728 reviews by:

omqchristi

10% Happier

Dan Harris

2.0

informative reflective slow-paced

» QUICK OVERVIEW «

Stars: ★★☆☆☆
*Plot: ★★★☆☆
Readability: ★★☆☆☆
*Characters: ★★★☆☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗

» PLOT «

Nightline anchor Dan Harris explores his adventure with meditation, beginning with the discovery, doubt, then ending with acceptance of this practice.

*This is a nonfiction work, so the plot rating is a reflection of how well the story was told and how well the book was organized to tell a story.

This book is both a combination of memoir and self help, but it is mainly a memoir. Most of the book was spent talking about his feelings and what he did.

» READABILITY «

The beginning was pretty slow, and I kept wondering when he would start explaining what he did rather than what happened before he started meditating.

» CHARACTERS «

*This is a nonfiction work, so no specific rating, just the average 3.

» WRITING «

The book was more entertaining than self-help books, but not as interesting as other memoirs.

» OVERALL «

I didn't hate reading this book, but it wasn't great or anything.

Love & Gelato

Jenna Evans Welch

2.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

» QUICK OVERVIEW «

Stars: ★★☆☆
Plot: ★★★☆☆
Readability: ★★☆☆☆
Characters: ★★☆☆☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗

» PLOT «

After her mother passes away, Lina spends the summer in Tuscany, fulfilling her mother's dying wish of spending time with the man she loved in the past. Armed with her mother's journal, Lina discovers more about her mother's life before she was born. As secrets and romances bloom, not everything is what Lina imagined it to be.

The romance in this book was less of a focus, and normally that wouldn't be a bad thing, but in this case, it made the book bland.

The part with

Lina's paternity

was interesting, but it was short and underdeveloped.

» READABILITY «

At this point, contemporary romance has become too plain and boring for me to immerse myself into the book. The book felt slow to medium paced.

» CHARACTERS «

I didn't like any of the characters in this book. Nothing really made any of them special or relatable.

» WRITING «

The writing is pretty plain, nothing special.

» OVERALL «

I think I need to take a break from contemporary romance. This book was too boring and plain for me to want to read more books like it.

The moment is the book where they actually say "love and gelato" was the worst. Yikes.

The Odyssey

Homer

3.0

adventurous challenging hopeful medium-paced

» QUICK OVERVIEW «
Stars: ★★★☆☆
Plot: ★★★★☆
Readability: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★★★☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗
meh

» PLOT «
The Odyssey details the return of Odysseus to Ithaca. The story explores the 20 year time period after the Trojan War from the perspectives of Odysseus and his son, Telemachus.

The story was good, like I said before, "a real classic".

» READABILITY «
The audiobook make this book easier to read, but overall it was an okay read.

» CHARACTERS «
The characters are great, but there are a lot of things I didn't connect with.

» WRITING «
The writing for this story was better than it was in [b:The Iliad|1371|The Iliad|Homer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188509l/1371._SX50_.jpg|3293141]. The story was easier to get through and far easier to understand.

However, as with [b:The Iliad|1371|The Iliad|Homer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188509l/1371._SX50_.jpg|3293141], there is A LOT of repetitive phrases.

» OVERALL «
This book was not as good as I remember, but this was WAY better than [b:The Iliad|1371|The Iliad|Homer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188509l/1371._SX50_.jpg|3293141]. I bumped it down from 4 stars to 3 stars, after this second re-read. After this second re-read, I know for sure that I won't be re-reading again.

»»—————————————————————««

Readability: 4/5
Plot: 5/5
Recommend: Yes

The Odyssey details the return of Odysseus to Ithaca. The story explores the 20 year time period after the Trojan War.

It is a great story, a real classic.

Diary of an AssCan

Andy Weir

2.0

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

» QUICK OVERVIEW «
Stars: ★★☆☆☆
*Plot: ★★★☆☆
Readability: ★★★★★
*Characters: ★★★☆☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗
added nothing

» PLOT «
This short novella explores a few select days in the months before Mark Watney goes to Mars.

*Novella and no "main" plot.

» READABILITY «
Short and fast to read.

» CHARACTERS «
*Novella and too short for character development.

» WRITING «
Normal writing, same as it was in [b:The Martian|18007564|The Martian|Andy Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1413706054l/18007564._SY75_.jpg|21825181]

» OVERALL «
Overall, it was short and didn't really add much to the main story. Honestly it was really necessary.

Yes No Maybe So

Becky Albertalli, Aisha Saeed

2.0

adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

» QUICK OVERVIEW «

Stars: ★★☆☆☆
Plot: ★★☆☆☆
Readability: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★☆☆☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗

» PLOT «

Jamie and Maya haven't spoken to each other in years. Jamie is awkward and volunteering for his local state senate candidate. Maya's only friend is leaving and she can only get a car if she volunteers on a political campaign. Thrown together through political canvassing, Jamie and Maya's dedication to their cause and their beliefs drag them along ups and downs as they fight for what they believe in.

I'm not a big fan of political or politically charged books, so this wasn't my favorite. I simply just prefer ✨escapism✨ to be a part of the books I like.

» READABILITY «

I technically started this book a few months ago, but never got past the first chapter. The books was medium paced, and it was an okay read, nothing really special though.

» CHARACTERS «

I don't love any of the characters, but at least I don't hate them. The romance was slowish, but I didn't love any of the characters, so I didn't root for the romance.

» WRITING «

The writing is average, but cohesive.

» OVERALL «

This book was as average and meh as you can get, really nothing special.

Content Warnings

Shiver

Maggie Stiefvater

3.0

adventurous sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

» QUICK OVERVIEW «
Stars: ★★★☆☆
Plot: ★★★☆☆
Readability: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★☆☆☆
Writing: ★★☆☆☆
Recommend: ✗
i almost care

» PLOT «
For years, after she was attacked by wolves, Grace has been watching and watched by a wolf in the forest. Sam lives two lives, one of human in the summer, and one of wold in the winter. After years of watching, they finally meet and their connection was instant. But as winter comes, Sam's last year as a human might prevent them from being together.

The second half of this book was far better than the first half. Things actually started being explored and paced well.

» READABILITY «
I had an okay time reading this, but there wasn't anything that really pulled me in.

» CHARACTERS «
The only characters I care about are Sam and Grace (and kind of Beck), so this was okay, but nobody else was interesting enough.

» WRITING «
I don't really get bothered by specific writing styles or formats, but I realized that there were a lot of I- sentences. (I did that, I said that, I crossed that, etc.) It made the book seem juvenile (especially with the Grace's audiobook-voice-actor's voice).

» OVERALL «
There was potential, but the book didn't have enough to fully reel me in.

November 9

Colleen Hoover

2.0

dark hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

» QUICK OVERVIEW «

Stars: ★★☆☆☆
Plot: ★★☆☆☆
Readability: ★★☆☆☆
Characters: ★☆☆☆☆
Writing: ★★☆☆☆
Recommend: ✗

» PLOT «

Fallon and Ben meet on November 9, the day before Fallon's move from LA to New York. Even after only spending a few hours together, they form an instant connection. As they spend her last day in LA together, they promise to meet each other every year on the same day for the next 5 years. But as the years pass by, bad timing and the lack of communication disrupt their connection. And on the final year, Fallon uncovers a secret that changes everything.

I really like the idea of meeting only once for 5 years and never talking in between, but this book took a great concept and did nothing (good) with it.

» READABILITY «

This book was okay to read, but that's mainly because of the audiobook.

» CHARACTERS «

Practically every single character in this book got a redemption. Everyone had a "good" side. While yes, there are many sides to a person, coming from a book with only 2 perspectives, it's kind of unrealistic.

Did Fallon's dad need to have a redemption? No, he was clearly uncomfortable with Fallon and even if he was actually in love with Ben's mom, that doesn't change his reactions and actions. (Especially with that 24 year old girl that was only mentioned twice.)

Honestly I didn't like the characters enough to like anything else about this book.

» WRITING «

The writing was a bit crude (is that the right term? oh well.), and some parts made me cringe.

» OVERALL «

I knew I wouldn't love this book, but at least I don't hate it.

In a Holidaze

Christina Lauren

2.0

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

» QUICK OVERVIEW «

Stars: ★★☆☆☆
Plot: ★★☆☆☆
Readability: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★☆☆☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗

» PLOT «

After leaving her Christmas getaway after a disastrous day, Mae and her family get into a car accident. But instead of waking up in a car wreck, she wakes up on a plane, 6 days in the past. Confused and dazed, she attempts to figure out what has happened, but as she keeps waking up on the plane, Mae must figure out what she needs to do to get our of this loop.

This really isn't that much of a time loop book. Mae only gets "reset"

a total of 3 times, and after the first part of the book, she is never reset

. This book really didn't need a time loop storyline.

» READABILITY «

I read this with an audiobook, but this book was pretty medium paced.

» CHARACTERS «

I didn't like any of the characters. There was nothing really special about them, and some of them were really annoying and had stupid motivations or thoughts.

» WRITING «

Average writing, nothing special.

» OVERALL «

As I read more and more, I stopped enjoying the book more and more.

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

2.0

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

» QUICK OVERVIEW «

Stars: ★★☆☆☆
Plot: ★★☆☆☆
Readability: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★☆☆☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗

» PLOT «

Santiago is a young shepherd. Torn by the decision of love or treasure, he embarks on a journey to find both with the help of several mysterious people around him.

I got nothing from this book. I don't think I will remember it in a week.

» READABILITY «

If I hadn't read this with an audiobook, then I doubt I would've finished this as fast as I did. The book is slower paced.

» CHARACTERS «

While reading, I really didn't connect with the characters or the story. Nothing really makes any of them relatable or likeable.

» WRITING «

The writing is profound or anything, its pretty average.

» OVERALL «

I didn't realize this book was that short, but I'm glad it was, since it's not for me.

Eleanor & Park

Rainbow Rowell

4.0

adventurous funny lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

» QUICK OVERVIEW «
Stars: ★★★★☆
Plot: ★★★★☆
Readability: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗
*shock *

» PLOT «
Eleanor and Park become unusual friends after sitting on the bus together. And as their semi-friendship develops, it ramps up to an unlikely romance. Though they might love each other, they both know it won't last. They both know that the world is tearing them apart.

That Andy Dwyer shocked gif was my reaction at the end of this book. I love it.

» READABILITY «
The beginning was slow, but it soon sped up and I could not stop listening to the audiobook.

» CHARACTERS «
Unlike [b:Chasing Lucky|52386214|Chasing Lucky|Jenn Bennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580054681l/52386214._SY75_.jpg|71431969], which I just read, I actually like the characters in this book. The main characters were relatable and so adorable. Not much development went into the non-main characters, but overall not bad.

» WRITING «
Average writing, nothing fantastic or bad.

» OVERALL «
Part of me wanted a happy ending, the other part was happy at the way this book ended.

Content Warnings

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