting situation was stirring.

I could not put this book down. The rotation of the point of views throughout the story allowed an insight into so many character minds and rounded out the effects this type of story has on an entire town. Each character responded uniquely and while I didn’t love some responses I appreciated the importance of seeing all sides.

Note: contains strong subject manner that is detailed and hard to read, please read at your own discretion

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary fiction + sports
  • Language: a lot of strong language (one of the only things I would change)
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: physical & verbal assaults – see Trigger warnings for more details
  • Trigger warnings: aggravated rape, teenage drug & alcohol use, off & on screen domestic abuse, sexual harassment, suicide, suicide ideation, depression, homophobia

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Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fiction
Length: 368 pages
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 5th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

ACHINGLY CAPTIVATING.

First off, listen to this as an audiobook if possible. It was so cool having so many voices. It really brought everything to life. I felt like I was listening to one of those MTV Behind the Music shows about some band. It made it a really quick listen (it’s only 9 1/2ish hours, not sped up).

The only thing iffy about listening to it fast, and on audio is sometimes it would get choppy switching to character after character. It wasn’t every single page, but I did notice it occasionally.

This was super addicting. I didn’t know how I was going to feel about it when I started, but dang, I couldn’t stop listening. It truly was a lot of sex drugs, and rock n’ roll. Holy cow. I was shocked by all of the things that this band did and went through. And yet, it was even more shocking, because these kind of things probably happened at a time or another with bands.

I honestly hated every character at one point, and loved them at others. I loved how at odds I was with each person’s choices, but how I wanted them to be happy and fulfilled anyways. I was happy to understand decisions and have true endings to everyone so I could feel like the story had closed.

At times I was so distraught with the emotions brought out by the story line. I anxiously awaited what tore this band apart, and y’all, it was exactly what this story needed. The little twist made sense and really hit home the struggles that can occur in these situations.

Reese Witherspoon is amazing at choosing books for her club, I yet again really enjoyed reading another one of her picks.

Overall audience notes:

  • Adult fiction
  • Language: a lot of strong language
  • Romance: a lot of sex, but not detailed; more, they had sex over there, they did that last night kind of explanations
  • Violence: underage drinking, drug abuse, parental neglect
  • Trigger warnings: cheating spouse, drug and alcohol addictions, abortion, depression

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