Take a photo of a barcode or cover
crispycritter's Reviews (516)
This is the second Kleypas book I've read. The first one I read was Devil in Winter - I feel like it's fate I just randomly grabbed Cam's book second! :)
A super solid, fun romance that I had to take half a star off on principal - you can’t set a book in Boston and 1. Refer to the public transit system as “the subway” and 2. Refer to Mass General as “Massachusetts.” Who refers to a hospital as Massachusetts? People who live in Massachusetts don't even refer to the state by its full title. You get four letters max.
I was so tickled that Canterbary brought up the wild turkeys and other cute unique things about the city. I miss those big, dumb, angry turkeys!
I was so tickled that Canterbary brought up the wild turkeys and other cute unique things about the city. I miss those big, dumb, angry turkeys!
I've been thinking a lot about craft lately, and Starter Villain has a super interesting "flaw" from a craft perspective - an almost complete lack of interiority. The book is written in Charlie's first person POV, so you might assume we'd get some reflection on all the crazy shit that happens to him. Instead, we witness things happening to Charlie and are left to speculate what, if any, emotional impact these events are making on Charlie.
Why is inferiority important? There are a ton of different entertainment mediums. The main thing that separates the written word from TV/film is interiority.
Why is inferiority important? There are a ton of different entertainment mediums. The main thing that separates the written word from TV/film is interiority.
- From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler and Janet Burroway: “in the most exciting literary works, an internal conflict runs parallel to, or resonates through, some larger conflict in the external world. That interaction between the inner and the outer is a unique provenance of narrative. No other art form can really grasp the interaction between the external world and the internal world as fiction can.”
- David Foster Wallace, when asked why we read: “I don’t know what it’s like inside you and you don’t know what it’s like inside me. A great book allows me to leap over that wall.”
Is Starter Villain still entertaining as heck? Yes. I was fully engrossed in this book. There were some reveals that were surprising! It was genuinely hilarious. It gave me major Kingsman vibes. Super campy, over-the-top action and silly villains. But Charlie didn't have much of a distinct personality. He just seemed like a normal dude with a reasonable amount of empathy who, like most people, didn't particularly enjoy getting blown up or shot at. So my only critique is that this book might as well have been a screenplay for a summer blockbuster action-comedy.
Can’t write a coherent review about this right now. I’m currently mad at Rosie Danan for making me give one of her books less than ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
At the sentence level, this book was beautiful. Danan is such a beautiful writer.
Characters? A hot mess. This was not the Naomi from book one. Don't be like Sara J Maas. Character fidelity matters. Ethan was a flat perfect person without a distinct emotional arc. Chemistry - where? Steam - where?
Have you ever wanted to watch two characters 'fall in love' via the exchange of douchey speeches about The Meaning Of Life? This book is for you. Read this if you hate reading about any of that domestic and mundane nonsense that allows us to form lasting connections to other human beings.
Plot? Holy confusion, Batman! Why did any of these things happen?
Naomi showing up to her old high school to talk about modern intimacy, saying 'fuck it,' and going off script (a.k.a. literally crying to high schoolers about her breakup) was an absolutely wild scene that didn't need to be there.
At the sentence level, this book was beautiful. Danan is such a beautiful writer.
Characters? A hot mess. This was not the Naomi from book one. Don't be like Sara J Maas. Character fidelity matters. Ethan was a flat perfect person without a distinct emotional arc. Chemistry - where? Steam - where?
Have you ever wanted to watch two characters 'fall in love' via the exchange of douchey speeches about The Meaning Of Life? This book is for you. Read this if you hate reading about any of that domestic and mundane nonsense that allows us to form lasting connections to other human beings.
Plot? Holy confusion, Batman! Why did any of these things happen?
I desperately need to stop reading mafia romances that read like they were written by a 12 year old. I felt the brain rot on this one.
On the plus side? This is the least dark mafia romance I’ve come across. It also features a FMC with a disability. The same disability Violet power-through-the-pain Sorrengail has. So the disability rep here is better than Fourth Wing? Silver linings.
On the plus side? This is the least dark mafia romance I’ve come across. It also features a FMC with a disability. The same disability Violet power-through-the-pain Sorrengail has. So the disability rep here is better than Fourth Wing? Silver linings.
Another book advertised as a rom-com that's really a contemporary romance. There's nothing really wrong with this book - just wasn't vibing for me. A little too heavy for what it's being billed as. I'm going to blame the publisher for that. Everyone wants that sweet, sweet rom com money. But 60 pages in and I was still waiting for the Rom AND the Com.
DNFing because there's just not much emotional connection between Ari and Russell. I can appreciate that RLS is a good writer. There's a ton of nice writing here. But I'm just not feeling the tension. I'm not feeling the stakes. It just feels a bit distant and almost santized? Like there might have been more emotional resonance that just got whittled away in edits. It's hard to describe. There's just something missing for me.
Anyways grumble grumble grumble people are very picky about their romance and I am people.
DNFing because there's just not much emotional connection between Ari and Russell. I can appreciate that RLS is a good writer. There's a ton of nice writing here. But I'm just not feeling the tension. I'm not feeling the stakes. It just feels a bit distant and almost santized? Like there might have been more emotional resonance that just got whittled away in edits. It's hard to describe. There's just something missing for me.
Anyways grumble grumble grumble people are very picky about their romance and I am people.
What a blast from the past. Like a combo of Underworld and the campiest episodes of Buffy. I’m so glad I didn’t discover these books in the 2010s cause they would have been my whole personality.
Edit: They're re-releasing these books with super cute cartoony covers. Oh boy, I might have to start collecting them. I believe this one is being re-released in Oct 2024.
Edit: They're re-releasing these books with super cute cartoony covers. Oh boy, I might have to start collecting them. I believe this one is being re-released in Oct 2024.