(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

Full disclosure: I haven’t tried the recipes (yet), but the pictures look delicious and imaginative, and the directions seem straightforward enough. Some of the book/food pairings seem like a bit of a stretch, though I appreciate the attempt to make the recipes more creative than simple recreations of the exact foods found in the books. I also really liked the variety — savory snacks, breads, desserts, teas, non-tea drinks — and the tea/treat pairing suggestions for a full tea-time experience.

(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

Now that’s a plot twist! And incredibly believable despite how shocking it is, adding yet another layer to the novel’s already well-developed themes of deceit and the difficulties of parenting. The plot is well done, the blog/social media posts engaging and modern (though the popularity of Ask.fm was in reality quite short-lived, at least among my classmates, the asks got just as nasty as the “screenshots” here).

Cyber- and IRL-bullying are definitely a hot topic, particularly as they intersect with adolescents’ mental health and social lives, and this novel does a pretty good job of demonstrating some of the nuanced issues and incarnations thereof. However, I did feel like the author was showing rather than telling (not the most effective approach for such an emotionally charged situation, imho) and the narrative voice was inconsistent between POV switches: sometimes changing between characters, but not always, and only sometimes trying too hard to incorporate teenage slang and thought processes as though they differ wholly from adult language. That said, the overall story is strong and it’s a gripping read.

(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

First things first, I really enjoyed the overall structure — dual perspectives and dual timelines — though it did take me a while to realize that the 1st/3rd person POV switches indicated before/after closing and weren’t just arbitrary. Minimal character development, though with such a condensed timeline it’s realistic; the characters were likable and relatable enough from the start that it didn’t feel like a loss. The setting was perhaps undervalued; I love a good small business and wish it were featured a bit more prominently. While I can’t pinpoint the exact moment(s) this book stopped being suspenseful and started to drag a bit (still interesting, but not as intense), it definitely happened. I also didn’t like the ending, especially in regards to Scott’s musings and final decision — the former was a bit much, as though the audience wouldn’t pick up on a very obvious parallel, and the latter just didn’t make sense to me.

(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

I think this book has the potential to be a helpful guide, but it needs a lot of editing first. Even ignoring the countless comma splices, typos, and excessive rhetoricals (“don’t we all?”) a lot of the personal anecdotes seem like fluff: entertaining to read, but told in much more detail than necessary to prove the point. (That said, Vazzana is a pretty good storyteller!) A lot of the advice and transitions are presented with cliched phrasing — “be yourself“ features prominently, as well as multiple reminders to dress to impress, plan ahead, network on social media as well as IRL, no risk no reward, etc, etc — all summarized neatly at the end, leaving me wondering why I took the time to read the book in full and whether I really got anything beyond some entertaining mini-stories.

(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

Maybe 2.5 stars, I don’t know.

I liked the premise and for the most part the characters, but the execution didn’t work for me — too many important parts happening offstage (for the first half of the book I felt like I was behind or had mistakenly picked up a sequel without reading the original), too much going on in each of the two main storylines, too many details that had to be remembered to make sense of various plot developments or at least the dialogue. Honestly, it kind of made my brain hurt, and not entirely in a good way.

(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

Possibly 2.5 stars.

Admittedly I’ve only read Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde a few times, and years ago at that, so it’s not super clear in my mind and I’m sure I missed some subtleties in this book.

It’s kind of hard to write a comprehensive review when it doesn’t feel like there is much material to review. In any case this was a fast-paced read, much lighter than the blurb suggests. (I was expecting dark and twisty, but what I got was more of a semi-conscious stupor reflective of the state of mind of Mr. Utterson, aka the titular Mr. Seek.) That was probably my strongest impression: that it was over far too fast, which is at odds with the themes of questioning one’s sanity and the official report, investigating the truth through espionage and experimentation — these are processes that take time.

tl;dr As an homage it’s not half bad, but it’s not a super compelling story in its own right.

I received a free copy of this book through Edelweiss for review purposes. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

1.5 stars. Definitely not because that's the only rating I haven't given out yet this year and I want to even out my book stats bar graph.

Honestly, I never meant to finish this book - but I kept finding myself thinking, Oh, I'll stop after I finish this chapter, just in case something exciting happens, and nothing exciting would happen but for some reason I would keep reading? So I guess it gets an extra half star for making me do that, though I hated the ending. Hated. That's not a word I use lightly: I'm okay with ambiguous/open endings, I'm okay with closure, but I hate when we get neither and the book just ... stops.

I couldn't connect with the main character at all, possibly partly because he was "the man" throughout and never got a name. I have a history of staying emotionally remote from unnamed protagonists; I suspect it's not the namelessness itself but the writing style that often accompanies such a choice: denser, with a lot of figurative language that may not make sense (ravens compared to black fruit in a tree, an apartment building "waiting patiently like a huge dog"), and arbitrary or just really poor decisions being made.

There was a flicker of interest when linguistics came up, because language learning and linguistic theory are really interesting to me, but the discussions in this book didn't feel nuanced enough - just constant incidents in which the man couldn't understand what the people around him were saying, or super-convenient double meanings for certain phrases, or recurrence of the name "Mol."

And there's a lot of objectionable content in this book, which didn't really do anything for me except make me extremely uncomfortable. There's a blunt (if clinical) rape scene - the word "rape" is used several times by the perpetrator, but he feels no remorse and even blames the victim, his wife, for provoking him; there's violence and murder towards rats and other people; and there's just a lot of general grossness with the trash piled everywhere in District 4 and the lack of hygiene among the homeless and the graphic violence.

I can vaguely see the literary value in this kind of book, but it's definitely not my type of read.

(I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

This is more along the lines of so-called "Tumblr poetry," so if you believe that hitting enter does not a poem make this collection probably isn't for you.

Personally, though, I love that every word means more when there are so few of them to start; the precise employment of language to convey a simple but important truth. Chisala's messages about self-love for black women deserve to be heard by a wider audience, and I hope it is someday.

My only gripe is aesthetic - the pages look awfully blank, especially the ones with just a few lines (of which there were a lot); I kind of wish there were little doodles or poem titles or something just to fill up the space.

(I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

I really wanted to like this because it tells such an important kind of story, but the execution was lacking. For how many times Emily claims her endgoal is to be independent, don't need no man, etc., her recovery path sure revolves around her romantic relationships - she even says that she couldn't have reached the point of recovery that she did without Olivier.

Spoiler

But, you know, once she's all better and finally ready to move on? Thank u, next.

There's an attempt at a strong female friendship with Sarah, but a lot of the offhand comments and well-meaning actions she takes are actually red flags:

Spoiler

thinking Sarah abandoned her to their friends' inquisition about Olivier, Sarah telling Olivier and Isabelle about Emily's rape behind her back, constantly trying to get her to date "because it'd be good for her" and she "knows her better than she knows herself"

because they're best friends because they're polar opposites - this was mentioned so many times, seriously.

You can smell the love triangle from a mile off, and there's no will they/won't they - it's obvious from the beginning who she'll end up with. Plus, there were a lot of mixed messages about feminism (though the f-word is never actually used, just implied alongside the matter-of-fact observations and attitudes); Emily is quite holier-than-thou sometimes, even when she's "agreeing" with her best friend that historically speaking it's only fair for women to play with men's feelings, or when "she thinks boys will be boys, but not derogatorily," or bemoans society's fixation on partnership and marriage. She's also quite hypocritical, getting jealous when her new boyfriend "can't help" looking at her blonde-bombshell-best-girlfriend in her provocative outfit but immediately resenting him for being a little jealous of her laughing with a male coworker; I also felt like she overreacted to what was honestly mostly normal behavior, if a little dubious. (Related: it would be nice to acknowledge that guys and girls can be friends even if they're both straight.)

Emily does eventually take actions to change her own life, but everything was wrapped up too neatly and I had several issues with the narrative that were never resolved. Just because her trauma left her unable to control her angry outbursts doesn't excuse them, and she never seems to feel real remorse (just frustration that her life is being ruined by her "monster") or apologize genuinely. And

Spoiler

the scene in Paris where she explicitly says no and Olivier "uses her body" anyway is rape, just like the taxi driver forcing himself on her

; it's a nuanced but important distinction that gets glossed over in the "am I a bad person for having doubts about my relationship?" No, you're not a bad person for putting your happiness and mental health first, though it may feel that way when you're recovering, and I'm glad she does eventually internalize that message.

I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

Going into this, I really didn't expect to have this much fun reading it. The plot is fairly predictable, some of the drama is a little too contrived, the characters aren't super nuanced (but do get significant development) — but it's one heck of an entertaining story, and the second half is filled with satisfying little moments building up to a very neat resolution.

It's a very comfortable read, one that didn't challenge any of my assumptions but did slightly surprise me (pleasantly) at times, and one I would recommend to most people who like narratives about personal identity, family, friendship, the line between private and professional (particularly for public figures), and a bit of romance.