This was a really good debut. It did not go where I expected and I am still processing that ending. I do recommend doing some background reading on African folk tales and tricksters before reading this. Adams addresses some really important issues in Jackal and it would be a great book for a book club discussion. 

I went into this thinking it would be a standard fun fast-paced thriller but it was so much more than that. holy shit this is so good. I laughed, and cried, and this is why I freaking read books. For books like these. 

DNF at 40%. I feel like this book is a good example of trauma porn where bad things happen to a lot of characters and its graphic and explicit. The writing lacks a good exploration of the concepts and the book reads more voyeuristic than thoughtful.

Hmm. There was a lot I enjoyed about this--the island vibes, the survivalism, the sapphic relationship. Overall, I didn't feel like this story said much. It is being promoted as a feminist story, but I didn't get any messaging in this book that was particularly feminist--not particularly anything really. Things just happened and then it ends. And the ending didn't work for me. No resolution and not in a good way where it makes you think.

1/27/23: this was a re-read. I had a jolly good time reading this but I do think it is one of her weaker books in the series. The plot is kind of similar to others she's written. Nothing to special about it. I did like one of the twists at the very end, and the discussions of racism and stereotyping of AAPI cultures in the US. 

DNF at 39%. I feel like maybe you need to have read Hsu's column to appreciate this. I was just bored. 

I think I would have liked this best if it had stuck with being strictly a memoir and left the social critique out of it. The feminism was definitely second wave feminism and tap danced on TERFdom. I loved the memoir parts, but didn't like the rest. Other books have done those critiques better. Where Allende could have shined, is in sticking with her life story and experiences rather than delving into sociology. 

This is a pretty standard thriller. I loved that it was set in France and had multiple POVs. It was a good time pass, but I probably won't remember much about it in a year's time. I don't really recommend the audiobook--the accents were reeeeeally bad.

Super short, vampire themed murder mystery. Gothic vibes. A fun time.

I liked the way this book addressed abuse in relationships. It illustrated emotional abuse in a way that was realistic and sensitively done. It showed how emotional abuse is passed down through families much like cycles of violence are. 

What I didn't like was the level of perfection illustrated in Daniel and Wakan. Daniel had no flaws whatsoever. He was literally perfect. And the small town in Minnesota was magical and peaceful, and everybody loved everybody. Having grown up in a small midwestern town, I can tell you they are not like that. There are layers of toxic human b.s. in a small town just as there is anywhere else.  Wakan was a utopia that doesn't really exist anywhere, and Daniel was the perfect man who also doesn't really exist. I guess in a way that makes the book a good escape, but it also hurt to read. 

As a survivor of intimate partner emotional abuse, it hurt to read about the possibility of a relationship this perfect, because I just don't think it IS possible for a man like Daniel to exist, and it sets people (me mainly) up to be wildly disappointed with the love they do have or find. Am I just bitter and unhealed? Maybe. But that was my honest experience with this book.