dori’s Comments (group member since Nov 08, 2023)

dori’s comments from the Challenge: 50 Books group.

49. book lovers by emily henry
romance
417 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

this is the only romance to ever exist. this is my favorite book to ever exist. emily henry’s writing…. is so phenomenal it feels like it’s written about me. about my life. it feels like taylor swift in that way. she creates an intersection between vagueness and specificity that makes you relate to every single thing she says. i am not typically drawn to first person books, however the internal voice of nora is so strong. she is so individualized as a character and i feel like i know her inside and out. at times i feel like i am her. her character is so fleshed out it’s actually incredible. nora’s fears and problems are so real… this is not one of the conflicts that come out of nowhere. it makes sense. and don’t even get me started on charlie. their banter is the best i’ve ever read. it makes me sick to my stomach. their relationship is so fantastic and the dynamic just warms my heart. and two book editors like come onnnn she’s speaking directly to me!!!! AND THE SPICE… is so tasteful. it’s not too much and all the tension makes it so incredibly satisfying. the way that it’s not only a romance but a sort of coming of age for both nora and charlie. that’s what makes a good romance for me… i feel that a lot of romances try to pull it off but few succeed. emily henry you are the only author. i can’t wait for funny story. never stop writing.

48. the wall of winnipeg and me by mariana zapata
romance
483 pages
⭐️

absolute snooze fest. now listen. i can appreciate a slow burn. but i got 200 pages in and there was nothing. nada. it was so boring and i cannot believe they call this author the queen of slow burn. also i am sick of these romances having the absolute cringiest writing. going on and on about how big and muscular he is. i get it. it’s so infuriating that no romance books these days value anything other than smut. there is just simply no plot! i want to love romance so bad but the only author i like is emily henry. i’ve given it so many chances this year and i’m just frustrated with it. but yeah i dnfed this about 40% through. i don’t think i’ll be taking tiktok recommendations ever again. i know i’m picky with romances but honestly these are just getting offensive. i’m not sure if i’m just jaded but they make me feel nothing. except book lovers by emily henry which we’ll get into.

47. the ballad of songbirds and snakes by suzanne collins
dystopian
517 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

i didn’t think i was ever going to read this, but with the movie coming out i feel like i had to. my obsession with the original trilogy was reignited and i was really curious about lucy gray. seeing into the mind of snow was definitely interesting. his spiral into his obsession with power was realistic and i really believed it. his affair with lucy gray was definitely my favorite part of the story. i found this book a little bit hard to get through at times and i think that was its biggest fault. i do believe that he loved lucy, but only in the way he knew how. that final scene haunted me for a while and i really loved the ambiguity of it all. lucy gray will forever be a mystery. i definitely enjoyed this but probably won’t read it again during my hunger games rereads.

46. as good as dead by holly jackson
mystery
455 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

this is one of those books that changes lives. i wasn’t that thrilled going into this book because i thought it was just going to be another season of her podcast, solving another murder. but boy was i wrong. it took me a few days to really get into it, but once i got to part two…. this threw me for a loop. the part where she gets taken was actually really scary! and everything that comes after is just insane. this is one of those books that gives you so much anxiety, keeps you on the edge. of course pip is severely traumatized from the events that occur in the previous books. she is not the same girl we met in the first one. i think this is a bold book to write and not everyone is going to like it. but i did. i think this turn is so interesting for her character. when detective hawkins pulled out the headphones i was so scared!!! and i’m so glad there was justice for max in the end. but the scene with ravi at the end. it broke me. i was sobbing so hard. how dare holly jackson create such an attachment to ravi just to rip it away. my heart was shattered. but that final page… this book was just phenomenal. the best in the series by far. reading the whole series is worth it just to get to this book. definitely one of my favorites of the year.

45. never let me go by kazuo ishiguro
sci-fi
288 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i read this for my modern fiction class in school. through the majority of it i felt boreddddd. it just felt like little anecdotes of their lives and it felt hard to really get into the story. but that ending just crushed my soul. i think this is one of those books that holds so much symbolism. there’s a deeper meaning within every sentence and just the way it ends is so sad and it really makes you think. aside from that i really think i connected with this book because of the characters. ruth reminds me so much of a friend i had growing up in elementary school. obviously she wasn’t a very good friend. but the manipulation felt so familiar to me, but when you’re just kids you don’t really understand that it’s happening. kathy reminded me of myself in that friendship. i’m not a confrontational person, so all of my retorts would come indirectly. it’s just interesting how i’ve never seen a friendship like that come to life in a book and it was cool to see. but back to the ending. it’s just so heartbreaking how there’s hope for tommy and kathy. the author creates that hope that both the characters and the reader hold onto even if deep down they know it’s empty. but it hurts all the same when it’s taken away from us. i think this book is brilliantly painful and while it is sci-fi, it’s not too far out of reach from our reality. and that’s scary.

44. good girl, bad blood by holly jackson
mystery
418 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

i wasn’t sure where the story was going to go from the first book just because it felt like such a standalone. but this makes sense. it kinda feels like a filler book to me after finishing the whole series. there’s no doubt that this is a great book though, it has all of the qualities of the first one but i just wasn’t as attached to the mystery as i had been with andie’s. obviously this is very important for pip’s development for the third book too. there was a lot less of ravi in this book which made me sad but the scenes we did get of him were just perfect. he’s the perfect boyfriend. the plot was super well developed and i definitely did not see the ending coming. but honestly this is just a lead up to the final book…

43. a good girl’s guide to murder by holly jackson
mystery
492 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

this was a really great read, everything id heard about it was true. it took me on a wild ride with twists and turns i had not expected. i of course love ravi. who wouldn’t? after finishing this series, looking back on this book it was just such a great start. it stands so perfectly on its own too, but i’m so glad it continues into a series. there’s nothing really wrong with this book at all, but it just didn’t have that one thing that would’ve pushed it over the edge into five stars. it was still fantastic and i enjoyed it so much. the one scene i didn’t like was when pip was trying to buy weed and kept calling it “that za” or “mary jane” and a million other names😭. i think the anti social girl going to a party trope is a little bit played out.

42. things we never got over by lucy score
romance
560 pages
⭐️

this was the worst book i’ve read this year. i wasn’t going to read it because of my track record with popular romances, i just had a feeling i wasn’t going to like it. but one of my friends said i should read it so i obliged. i’m going to try and keep this succinct because i went off on my review already but here’s my rant again. i get the whole grumpy sunshine thing. but this takes it a bit far… the mmc was overly aggressive and masculine. he is a child inside a 43 year old man’s body at the same time however. i didn’t absolutely loathe this book until the classic third act breakup. i haven’t read many of them but i HATED this one. when he was literally inside of her and he was thinking about how he was going to dump her really struck a cord with me. i just think in general i’m very sensitive to breakups and how they’re handled in books because it’s something very personal to me. and i think if they’re done right it can have a place in a book. but this was just all sorts of wrong. the way knox handled the breakup was very triggering to me and it took everything in me not to dnf this book. but i was already so deep in at this point i just wanted to see it through. i can pick on little things like the stupid nicknames and the way the book randomly turns into a thriller at the end. but when it comes to the immaturity and insincerity of this man during the breakup, i just can’t do it. i definitely won’t be continuing this series.

41. pride and prejudice by jane austen
romance
432 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i just think this is automatically a five star read. while it may not be the easiest thing to read, you have to take into account the cultural impact of this novel. it essentially created enemies to lovers and the fact that jane austen wrote a social satire in the early 1800s is just astonishing to me. the prose is exceptionally beautiful too. this was a reread from when i had to read it for school my junior year and i just think this is a timeless piece. i did find myself dragging through the book around the time when lydia and wickham run off together, but that letter… i need a mr darcy.

40. the ex hex by erin sterling
fantasy/romance
248 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

i liked this a lot more than i thought i would! i picked it up solely for the spooky vibes it was giving off and i actually really enjoyed it. overall it was a cute book that i really enjoyed reading. there’s nothing inherently special about it, but it was a fun quick read. and the spice wasn’t too shabby either.

39. wildfire by hannah grace
romance
345 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i love russ. i’m obsessed with russ. i thought aurora was ok. but i did like this better than icebreaker. xander(?) i think is russ’ roommate’s name and i’d never found myself laughing harder at a book than when he spoke. and of course… the spice is crazyyyyy. the whole secret relationship thing gets me. and the pining the banter ughhh it was so good. maybe this is horrible of me to say but i didn’t really care about the whole familial issues thing. that’s the thing with these books i think it tries to have more plot than just the romance but doesn’t really succeed on that front. but other than that i wildly enjoyed this AND I CANNOT WAIT FOR HENRYS BOOK THAT JUST GOT ANNOUNCED YAY

38. vow of thieves by mary e pearson
fantasy
430 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️

this was more plot focused and i think it was successful but as far as fantasy plots go, it was a little bit forgettable. i know that there’s only so much you can do in two books, but i’m just so used to huge fantasy books that dive so deep into the characters and the worlds. often i was questioning if this was even fantasy because there were no fantastical elements except for some random magical powder at the end. however the found family was cute and it really reminded me of six of crows for that reason. overall it was enjoyable!

37. dance of thieves by mary e pearson
fantasy
513 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

overall i did like this. the world was cool and it was a super easy read, i couldn’t put it down! my favorite part of this duology is when kazi and jase are struck together in the very beginning. however, can you call it an enemies to lovers if they are kissing in the first 100 pages? i don’t think so. it’s pretty insta love and i think it’s so focused on the love story in this book that the plot pretty much gets lost. i won’t read again but i’m glad i did.

36. the seven year slip by ashley poston
romance
353 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

a romance i liked??? what’s going on??? this was phenomenal. the magical aspects are not overdone. i felt so attached to this relationship and the way it’s set up is so unique yet so cool. plus who wouldn’t want a professional chef boyfriend who cooks for you? and i usually cringe at nicknames but this was cute. i just picked this book up at b&n because the cover looked like fall. but i’m so glad i ended up loving it. i think i often only pick up books i’ve heard of, so i need to take more chances. anyway, this was amazing and i’m so happy i read it

35. the namesake by jhumpa lahiri
fiction
347 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

yes i think this is a beautiful story, but that’s not why i loved it. i think it’s an amazing story about family and immigration but the writing was just phenomenal. this is the second book this year where the writing specifically really affected me. writers and lovers was the first. it did the thing where narration starts in my head and i start writing unconsciously about my life. everything starts moving in slow motion and i’m so hyper aware of every single detail in my life and i think it’s so cool what amazing writing can do for a person. i wish everyone could appreciate that.

34. icebreaker by hannah grace
romance
448 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

i enjoyed this! the spice is really good… but that’s the best thing going for this book. i feel that most spicy books don’t really have much else going for it. i get that there is a lot more going on but it doesn’t really do much for me. i recognize that this book was definitely insta love but sometimes you need that for something spicy. like this is nothing serious. it was fun and i enjoyed reading it. it’s not like it’s the most advanced piece of literature but it doesn’t need to be. of spicy books, this is my favorite series. i really think the characters are memorable.

33. better than the movies by lynn painter
romance
384 pages
⭐️⭐️

again with me and the popular romances… we just don’t get along. i had heard that this was the best romance of all time. i think it was haley pham that said that. everyone talks about wes bennett being the perfect book boyfriend too. so it’s safe to say that i had very high expectations for this book and from the very first page i was thoroughly disappointed. i know that the point of this book is that it is very cliche and follows lots of tropes. i get it. but the fmc is actually the most annoying person to ever exist. she’s a senior in high school and acts like she’s in elementary school. i actually could not stand her. why is she lying to every single person in her life. she’s just stupid. i’m sorry that’s harsh but whatever. she’s not a real person. the writing was god awful. it was so cringey i could not read it without shivering. ON EVERY PAGE. wes is fine. is the bar on the floor? he’s just a normal guy. maybe i’m jaded. maybe i’m used to fantasy romance where the couple would quite literally die for each other. there’s nothing wrong with him but he’s also nothing special. and also the coveted “she. isn’t. you.” didn’t do much for me either. also it ends super abruptly which i guess is fine but it just wasn’t what i was expecting. it did get a little bit better cringe wise in the second half which is why this is two stars and not one. and i went soft because of certain things happening in my life so maybe that’s it. i’m so sick of the “girl who is antisocial going to her first party” thing. like it’s just annoying. anyways i could talk forever about not liking this book at all. i’ll stop talking now.

32. maybe you should talk to someone by lori gottlieb
memoir
433 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️

this took me over 2 months to read. i did find myself interested in the patients and it was really interesting to see the perspective of a therapist and what goes through their minds. i think it’s easy to think that your therapist is a perfect person who always knows what to say, but that’s not the truth. they often wonder whether they said the right thing to you, and often find themselves at a loss for words at a tough patient. i read this because i wasn’t in therapy and i really needed to be. this was a time in my life where i couldn’t be alone with my thoughts because they literally ruined me but i didn’t know why. later i realized that it was because i was making terrible decisions for myself and my brain didn’t know it, but my body did. i thought this book might fix me. obviously it didn’t and i am in therapy now. i read the synopsis and saw that the therapist got dumped and was dealing with that while also dealing with her patients and i thought that would be helpful to me. but anyways. i cried a lot at this book, especially because of julie. it really touched me. although i did not care for the part where she talks about the journey of her book becoming what it was, i don’t care for that kind of “and that’s how i got to where i am today!” sort of thing. but overall it was insightful and i’m glad i read it.

31. archer’s voice by mia sheridan
romance
407 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️

i expected this to be the greatest book i’ve ever read with the way people talk about it. and it was good. i appreciate the mute representation, but like did there need to be that much trauma. it seemed like the author was just adding these things for the sake of archer being traumatized. like i get his childhood, but did he really need to be shot at the end. and is travis really that much of an ass? i don’t know. whatever. this was fine. the one thing i really liked about it was the spice. something about an inexperienced boy is really appealing to me… i loved those scenes. but anyway this is just another book that’s sadly… overhyped.

30. a court of war and ruin by sarah j maas
fantasy
724 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

for some reason this put me in a huge slump and it took me a long time to read it. but i really did enjoy this book. i cried at the end with their dad. i enjoyed feyre becoming a part of this family but i still don’t like her that much. i haven’t read acofas or acosf yet but i think nesta’s story will be better and i’m looking forward to that. i’m so sorry to bring this up again but it simply does not hold a candle to throne of glass. every character is better, the plot is so much more developed, and the politics just makes so much more sense. the politics in this series just seem like it’s for the sake of the plot which i know is how these books work, but throne of glass was just so much more natural. and i actually care for every single one of those characters unlike this. i like rhys but not that much. overall good series but will i read again… probably not.