sandro_reads's reviews
102 reviews

Good concept but even for a YA thriller, this feels juvenile.

On one side you have Mary of the

“Oh I have severe head trauma and amnesia but no talk of seeing a Dr. and let me just sleep for two  days”

decision-making mindset who can remember

Lizzo but not that she is allergic to strawberries.

The other narrator, Drew, reads more like Nancy Drew - only more predictable. 

Perhaps it’s unfair, as this is now my third Rooney novel, to compare CWF to her other works. Of the three, it is my least favorite.

But, as a debut novel, it shows all of the promise of what I’ve come to love Rooney for: complicated characters, beautiful prose and realistic dialogue. Maybe too much of too realistic this time since I found every character to be a bit insufferable. 

Recursion, much like Dark Matter, is a mind-melting adventure. Crouch just has a way of making Sci-Fi accessible even while taking the plot where your brain can’t process. 

He also deeply roots his books in human emotion and therein lies my one complaint - the main love story felt underdeveloped with everything else going on. 

I should not have ignored the low star rating here in favor of the BookTok praise.

Annoying narrator ✅
Predictable ending ✅

While the concept of a split timeline between the making of a “cursed” Horror Movie in the 90s and its reboot today, intercut with the screenplay, is interesting, literally nothing happens. Maybe the supposed “horror” is trying to bore the reader to death?

Sometimes as a book gains popularity, you can make snap judgements without knowing much about it. I had decided Hello Beautiful was not for me. So I was hesitant when it was selected as a book club pick.

For the first third, I was engrossed. This nod to Little Women explores sisterhood, depression and generational trauma, well, beautifully. I thought this would be one of my favorite reads. 

But as it continued, each character stayed too rigidly drawn, each plot point too melodramatic. And, the ending was too tidily wrapped with a big bow.  

The Marriage Portrait begins by telling you how it will end. Lucrezia, the teen Dutchess, will die.

That beginning and that ending are where the book shines - the tension and prose are wonderful. The middle, however…

One would expect, given the title, that the reader would be privy to the inner workings of this couple but, rather it drifts along with endless descriptions of animals and Renaissance hairstyles. Less a portrait, more of a sketch. 

Open Water moves like a song. It has a rhythm- repeated phrases and imagery - returning to reflect on love and what it means to be a Black man.

Its use of the second person narration and the way it draws upon art - music and movies and books - gives it an immediacy. Simply beautiful. 

Beautiful, crisp prose that will instantly draw you in through the increasing tension between Isabel and Eva.

This is usually the type of book I love but I found it hard to root for either character - even though the third act saves it from the monotony. 

I do not create a monthly TBR, leaving it a bit to chance what my next read will be but often find the universe groups similar reads together.

The Wedding People in some ways felt like a sister to All Fours by Miranda July - albeit the shinier, Hollywood romcomesque sibling. It takes similar dark themes of depression and infertility, throws in sarcastic humor (which always makes me feel like hone) and somehow leaves you with a feeling of hope.

I chose this memoir for my Genre Diversification Challenge as I do not often read nonfiction. I found Michelle Zauner’s exploration of grief and identity as they relate to food and family tradition compelling and relatable. 

Having also lost my mother to cancer, it brought up so many of my own memories and feelings of guilt - which transcends cultures.