juliannewarren12's Reviews (73)

I just can’t get into this at all… the conversations are all so awkward and drawn out. I had to force myself to read this even to get to 70 pages but just can’t get further. I DNFd Normal People too so I think I just don’t like Sally Rooney’s writing. 

I enjoyed the structure of the book. Having each chapter be a story of a different person in Eva’s life throughout different time periods was very uniquely done. However, I didn’t like most of the characters. Eva seemed nice but her character felt so impersonable the older she got as if we didnt really know much about her personality after she was 11. I enjoyed Lars the most but of course

he dies right away.

I hatedddd Barque but at the same time that chapter from her college days was my favorite. I felt like that was the only chapter that we truly learned about Eva. 

There were a lot of loose ends that I wish were tied up better, especially with the ending of Pat Praeger’s chapter. This didn’t bother me too much because I think the ending did a good job giving closure for all of the main characters mentioned throughout. 

Overall, this book didn’t make me feel emotional in any way but it was still a nice read. I would recommend this to others as i’m sure many others would enjoy it better than I did. 

This is a beautiful read. The stories of the characters are wonderfully intermixed and emotional. I felt so relaxed and reflective of my own life while reading this book. It’s one that can easily be reread and still hold the same emotion.

I loved every character

even the ones who have done wrong things in the past (I’m looking at you Helen…)

 

It’s a story about food on the surface level but it so much deeper than that. It is truly about reflecting on life and the ability to connect with all kinds of people in this world. 

As a gamecock, I of course have to read anything by A’ja Wilson. As a white woman, I am clearly not the target audience for this book… it was still an important read nonetheless. There are anecdotes and perspectives that  everyone can learn from.  It was a simple yet powerful book that I think is proven by this one (of many!) excerpts:

Being a spin-off of Knives Out and Ethan are the only two things that saved this book. While I enjoyed and didn’t expect the ending of

the Inspector being the attempted murderer

, the book lacked depth. The characters were all very shallow with no backstory. Every character except Ethan, Eleanor, James, and Maggie were all very annoying and unlikable to me. I felt that we didn’t learn enough about Maggie outside of her

Ex husband and bff cheating.

It was hard for me to like Maggie and Eleanor because their characters felt so rushed and undeveloped. I really liked how much they built up Ethan and would’ve loved to see that with the other main characters as well. 

This book isn’t spicy at all and the romance stays pretty PG13. I did enjoy the flirtatiousness of Ethan and the protective side. I LOVED LOVED LOVED

the emphasis on Maggie’s insecurities/trauma and how Ethan helped her move past them. That is the only part that made their romance enjoyable in my opinion. I do wish the Tucson event between them went in more detail because that felt rushed for being so important.

I wish there was more character and world building in the beginning. The second half really saved this book for me and made it enjoyable. I wouldn’t read this again but it was an easy and unique Christmas read. 

Wow I didn’t expect this book to be so interesting. It did start off slow, but The Editor quickly picked up. I didn’t know anything about Judith Jones but this book was recommended to me so I gave it a try. I’m so happy I did because this was a great first impression of Judith Jones that was truly inspiring. Im left wanting to learn more about her.

The only true critique I have is that there are soo many side characters that were hard to keep track of. I felt like I needed a graph on paper describing each character and their relationship to Judith. I think at points the author switches from calling characters by their first name to last name (but honestly it might’ve been a completely different person and I didn’t realize… that’s how hard it was to keep up with the names.)

I also wish this book would’ve covered more about her husband and adopted kids. I understand that this was more so about her career than home life, but it still felt a little lackluster when discussing the family. I respect the author’s decision to keep the family  vague though because women are so often reduced to their husband and kids.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and even gained a new role model. I can’t wait to learn more about Judith Jones. 

This is a solid classic that can be interpreted all throughout different periods of history (and present day). I didn’t read this in school so I decided to read it as an adult. It was way more interesting that I expected. 

This is my first Kristin Hannah book and I get the hype now… the story is so raw and well written that I couldn’t put it down. It was a little slow in the beginning but it quickly picked up and I couldn’t put the book down. 

Cora was my favorite character by far. Cora’s story/journey felt so realistic (from my experiences)

of her range of emotions and constantly going back to Ernt. Ernt hurting Leni being the final straw for Cora and even the scenes of them disposing the body felt exactly like a mother would react.

I really enjoyed reading complicated, nuanced characters and I think she was one of the best written. 

KH did a good job at painting the surroundings to where I felt like I was in Alaska with them. I genuinely could see the whole book in my head like a movie. 

My only complaints that hold this back from being a 5 star read is:
- The lack of native inclusion. There are very little native representation in this book, despite Alaska having such a strong heritage. I would’ve loved to see more native characters. I think another woman like Large Marge would’ve been a great native character in how she was the maternal figure of the island. 
-The ending wrapped up too quick.

I would’ve liked to read more about Leni in jail (it just felt too quick when it should’ve been a big deal), Matthew and Leni reuniting (I would’ve loved a whole chapter on them discussing life since the cave incident), and being at her old cabin. 

I think it would’ve been so cute if her grandparents moved to Alaska in the end!!

I LOVED:
-How KH wrote Cora and Ernst’s relationship.

It was so toxic and damaged yet tight knit and that is so realistic with abusive relationships. Especially near the end of Ernst when he started isolating the family. 
-Leni seeing Matthew at the rehab center. It was so ugly but raw and felt so powerful how she still loved him. 
- The confession at the Homer police station. I, as the reader, even fell for it and was shocked when the cop arrested Leni. 
- How MJ quickly accepted his dad. I thought that was beautiful and shows a kid’s resilience and how MJ wasn’t broken like them. 
-The letter to the newspaper at the end. It was the perfect way to conclude this book in my opinion. 

This is a book that I can see myself rereading more than once and still riding the emotional roller coaster. 

I was not hooked at first with this book. I thought the world-building was a little confusing and it took a minute to fully understand Julemarked.

I thought it was an interesting read pretty early on but wasn’t invested until they met for the “last time.” I wish the meetings over the years were introduced to the reader during the same time Astra found out because it would make us better understand the quickness of having to make a decision to stay.

I’m normally against third person  in romance books but the author did a good job. I think the Dual POV really helped.

The side plots of Bernie and her friends’ lives were well done. My biggest complaint is I wish their were more romance between them besides just kissing (I don’t mean spiciness, more so dialogue) Also, Astra was too accepting of his world in my opinion but that didn’t take away from the story at all. 

It is hard to tell how long time has passed in between chapters BUT that makes perfect sense in the story and I like how it involves the reader into the Yules more. 

I lovedddd the ending especially

where she chose her friends over him yet he still came and found her. I think this book could’ve benefited from a 5 years later or 10 years later chapter

but the ending was still very cute. 

 This book is a cute hallmark-esque story and a quick read. Going into it knowing the story wasn’t going to be complex/deep, I thought it was very cute. I finished it in two days and was perfect to read after almost getting into a reading slump, but there were some major flaws I cannot ignore. 

1: This book desperately needed to be written in first person. The third person style made it so hard to connect with any character. The character with the most personality was Austin the kid, but even then we barely know anything about him. The writing seemed to be focused more on describing the scene but we really needed to know Kerry’s thoughts. 

2: There is no chemistry whatsoever and this is considered a romance book. I picked this book up just wanting a Christmasy story, not caring about the romance, but there was no chemistry. 

Between both couples (Kerry and Patrick, Murphy and Claudia), there was no flirting, chemistry, or playful banter occurring. The romance felt forced yet bland and going no where. Patrick kisses Kerry like maybe three times and each just felt me as the reader feeling awkward. While I don’t think “spice” is necessary, there wasn’t even a spark. I think if this book was from Patrick’s perspective it would’ve been way better. Getting to know more about Gretchen and Austin, while observing Kerry from the outside would’ve been a better story imo.

3: The plot was cute but overly simple. 90% of the book is just about selling trees. The customer interactions and day-to-day shifts were just written in too much detail the entire time. I would’ve rather learned more about Kerry and her past or the romances instead of the daily operations.

The only real plot in this book is when Mr Heinz was sick and it reveals he was a famous artist. This also left the ending feeling unresolved as it just cuts off after Kerry announced her plan to stay.

A chapter about a year later would’ve wrapped up the book much better. 

I thought this book was cute and ~did~
enjoy reading it as a filler between serious books, but could not take it seriously. It got me in the Christmas mood but did not provide much else to the reader.  I wouldn’t reread this or recommend it to anyone.