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dana_reads_travels's Reviews (2.39k)
I really went back and forth on my rating here.
Why I loved this debut: It was an emotional ride and in a great way. A book about a death doula and how different people react to the death of a loved one makes for an interesting read. Clover's story was intriguing and I loved how the story ended. Just enough to make a hope of what was to come in Clover's life, but not a full blown answer. There were different hints of romance through the book, but the author did a great job of not making that front and center. Considering Clover is basically a hermit in her spare time, this would have been too far fetched.
Claudia's character was a gem and reading about Clover's Grandfather's life in pieces was also lovely. The tears were flowing at the end of the book.
What I did not: I struggle with characters who literally talk to no one outside of work. Like they go home every day and never talk to a soul. I know it happens. But they drive me nuts when I read about them. Clover was having full blown panic attacks if someone said hello to her or thinking they were trying to scam her. I understand people have social anxiety. But this felt a little strong considering Clover grew up loved and supported people through their deaths.
But honestly, my tiny annoyances with Clover did not take away from the fact that this is a well written, beautiful debut novel. Highly recommend.
Why I loved this debut: It was an emotional ride and in a great way. A book about a death doula and how different people react to the death of a loved one makes for an interesting read. Clover's story was intriguing and I loved how the story ended. Just enough to make a hope of what was to come in Clover's life, but not a full blown answer. There were different hints of romance through the book, but the author did a great job of not making that front and center. Considering Clover is basically a hermit in her spare time, this would have been too far fetched.
Claudia's character was a gem and reading about Clover's Grandfather's life in pieces was also lovely. The tears were flowing at the end of the book.
What I did not: I struggle with characters who literally talk to no one outside of work. Like they go home every day and never talk to a soul. I know it happens. But they drive me nuts when I read about them. Clover was having full blown panic attacks if someone said hello to her or thinking they were trying to scam her. I understand people have social anxiety. But this felt a little strong considering Clover grew up loved and supported people through their deaths.
But honestly, my tiny annoyances with Clover did not take away from the fact that this is a well written, beautiful debut novel. Highly recommend.
I am going to DNF this one-- at least for now. I am not in the mood for a slow burn book.
But here is why I am not willing to push through; even though I have loved the author's first two books.
1. The setting of this book is weird. It sounds like these people belong in the 70s, but they are not.
2. The girls seem very immature, and while I know being 18 makes you a young adult, these girls sound more like freshman in high school.
3. Also, I understand the premise of Lucy. She is the Regina of the book. The mean girl. The one no one really likes, but they're friends with her anyways. And I am sure that happens in college. But it is not something I can personally connect to. Yet, the descriptions I have seen about Lucy do not strike me as someone people would even think they needed to hang out with.
Again, love the author. And I know not every book an author writes is going to hit for me. But I can still want that! :) And I will be waiting for her next!
But here is why I am not willing to push through; even though I have loved the author's first two books.
1. The setting of this book is weird. It sounds like these people belong in the 70s, but they are not.
2. The girls seem very immature, and while I know being 18 makes you a young adult, these girls sound more like freshman in high school.
3. Also, I understand the premise of Lucy. She is the Regina of the book. The mean girl. The one no one really likes, but they're friends with her anyways. And I am sure that happens in college. But it is not something I can personally connect to. Yet, the descriptions I have seen about Lucy do not strike me as someone people would even think they needed to hang out with.
Again, love the author. And I know not every book an author writes is going to hit for me. But I can still want that! :) And I will be waiting for her next!
Thank you for a netgalley of one of my most anticipated books of 2024.
I loved this book. I really did. The fact the narrator interacts with the reader the whole entire time is quite fun.
Yes Ern is quirky and odd at times. But that is part of his charm. What made me really enjoy this plot is the characters. There were so many, but once you have them down it is quite easy to follow along.
Yes it took a hot minute to get to the dead body, but worth the payoff. The story is well set up and I think the plot is well fleshed out. I did not find there to be a lag in the movement of the story. The ending where we find out who did it was fantastic. It is well explained and intricate enough that there are many ways it could go. But not so intricate that it was unbelievable.
Well there was one small moment at the end where I was like no effing way. But it did not bother me enough to question the ending.
If you have not read this series, I highly recommend you picking them up. But yes, you should read them in order.
I loved this book. I really did. The fact the narrator interacts with the reader the whole entire time is quite fun.
Yes Ern is quirky and odd at times. But that is part of his charm. What made me really enjoy this plot is the characters. There were so many, but once you have them down it is quite easy to follow along.
Yes it took a hot minute to get to the dead body, but worth the payoff. The story is well set up and I think the plot is well fleshed out. I did not find there to be a lag in the movement of the story. The ending where we find out who did it was fantastic. It is well explained and intricate enough that there are many ways it could go. But not so intricate that it was unbelievable.
Well there was one small moment at the end where I was like no effing way. But it did not bother me enough to question the ending.
If you have not read this series, I highly recommend you picking them up. But yes, you should read them in order.
I genuinely don't care about either character. Also, while I do not mind long books at all, considering we know the ending unsure why this is almost 400 pages. Did I skip to the end? Yes. Am I happy I did not read it? Yes.
I have to be in the mood for a predictable romance. And here I was. In the mood. Even though I will still say the ending at the exhibit was the most corny thing ever. LOL
What I liked about this book was the character development in Natalie. Reading about her grief and how she worked her way through that was well written. One of my biggest fears is becoming a widow.
I loved the characters. I felt the dialogue was believable and loved how music played a roll.
What I liked about this book was the character development in Natalie. Reading about her grief and how she worked her way through that was well written. One of my biggest fears is becoming a widow.
I loved the characters. I felt the dialogue was believable and loved how music played a roll.
Just was not good in my opinion. Found it to be quite unbelievable very quickly!
It's been a hot minute since I have been in the Connelly universe. I've really loved the previous Haller books and the early Bosch books. Nine dragons (was that the title) was my last one.
But I do really enjoy seeing these two characters together. Though I found the ending to be predictable, the journey there was highly enjoyable. I love a courtroom drama and this met those standards.
But I do really enjoy seeing these two characters together. Though I found the ending to be predictable, the journey there was highly enjoyable. I love a courtroom drama and this met those standards.
4.5 stars
I personally liked this more than book 1 as I felt the enemies to lovers was fine.
What made this one better for me was the deeper dive into the story of the Divines. I liked seeing them in action, and I would have liked a little more on the other three that just get mentioned. The ending was satisfying. I love that Ross keeps dropping 2 books in a series and moves on. To me, it stops the characters from getting repetitive, and to be honest she wrote this war out wonderfully in two books.
My biggest "issue" with this book was the way these 18 year olds spoke. Really? Do they know love like that? It just felt a bit corny-- the dialogue between Iris and Kitt. I liked them as individuals, so I could deal with it. But I would have liked to see less mushy romance.
I personally liked this more than book 1 as I felt the enemies to lovers was fine.
What made this one better for me was the deeper dive into the story of the Divines. I liked seeing them in action, and I would have liked a little more on the other three that just get mentioned. The ending was satisfying. I love that Ross keeps dropping 2 books in a series and moves on. To me, it stops the characters from getting repetitive, and to be honest she wrote this war out wonderfully in two books.
My biggest "issue" with this book was the way these 18 year olds spoke. Really? Do they know love like that? It just felt a bit corny-- the dialogue between Iris and Kitt. I liked them as individuals, so I could deal with it. But I would have liked to see less mushy romance.
Thank you to the publisher for a Netgalley.
Wow. This was intense. Every time we flashed back to the past, you got a tightening in your stomach knowing that something terrible was going to happen to these kids. So please go in knowing there is a lot of child abuse. I personally did not think it was graphic or overly violent, but it was a lot of psychological abuse.
The story of our three women is an interesting one. I found all three of them to have interesting current lives and learning how these foster sisters became true sisters was really well written. Darling Girls was an absolute page turner.
Wow. This was intense. Every time we flashed back to the past, you got a tightening in your stomach knowing that something terrible was going to happen to these kids. So please go in knowing there is a lot of child abuse. I personally did not think it was graphic or overly violent, but it was a lot of psychological abuse.
The story of our three women is an interesting one. I found all three of them to have interesting current lives and learning how these foster sisters became true sisters was really well written. Darling Girls was an absolute page turner.
Wow. This fast paced thriller starts strong and does not stop until the end. I did not read the blurb before starting-- I just saw this was recommended by people I trust with book choices. So when it popped up as BOTM, I added it to my cart.
Great choice. This is a solid plot, in which we see our main character work her mark. As she deals with the job at hand, we flashback to what got her to this position and how she handled jobs in the past. Never did I think the flashbacks were slowing the current plot because they were just as interesting as the present day story.
The ending was satisfying. Highly recommend.
Great choice. This is a solid plot, in which we see our main character work her mark. As she deals with the job at hand, we flashback to what got her to this position and how she handled jobs in the past. Never did I think the flashbacks were slowing the current plot because they were just as interesting as the present day story.
The ending was satisfying. Highly recommend.