I really enjoyed this. This was a reread for me, and I wound up giving it the exact same rating as the first time. I really enjoy the growth and development of the characters. The writing can be a bit overdone or clunky, but I actually enjoy that aspect as well. It seems to work since it's narrated by two failed writers. I don't reread thrillers often, but this is one I'm glad I did. I know a lot of people have issues with it, but it's still one I'll highly recommend.

Why did it have to change perspective every two pages? Did that not bother anyone else? I was incapable of getting into the story because ever page and a half it just jumped to another character, another situation. I felt like I was getting whiplash and there was no flow. Alfred was such a pointless character as well. It felt like he existed because there needed to be more historical context and that was the easiest way for the author to add it, but all his sections were just the same repetitive "I'm a hero go Germany, but I'm actually a lying coward." It didn't add anything to the story. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style, which just seemed like it was doing a lot of telling and repeating the same information in case we forgot it after the first eight times.

Overall, don't get the hype. Really disappointed because it's such an interesting topic, but I can't understand what people see in this at all.

Eh it was fine. Honestly, this is about how I thought I'd feel about the book. I just find heists in stories to be boring. It was well done enough here that it did hold my interest, but it was still just a heist.

Problems in summation: six main characters is too many and often it seemed like Wylan was an afterthought, having an even number of characters so everyone can be coupled up at the end, the whole bad boy with a dark past and heart of gold trope, maybe I'm just too old but I do have trouble suspending disbelief with an elite team is chosen and they're all 17, all the really long flashback memories felt jarring and out of place

Things I liked: Inej's character was so well done and her sections were my absolute favorite, I also appreciated that each character had a detailed story and didn't just boil down to their one thing which would have been an easy trap to fall into, the writing style flowed easy and after the first hundred pages it was a pretty quick read

I will also say I struggled a bit with the world. At a point I just gave up on trying to understand anything other than the Scandinavian coded country hated the Grisha and the plant made magic 100x, although I am willing to accept fault for this one because I didn't read the Grisha trilogy first.

This book was good, I just didn't think it was that good. It was the kind of three star read that I really enjoyed, but I don't think I'd be any worse off if I hadn't read it, and that's usually the cutoff between three and four stars for me. I don't think this is a book I'll remember very much for years to come.

I enjoyed Evelyn's story. I thought it was really entertaining and I was invested to the end, but to be perfectly honest, I'd rather this have been a third person faux biography of her life. I feel like that was a story I'd have enjoyed significantly more. I understand why Reid wrote in Monique's character and told it this way, but it didn't work for me. I never cared about Monique. I never cared about her story. It always felt jarring when her sections popped up, like I was being pulled away from the story I actually did care about.

I also felt that Evelyn's section always fell more on the side of telling rather than showing. Which I understand was because she was literally telling her story to Monique, but that didn't make it anymore enjoyable to read. I very much felt like I was getting a secondhand account of the story instead of being able to experience it first hand, which I think is the biggest reason I didn't feel as connected as I would have liked to.

But all in all, it was an enjoyable read. Definitely a positive experience to read this book, even if it didn't wind up having a huge impact on me.

This was weird and dark and above all, stunning. Before this book, I think I would have laughed if someone said they could romanticize working in a convenience store. I worked in a grocery store for over a year and there's absolutely nothing romantic about it. But somehow, Murata did that and so much more.

Keiko's self discovery drove this book and I couldn't put it down for the two hours it took to read. The convenience store felt like poetry and the characters all had so much depth that I'm not sure I remembered to even breathe while reading. I can't overstate how amazing this was.

Easily one of the best books I've read this year.

I really enjoyed this book. It made me surprisingly emotional, which is pretty rare in memoirs although I read a lot about people going through traumatic situations, but there was something about the voice in this that hit me really hard.

A lot of reviews commented negatively on the writing style, but I actually enjoyed that. It felt like an active choice Jaycee was making to tell the story the way she experienced in her own words from the time, instead of having it polished up and rewritten by a professional. For me, this choice really worked within the storytelling. I think had it been completely ghostwritten it would have been just another memoir, but I enjoyed it so much.

I did think it felt an awful lot like a first draft, not all of the storytelling was well thought out, random journal entries were thrown in, and there were inconsistencies with little things like brackets vs footnotes. I don't necessarily dislike this because it did give the book a much more raw and immediate feeling, although I did think some of the overall storytelling could have used a solid revision. But all in all, really loved this book and would highly recommend.

Honestly, I was pretty disappointed by this book. I've been rereading a lot of Jodi Picoult books this year and they've been settled pretty evenly around 3 stars each, but this one was the first I disliked upon reread. It felt really overwritten, and it's possible I noticed it more this time because I was listening to the audiobook, but a lot of passages made me outright cringe. And there were a number of inconsistencies in the story (at one point Elise says she's 47, but that would mean she gave birth to Delia at 15, at which point she was married and working in a bar; possible but unlikely). All small things, but there were more than just a few of them and it got to the point that it was irritating.

And I really dislike reading unrequited love stories. That's just me and personal preference, but it's so eyeroll inducing to me. The ending really didn't work for me. It felt rushed and like the characters had to act out of character to make it work, and they were all pretty unlikable people. I just didn't enjoy this one, which was such a disappointment because I had hoped it would be better.

This book felt too fast paced for me and I had a difficult time connecting with the main characters and the story. I felt like I was constantly being told things, and because of that was an outside observer instead of being able to feel the emotion for myself. I can see why other people have liked this because it felt like all the components were there, it just wasn't the right story for me.

I did think the eating disorder rep was well done and it's an ED book I would recommend for YA readers, which is a pretty rare find for me.

Overall not a bad a read, but I didn't feel like I got much out of it.

This was a reread and I just thoroughly enjoy this book. I listened to the audiobook and Claire Danes did an absolutely wonderful job. Her narration added so much to the story, and I'm not someone who's usually too focused on the audiobook itself. As for the story, I just really enjoy how Margaret Atwood tells it. The limited perspective and voice is so incredibly well done and I adore Offred's character, the way that we're not given a hero. We just have a normal woman with flaws. It makes it so easy to relate to her, and so much more scary because there isn't a savior. It just feels like reality.

I do think the lack of closure and understanding of the society makes this a four star instead of a five for me. The reason it doesn't bother me more is because the limited perspective is the point and it is so amazing, but I'm always left with the desire to know more. I do come away feeling a bit incomplete, which seems purposeful by Atwood, but that's something I do struggle with.

Overall, such a worthwhile read and I'm so glad I reread it.

This book felt like the introduction to a story, rather than a story itself. It wasn't bad, but I didn't care until the last few chapters because nothing was happening until the last few chapters. It was a lot of travel and a lot of complaining about bad food and horseback riding. I did think the story it was setting up sounded like it would be interesting. I liked the characters, and I do plan to continue on with the series. It seems like it will be a good story, it just isn't there yet so I'm hoping the later books are much better.