ellemnope's Reviews (2.4k)

I always enjoy Isabel Allende's books. She has such a magic touch with creating emotional and colorful historical pieces. This one is quite a sweeping journey with a very strong female protagonist...something of a Chilean American Nellie Bly.

I chose this out of my TBR pile as part of a first chapter challenge. I read the first chapter of three separate books and chose the one I found most intriguing. Allende's atmospheric writing and tangible historical style sucked me right in. My choice of which book to read was an easy one.

The first person POV was powerful and really immersed me in the story. Everything was presented so realistically. Many historical considerations were made that made it obvious that Allende has done her homework. Speaking of history, the presentation of the Chilean Civil War was intense and really well written. It was a part of world history I was unfamiliar with but it was constructed in the narrative in such a thorough and understandable way that it felt as if it was something I knew quite a bit about by the time I had finished my read.

My only complaint about this novel is the ending. I know, I know...I'm always too picky about endings. I just didn't like how open ended it left things. And the lead up to the last bit felt somewhat off kilter from the rest of the book. In a sense it felt as if Allende was sick of writing the tale and just wrapped it up where it stood. It wasn't awful, but it did not suit my tastes and I might be a teensy bit bitter about it. Still...it will not stop me from reading another Allende novel. She has me hooked. 

Sometimes I will have a book on my shelf long enough that I completely forget the premise and go walking in as if I just randomly picked it up at the bookstore that day. This was a case of that occurrence. I was not expecting what I read, but that is absolutely not a bad thing.

This is really good as a debut. The writing is gentle and presents the story in a way that feels natural and comfortable. It was shortlisted for the Booker and very much deserves it. It has a heavy literary fiction flavor, not something I typically align very well with, but it is so well constructed.

The characters are intensely real. Somehow they remind me of the style of Fredrick Backman, particularly in his Beartown series. They are all flawed and genuine without feeling overly stereotypical. In fact, they are intricately created and so well placed into the narrative that this nearly reads as nonfiction.

The plot is beautifully moving and had some serious surprises in store. I had some strong emotional responses to the events and the ways in which the characters interacted. I really did not expect to enjoy this read as much as I did. Something about it is terribly gripping. 

Well...that was intense and not at all what I expected from this author after reading Pet. Buckle in baby because this plot goes hard. Trigger warnings? Ya...just add them all. This narrative is hardcore and not at all shy about it.

The plot in this novel is okay, but not blow you away awesome. It has a good basis for a seedy underbelly tale, but kind of takes a left turn at seedy and results in more of a snuf film/pulp fiction construction. Brace yourself...there is A LOT of sexual content in here and it is NOT gentle.

I'm by no means a cover your eyes kind of reader...I do read romantasy and open door romance here and there, but this one had me reading (or rather, listening) with a near permanent blush. And there are quite a few things about this story that had my stomach churning. Emezi does not shy away from hitting hard and making the reader uncomfortable. Whew.

I feel a little shell shocked after my reading in a way that leaves me uncertain as to whether I would recommend this or tell people to walk away. There are some good, raw moments in the book and it definitely presents situations that are unfortunately realistic, but I'm not sure if I got much out of it other than a few hours of feeling slapped in the face. 

An interesting approach to a YA thriller that just didn't work out for me overall and came out feeling a bit average. The premise is good, but the execution was maybe a little too overthought.

The read was really well paced and had some excellent plot structure, but the writing and character interactions just felt like they were trying too hard. Several characters were really over the top and cringy while others were too cookie cutter. I will say she nailed the ending and there was some fantastic tension created throughout the plot. The final third of the book was intense.

There are a lot of serious topics presented and for the most part I felt they were handled well. It's a quick and decent read that would possibly read more realistic for the intended audience (I would place this at the older YA/younger NA set due to some graphic violence and sexual scenes). In my particular case, it felt like the author was holding the reader's hand and leading them through the story rather than letting the reader come to their own conclusions.

Along those same lines, the protagonist's guilt was really piled on and the adults in her life were a bit overly absent. It was stated several times how good they were as parents, but that didn't really show through the narrative. Her choices were often rather illogical and seemed to just be there to further the plot rather than feel believable.

The narrative itself was mildly predictable. There were a few decent twists and one stellar one. The attempts at a red herrings were well considered, but presented in a way that laid it on a bit thick, making them more obvious. Also...it resulted in some characters really coming off as serious red flags even though in the end it was clear that the author intended for them to be "good". I'd specify more, but it would result in several major spoilers.

All in all, this book shows excellent promise for the author. This is a debut novel and she does have the framework for a really good novel. This was by no means a bad book. A little tightening and maturing of the writing along with giving the reader's understanding a bit more credit should result in some intense thrillers to come from Sloan Harlow. 

Though the premise for this book was clever, the execution just killed me. The narrative is very heavy handed and the result was a plot that lacked any intrigue. I was able to predict the entire plot (including anything considered a twist/turn) by about 15% into my read. Honestly, I should have DNF'd, but I was really hoping that my guesses were wrong and there was something that would blow me out of the water. No such luck.

The writing itself is decent and I did like Hart's first novel, Weyward, so the fact that I struggled so much with liking this one was incredibly disappointing.

Ah, yes...the old "middle of the road" read. And in this case, it truly was a mixed bag.

The historical premise for this first in a quartet is the story of the original secret agent 007. I found this quite intriguing. It also didn't hurt that this novel is based in Elizabethan England during the squabbles between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Tudor/Plantaganet England is one of my favorite historical fiction genres.

In true English historical fashion, things get pretty turbulent pretty quickly. There are a lot of names thrown out at once and there really isn't a ton of explanation as to rank, position, or any other background. There were some main characters I recognized from my previous historical reads, but there were a fair amount of times that I had to stop and regroup to remember who was who...there just wasn't a lot of character development that gave the majority of the gentlemen in the story individualized personalities. The female characters were much easier to discern.

Speaking of female characters...this is mentioned in quite a number of other reviews, but the take on Mary Queen of Scots was particularly...creative, let's say. It was a bit of a stretch based on the historical takes of Mary's rather straight-laced nature. This was unfortunate since the creative liberties really put a damper on how much of the remainder of the narrative to take as based on fact. This is one my big pet peeves in historical fiction. I allow for some wandering for fictional development, but this particular endeavor went way off the mark. Readers be forewarned, there is some mildly spicy content in these sections.

Beyond my issues with Mary's portion of the storyline, I actually quite enjoyed the POV with John Dee. I found him an interesting and intriguing character...potentially the only one I really cared about during the narrative other than a small supporting character. I am actually highly likely to locate other books based on this character simply due to his interesting combination of skills and historical background.

But...back to this particular read. I did enjoy it and the plot was quite well paced and just convoluted enough to create good tension and a few red herrings. Had the Queen Mary portions been handled more realistically, this would easily have been a 4-star read. It is what it is.

I'm intrigued enough to keep going. This is the first of 4 in the series, so we'll see how the sequel holds up. 

The billing as a mix of Addie LaRue and This is How You Lose a Time War is spot on. This book is a collection of a love stories gone wrong through the ages. Following Evelyn and Arden, the story traces their reincarnation over and over again as they repeatedly die just prior to their 18th birthday. Arden tracks Evelyn, while she has to determine which character in her life he is...the one who will kill her.

I loved the different short tales in this book and how the timelines all wove together. The primary thread is set in present day, with Evelyn as Bronwyn and Arden unknown to her. She knows her death is coming, but she needs to save her sister from dying before she herself is gone. It's a race against the clock as she tries to remember how this horrible curse even came to be.

Intermixed with the primary story are flashbacks to Evelyn's prior lives, traveling the world from Latin America to Siberia, Constantinople to the deserts of the Middle East. Each life gives a bit more insight to the relationship between Arden & Evelyn and why their lives are so intertwined.

I loved this book much more than I expected to. The writing is lovely and the weaving of the timelines is done so well. I loved the richness of the writing and how well each little vignette captures a life. I appreciated how creatively she changed their situations and how the reader really got transported along with the characters.

I was a bit disappointed in the explanation of the source of their curse. It is quite creative and well conceptualized, I think it just paced a little faster than I liked given the speed of the narrative prior to the denouement. Other than that, I enjoyed all the little snippets of history and how the story worked as a puzzle with each timeline slotting a few more pieces into place. This is definitely worth a reread. 

I am SOOO conflicted on this book. It has gutted me to a certain extent. I am a fantasy reader. Yes, I read other genres frequently, but fantasy is by far my go to genre. On the flip side, literary fiction is one of my least read genres because I really have a hard time immersing myself in it. This book...this book is a combination of the two. And my conflict comes in because...I enjoyed the literary fiction portions of the novel far more than the fantasy pieces. What is this dark magic?

The writing is incredibly atmospheric and the character work was lovely. I loved the detail about the location and the vibrant personalities of the supporting characters. The Fire Island descriptions were amazing. I felt like I could visualize it all and feel the vibes of the gatherings.

I did find Joe, the protagonist, a bit less likable. He was terribly insecure and fairly flighty. I understand the reasons for this, but it still caused me irritation. I just wanted him to grow up. Perhaps the fact that he got under my skin so well is another testament to the good character development.

Now the heavy conflict...the plot. The pacing was good, but I struggled with the transitions between reality and fantasy. I (oddly) loved the literary portions of the book so much that the fantasy parts seemed to take out the seriousness and felt a bit awkward to my reading. I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but I wish this book had been written without any fantasy components. I love the camaraderie of the Disco Witches, but I wanted them to be more real. There were so many ways that the plot could have still bloomed without the magical pieces.

Still...I did enjoy my read. Despite my inability to gel with the fantasy components, I appreciated the blunt and honest presentation of historical and political events, the exploration of gay culture, and the attention to the realities behind the AIDS epidemic. There was so much powerful discussion in the narrative and I was definitely affected by those portions. Blair Fell has stated that the story is based upon his own experiences as well as his summer spent bartending on Fire Island...this personal touch really shows in the final product. It's captivating and raw. My heart hurt through several sections.

I will be on the lookout for more from Fell. His writing is immensely rich and realistic (except for the fantastical pieces). He sets a scene with immense talent. I enjoyed his Fire Island depiction so much and could do with even more stories of the supporting characters.

** I will warn potential readers that they need to be prepared for the content. There is some definite adult material in the narrative and it is not a closed door situation. For those uncomfortable with spice, this may not be the read for you. ** 

The idea behind this novel is an interesting one and bits and pieces of brilliance shine through in the narrative. The love for El Paso is strong and there are interesting pieces of history sprinkled in throughout. For a debut novel, there was a lot of rich presence in the prose and some good protagonist development. I particularly enjoyed the character of Nena (Elena) and her evolution through the different time periods. Ultimately, I wanted to like this one more than I did, but the organization and flow left me feeling dizzy and there were too many things unfinished or not fully fleshed out. I feel like the author really has a good sense of storytelling, but this just needed a little more time and exploration.

The POV vacillates between characters and time...a difficult feat for any author to achieve and one that unfortunately did this book a disservice. It was hard to keep track of where I was in the story and I sometimes got confused, knocking myself from the narrative to try to piece things back together, reorienting myself to the time period and the protagonist at hand. This approach also left the narrative chopped up into small pieces, making things feeling disjointed and halting. Because of these small pieces, it also felt like the full story of each character was not explored. The story of Marta's case was left unfinished and the conclusion really left my understanding of the magic (La Vista) in question.

I very much enjoyed the magical aspects of the tale and the superstition which surrounded them. This was much more developed in the Nena storyline and I enjoyed the dark witchy atmosphere quite a bit. With Marta's story, I think the feeling was somewhat hampered because of her own lack of understanding of the magical powers.

Bottom line: A talented writer who will likely create some great novels down the line. This debut has some serious shining points and gives off good atmospheric vibes. The organization of the story did the narrative dirty and, eventually, left it feeling unfulfilling. This one lands solidly at a 3-star read.

I'm sorry, but TJ Klune just writes a dang good book. I can only think of one of his books that I've read that hasn't rated at least 4.5 stars. He's in my top 5 authors, so of COURSE I was going to like this one. I pretty much knew this would be a 5-star by the first 30 pages. Why? Because the character work in this novel is magnificent. The characters are hilarious and yet totally believable.

The plot is totally wild, but really fun. There is a lot of tension and high stakes. It's a little different than his other books in this sense, but man it worked. I was seriously hooked to this rather quick moving pace and I finished in two days. The creativity is off the charts and I particularly enjoyed how he wove in some pieces of historical events.

The romantic component is a little instalovey, which I'm not really a fan of. But I will admit that there is some really good banter and chemistry between Alex and Nate. Like I mentioned earlier, Klune just does great at building characters. He's great at creating relationships between them that will totally grip your heart and I love every bit of it.

Go in knowing as little as possible about the plot and this baby will wow you. It's a wild ride. Highly recommend.