juliannewarren12's Reviews (73)

I really wanted to like this book… I really did, but it is boring. The most common critique seems to be that it is unnecessary long and I agree. It honestly can be cut in half and get the same message across. I was skimming by the end of it. 

Amanda Jones is clearly a good person. She bravely sticks up for what she believes is right and has helped fight book bans tremendously. But, I can’t help but feel annoyed by her. It’s a good example of why leftists get annoyed with white women democrats. The book is just filled with complaining (esp about how people didn’t stick up for her.) I understand why she struggled and I truly do not think I could be as motivated and tough as she is, but it was hard to like her as a narrator. I feel guilty even saying that but it’s the truth. 

I think it’s important for people to be educated on book banning and censorship but I don’t think this is the right book for that. As a fault of my own, I wrongly assumed that this book would be more information but it’s instead a memoir. I did learn things I did not know about book banning but the focus was more on Amanda herself. 

If you chose to read this book, I would only read the speech at the end and the middle for the court cases and other teacher testimonies. It’s the only part where I actually wanted to keep reading this book. It also does a good job explaining the situation, once again proving the book ran on too long. This book could’ve just  different editors.

Overall, I feel for Amanda but I would never read this book again. 

This was an unrealistic plot but a cute story. I found the characters to be very likeable and applicable to my real life. It was a cheeky story that made me smile sometimes but was a simple, predictable plot.

While I didn't catch on to the Mindy as the ex-gf twist; all of the family issues were easy to guess.  Josh quitting was also very predictable about halfway through the book when the big argument with Mr. Brexely occurred but I thought it was cute how they revealed it.

The whole "I love you" after one good weekend is sooo unrealistic but I know that is common in this genre. It was a cheesy but fun use of the enemies-to-lovers trope.

I hated how Lucy did Danny dirty but I think they could've played out that story more. I wish Danny would've been more mad at Lucy (especially for hiding her and Josh to him after stringing Danny along.)

This book should've ended with Lucy working as the COO in my opinion, but it would've been such a funny twist if it ended with her not getting the job. I don't think the cliffhanger of ending the book right before the interview was powerful or interesting at all, but maybe it wasn't supposed to be. 

It was an easy and cute read but I don't think I would ever pick this book up for a re-read.

I'm sorry but this book is boring. Even after starting to skim it halfway through, I almost DNF'ed. I like the overarching message of to not center your life around men/relationships but the author Amy Key doesn't even seem to follow that.  It gives a "why me" vibe that I don't think is very helpful to readers wanting to connect with this book. I feel for the author's pain and it makes me sad hearing her struggle throughout, but this book was hard to get through. The overall book is just depressing and repeats a lot about how the author truly does want romantic love. It is interesting to hear about her perspectives on love, families, and domestic labor to open my mind to other lifestyles. I appreciate the venerability Key has opening up about topics like grief, abortion, loneliness, etc. 

I thought this was going to be a more positive book about loving and living alone but it was not. To me, even the positive parts still had a somber tone all tying back to how Key still wishes for romantic love. It was hard to fully appreciate her friendships and other happy moments when not even a paragraph later it was back to being "love-less."

I will say, it's impressive how the author can connect her life to one single song (Blue) so much and analyze a single song for 200+ pages. I don't know who Joni Mitchell is so the analysis didn't really connect with me, probably playing into why I was so bored. 

To be honest, it took me a month from checking out the book to actually start it. I thought it was going to be dense and difficult to read, but wow I was so wrong. This book perfectly breaks down the modern political scene and what we can do, into a digestible and relatable narrative. The book is filled with reflection prompts and action items that make community engagement feel less intimidating to a normal person. I will definitely be buying my own copy to reference back on and make notes. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get involved in local (or higher up) government!! 

Very repetitive and surface level. It is about 110 pages but could have been slimmed down to 40 pages roughly. I picked up this book because I have heard of hygge but didn't know much about it and I put down this book feeling about the same. It says that this book is just an introduction, so I can't really blame the author for the surface level writing, but there's not much to it. This book is a very very quick read and a good reminder to enjoy the little things in life, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. If you are interested in hygge, I would look elsewhere.

I haven't loved a book this much in so long. I'll admit, I don't think I'm smart enough for this book and it was very hard to get into at first. You get thrown into this world immediately with no world building whatsoever. It was confusing at first but then about 40ish pages in, you finally start to fully grasp what's happening.

I love the way the book flows with small chapters ending in the letters from red and blue. I fully visualized this world in my head and could "see" the story as I was reading it and it was truly beautiful. Red was such a loveable character in my opinion, I wish I could read a whole series about her and this world. I thought it was a beautiful story that I will be thinking about for coming days. 
I will say that some parts are pretty "over-written" but you don't need to get hung up on every sentence to understand and enjoy this book. I could read this book over and over and not get bored of it. This is definitely one of my favorite books ever though. 

Even not feeling smart enough to read this, I still give this book 5 stars and it is one of my favorites. The vibes and essence of the story are truly beautiful and it's the kind of book that leaves you thinking about it weeks later. I want more of Red and Blue, a series; a movie; anything. 

If you plan to read this, I would get the 'book club' edition that has the introduction because that'll make it so much easier to just jump in and fully enjoy the story.

couldn't even finish... I hated this book to be honest. I keep forgetting I even started it and it was so difficult for me to attempt to read. sorry Adam lol 

 cant even finish... i was in a reading groove but this brought me into a reading slump. I don't plan on picking this book back up ever.

The content of this book is very interesting. It is wordy, scientific, and hard to digest at points so it put me in a reading slump. I want to restart it because I was genuinely interested, but this was not a good book to pick after only reading one book the whole year. I will retry again once I get into a more consistent reading flow. The title was a misleading as I expected this to revolve more around the animal kingdom and not so human-focused, but I should have ready the description first before assuming. 

As an environmental professional, this book was right up my alley. Zero waste living has always been something I aspired for but this was the first time I've sat down and read an actual book about it. I enjoy how this book is split by sections of the home to make the whole concept less overwhelming. I think this is smart to show readers that they can even make small changes one room at a time. Zero Waste Home is written by Bea Johnson who is definitely more extreme in her zero waste journey, but shares her information in a way that is inspiring. It was an easy read that took me over a week to finish only because I would pause to take notes. If you are interested in this lifestyle, it is an easy read to help you dive into the zero waste world... just remember that you don't have to live exactly like this.