emvdw's Reviews (341)

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Susannah Cahalan

5.0

dark informative reflective tense

Horrifying pageturner

Content Warnings

Witchmark

C.L. Polk

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Blanche on the Lam

Barbara Neely

3.5

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Very tense, but also very brief and the denouement is a bit rushed.

Under the Whispering Door

TJ Klune

3.5

emotional lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Wolf Den

Elodie Harper

4.5

adventurous sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Milan Kundera

3.5

reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Dutch House

Ann Patchett

4.5

reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Neither the cover, nor the description of this book really spoke to me, so I probably wouldn't have picked it up. However, it was on sale for cheap and because I saw the audiobook was narrated by Tom Hanks, I decided to "risk" it. Is was a great decision.

Of course, Tom Hanks is great. Turns out having Tom Hanks read you a book is exactly as delightful as you think it will, which is to say extremely.

The book itself is also pretty great. It's hard to say what makes it so good, it just is. It reminds me in that way of Stoner John Edward Williams, though this one has a bit of a bigger scope. The ending was not quite what I wanted, but perhaps what the book needed.

Content Warnings