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mousereads's Reviews (2.14k)
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a quick read. There wasn’t particularly much character development, as our reasonings for just about everything remained shallow. I wanted to enjoy this, especially because of the bisexual representation, but there was just something missing. It wasn’t bad, per se, it just wasn’t amazing. I felt indifferent about the entire plotline, and detached from the romance interests. While this is “Grease” inspired, the comparisons to “But I’m a Cheerleader!” feels more on par as a descriptor.
The book gets three stars from me as it was a quick read, and I didn’t hate it. I appreciate the attempt at bisexual representation like this.
Full review will be published July 23rd, 2021.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a quick read. There wasn’t particularly much character development, as our reasonings for just about everything remained shallow. I wanted to enjoy this, especially because of the bisexual representation, but there was just something missing. It wasn’t bad, per se, it just wasn’t amazing. I felt indifferent about the entire plotline, and detached from the romance interests. While this is “Grease” inspired, the comparisons to “But I’m a Cheerleader!” feels more on par as a descriptor.
The book gets three stars from me as it was a quick read, and I didn’t hate it. I appreciate the attempt at bisexual representation like this.
Full review will be published July 23rd, 2021.
BLOG|INSTAGRAM|TWITTER|YOUTUBE
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“Fix the home,” she says, “and fix society.”
This book is a painful read. We are vividly shown the extent that a mother would go through to get their child back. We are also shown the cold, clinical extent that the government will go to prevent that from happening.
I enjoyed this book, but once we got to the second half, it felt repetitive and boring. While still uncomfortable, I feel this book sat on the edge of either being a contemporary or a thriller. Never deciding which one it wanted to be. Despite the somewhat lull in the second half, the ending was satisfying and interesting. This is truly a fantastic debut, and I can’t wait to read more from Jessamine Chan.
Full review to come.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“Fix the home,” she says, “and fix society.”
This book is a painful read. We are vividly shown the extent that a mother would go through to get their child back. We are also shown the cold, clinical extent that the government will go to prevent that from happening.
I enjoyed this book, but once we got to the second half, it felt repetitive and boring. While still uncomfortable, I feel this book sat on the edge of either being a contemporary or a thriller. Never deciding which one it wanted to be. Despite the somewhat lull in the second half, the ending was satisfying and interesting. This is truly a fantastic debut, and I can’t wait to read more from Jessamine Chan.
Full review to come.
BLOG|INSTAGRAM|TWITTER|YOUTUBE
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Absolutely full transparency here, I loathed The Silent Patient. With this disclaimer, I wanted to read The Maidens and give this author another chance. The Maidens is a bit of a slow burn, dark academia thriller. I found Mariana a frustrating character to read. Everyone around her is suspicious from the beginning, and Mariana is paranoid. The hyper-focus and blatant evidence planting are clear, this book is heavy with red herrings.
The writing was fine, but the characters were flat. unsure if this was a nod to the case in the Silent Patient, or if the author fails to wrap crimes up in any other. Spoiler here: I wanted to genuinely enjoy this, and went in with high hopes. I should have known better, knowing I don’t enjoy this author’s plots.
Full review will be July 30th, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Absolutely full transparency here, I loathed The Silent Patient. With this disclaimer, I wanted to read The Maidens and give this author another chance. The Maidens is a bit of a slow burn, dark academia thriller. I found Mariana a frustrating character to read. Everyone around her is suspicious from the beginning, and Mariana is paranoid. The hyper-focus and blatant evidence planting are clear, this book is heavy with red herrings.
The writing was fine, but the characters were flat. unsure if this was a nod to the case in the Silent Patient, or if the author fails to wrap crimes up in any other. Spoiler here:
Spoiler
sending every woman to a mental health facility because she’s decided to silence herself is boring. That’s it.Full review will be July 30th, 2021
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Full disclaimer, I have never read the Tempest. However, I do know I like Shakespearean retellings, and adding “Gatsby” vibes sold me. The mystery around the family on the island and their magic was truly this book’s actual selling point, and I enjoyed it a lot. However, as with Cohoe’s previous book, getting to the interesting bits was tedious at times. This book focuses more on who Mae is and who the family thinks Mae is. This would be fine if Mae were an enjoyable character to read, but unfortunately, she wasn’t.
There is a great mystery and we only find out the details of it in the last 75%. This was a slow build-up to a quick wrap-up, and I left wanting more. I genuinely wanted to like this book more than I did.
Full review will be published on September 27th, 2021.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Full disclaimer, I have never read the Tempest. However, I do know I like Shakespearean retellings, and adding “Gatsby” vibes sold me. The mystery around the family on the island and their magic was truly this book’s actual selling point, and I enjoyed it a lot. However, as with Cohoe’s previous book, getting to the interesting bits was tedious at times. This book focuses more on who Mae is and who the family thinks Mae is. This would be fine if Mae were an enjoyable character to read, but unfortunately, she wasn’t.
There is a great mystery and we only find out the details of it in the last 75%. This was a slow build-up to a quick wrap-up, and I left wanting more. I genuinely wanted to like this book more than I did.
Full review will be published on September 27th, 2021.
