shelfreflectionofficial's Reviews (844)

This isn’t the type of book I typically read so maybe I’m not qualified to critique it. But it just didn’t do much for me. I read ‘A Man Calle Ove’ and I liked that better. This one lacked some plausibility- especially in terms of the teenager. I felt the author captured Arthur and Lucille well enough and Arthur was definitely endearing. But Maddy’s character and story didn’t fit right and didn’t feel realistic enough. There were too many holes in her life as well. Some language I didn’t care for. Didn’t think the nickname ‘Truluv’ was very creative or profound. Didn’t feel like Maddy’s character development made much sense either. I don’t know. I wouldn’t call it a bad book, but it’s not necessarily good either. Good premise and intention, but didn’t like the execution. Just ‘meh’ for me.

I think too much time passed between when I read Map of Days and this one. I had to reorient myself with a lot of things and had trouble remembering parts of the characters and the loops. I still enjoyed reading it, there’s plenty of action and, of course, the iconic vintage photos. Again, not particularly integral to the book as with the first few, but still a nice added touch to the novelty of this series. The book is long, but somehow you get through it so fast. I don’t know if it really was lacking in content or I was just so engrossed- but I felt like it could have been longer.

Maybe I’m not a true fan of the series, but I don’t feel too critical of this one or the last book. Apparently adding 3 more books to the series was unplanned and some feel they are disjointed and disappointing, but I have still really enjoyed them. I have not grown tired of the peculiar world and it’s villains yet. I’ve still found it to be creative, fun, adventurous, and entertaining. Maybe if they keep adding books I’d change my tune, but I’ve been happy with the story thus far and am looking forward to how he wraps it up in the next one!

Underwhelmed. I wouldn’t compare it to Gone Girl but I didn’t like that one either. The switching from ‘Before’ and ‘After’ POVs make you feel like there is some big event that you will find out about that will “change everything” and be the twist you’re reading for. But as soon as we find out Mia is part of the ‘after’ and we know she is rescued I spent the rest of the book confused, trying to figure out what could the twist possibly be to leave us where we are afterwards. There really was nothing surprising about it. I suppose there’s “the twist” exposed in the last few pages but it was too little too late. Most of the book was boring- hardly anything of substance happened.

I liked it slightly better than Gone Girl merely in that it wasn’t so ridiculously dysfunctional but it still had unnecessary language I didn’t care for, and characters I didn’t really care for. It’s not the dark mystery like Gone Girl that was advertised. It seemed like an attempted, but not compelling, love story with an intangible cloud of danger hanging over them that was never realized.

The author wasted this book and the payoff for the amount of time spent swinging back and forth between two boring timelines was not worth it.

Quite a different story and writing than Me Before You but still enjoyable. Moyes seems to have quite a bit of diversity in her writing, considering how I loved Me Before You but did not care for Last Letter from Your Lover. I might keep reading her books, at least until I figure out her MO.

As a lover of books, I was very intrigued by packhorse librarians. Illiteracy and poverty are connected and I find this endeavor amazing, to be willing to carry hundreds of books around rural Appalachia on horseback in all conditions to promote literacy and provide otherwise unknowable information! Not your typical plot and definitely not a juicy storyline, but a noble undertaking. It was also a new setting for me- Depression-era rural Kentucky, though because it was backwoods I think I kept picturing an older time period. I always like to read about new places.

I thought she developed the main characters well, but the way Bennet is portrayed is quite baffling and I was hoping for more clarity on his issues but she chose not to go there. I was worried about how she was going to wrap it all up but ended up pleased with the ending.

I’m typically reading thrillers, so I’m always nervous to know if I’ll stay engaged in more drama-genre books- but being historical fiction this has a higher likelihood. This one held my attention and really elicited a lot of emotions, experiencing the injustices of this time period for women and people of color. It was a good read.

**Disclaimer: I have not read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek but have read some of the controversy that I did not know existed until I finished this book. This book may have been plagiarized in some capacity, which I do not support, but so far nothing has been confirmed that I am aware of.**

An incredible story! After reading so many WWII novels, this story seemed so unbelievable that he could evade capture for so long and escape authorities several times! Overall it was a fairly positive story, which is nice for a change. I’m glad his family was able to preserve his story in this way. His linguistic ability is amazing and I could see how that paired with his street smarts enabled him to survive as he did!

My 3-star rating is mainly because of the formatting and organization of the book. I guess I don’t know their goal in publishing so maybe it was exactly what they wanted. But it read exactly how I imagine if my own grandpa were telling me his life story. A bit of jumping around and a lot of non-essential details. It was very matter-of-fact. They didn’t seem to have pared down or edited any of the material, which boasts of authenticity but lacks the excitement and suspense of a good story. The title was great and the story is truly incredible. I could see it being turned into more of a historical fiction novel that may appeal to a wider audience. This formatting and set-up felt more like a research paper.

The pictures brought the story to life- good decision to include those.

Again, incredible story and has a lot of potential!

**I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Annoyed. My idea of a good romance novel is not one that champions infidelity. This book follows two women- one in the 60s, one in 2003- both involved in affairs. She writes as if we should approve of Jennifer's lover and not of Ellie's, but what makes one of the relationships 'romantic' and the other not- just because one of them wrote letters and the other doesn't? Affairs are self-centered, lustful pursuits. Both women are dissatisfied with what they have and want something else, believing they deserve it, no matter the cost to others. And that's the thing. Affairs are not some isolated, romantic story- they affect a lot of people. So no, I'm not down with people cheating on their spouses. And I don't appreciate reading a book that seeks to compel me to root for infidelity. People don't need more whisperings in their ears questioning their marriage and what could be elsewhere. Humans are already bent towards discontentment, we don't need every book and movie creating this love utopia illusion of exciting and forbidden love as if the peak of romantic fulfillment is a sordid love affair. Pass.

To Moyes' credit, she does include an exchange between Ellie and Rory where Rory says, "Every act has a consequence, Ellie. In my view the world divides into people who can see that, and make a decision accordingly, and those who just go for what feels good at the time." So I don't know, who am I to know what message Moyes was trying to send in writing this book? But from my perspective, her story is a double standard- adultery is permissive if your situation is 'dire' enough, and wrong only if you're not getting the emotional reciprocation you deserve. Nope. Consequences don't care about your feelings. Not in the real world. They happen indiscriminately.

But I'll get off my soapbox. My only other comment is in regards to the writing style. Throughout the entire book, she would start new sections and only use pronouns like 'he' and 'she' which made it a bit confusing as to whose POV we were reading from and who was talking to who. I had to reread passages several times or refer to previous pages to figure out what she was doing. Not sure why she couldn't just throw in a name here and there for clarity.

If I'm honest, I didn't hate reading the book. After all, I did finish it. I've definitely read worse. But I don't feel like I can give it more than 2 stars because I am against the (perceived) message of the book and there are other romance novels I would recommend before this one. For example, Me Before You, another Moyes novel. Because I enjoyed that book, I will probably try another one of her novels and hope her repertoire is not limited to infidelity.

I guess I’ll go with 4 on this one. Definitely reads like a movie. Some of the things were hard to picture since a lot of it is cyber-related and got a little confusing. And there’s more language than I care for. But the plot was interesting. The idea of cyber kinetic powers was fun to explore. And like I said, I can totally see it as a movie. If you like syfy, you’ll probably enjoy this!

This was mostly a love story with a smattering of history. A new take on the ever so popular WWII novels, I loved that this story mostly took place on the road with a traveling circus in France. While the author didn't detail all the ins and outs of the circus, she still did a great job of creating this surreal environment where the characters, living their nomadic life, could escape some of the despair of war-times and be part of bringing joy and wonder to the people they visited.

And isn't that what love does? At times love is this 'other world' that distracts you from pain and fear and makes your heart do flips. It gives you something to believe in and hold onto. I think the author created a brilliant juxtaposition of the love and danger, wonder and fear, good and evil that could be found during that time.

It is a story with a little bit of everything- it's humorous, mysterious, emotional, historical. It's not a life-changing book, but with something for everyone, it's one I highly recommend.

**I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

A beautiful story set in France, WWII, following a network of forgers helping smuggle people to safety.

There are a lot of historical fiction books written about WWII and I would definitely put this on your list to read. I thought it was very well written and very engaging. There are a few inconsequential flash-forwards to Eva, present-day, but it was very minimal and mostly there for the culmination at the end. This was not a hard-hitting, gritty WWII book as Eva was mostly on the fringes, removed from the worst of it. But nonetheless she was not spared from danger or heartbreak.

Also true to most good historical fiction, it makes you admire the bravery and ingenuity of the resistors- in this particular story, the forgers who figured out a way to produce false papers to smuggle people to and through borders to safety.

I loved the added element of Eva's coded book and namesake for this story that allowed her to record the true names of those whose identities had to be erased. Though not the intention of the author, I couldn't help but think about how, as Christians, we recognize that our true identity is found in Christ and that when we have found Him, our names are also written in a Book- the Book of Life. And what a beautiful confidence that is to know that your true self is known and kept and waiting for you to come Home.

Follow Eva and the Book of Lost Names on their journey through danger, love, and betrayal. You won't regret it.

**I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Being an ‘honest’ griever is harder than you would think. Hoeksema is truly transparent as she shares her journey, even the thoughts that we all think but are too afraid to voice. But how important it is to be honest in order to rightly process the journeys we are on!

I would say the primary audience for this book is widows, but is yet necessary for others struggling with loss or close to someone who is. And honestly, we will all grieve deeply at some point in our lives if we haven’t already so this book is a good way to bury the truths in our hearts that we will need down the road.

What I liked most about this book was that she was not prescribing the ‘proper’ way to do anything. She consistently acknowledged the variety of situations and factors that play into everyone’s experiences and emphasized the importance of doing what you personally need to do. We humans, and I think women especially, have an incredible ability to compare EVERYTHING. And grief is no different. Having gone through my own loss, even then you look at others who have gone through similar things and it’s easy to think, ‘Should I be feeling that instead?’ ‘Am I doing this wrong?’ ‘Why can’t I handle this like them?’ But, no, Hoeksema gives us the freedom to have our own journey void of comparison which is a beautiful thing.

I also appreciated her blurb on loneliness. A truly under-talked about topic that affects the majority of the population whether we are grieving or not. It is so prevalent and so harmful that we would do well to be more intentional about caring for people and being present in their lives.

There are a lot of topics and avenues the author covers in this book and as she notes, it is not written chronologically. Even with the inclusion of periodic blog posts (which I think may have been more helpful to have them italicized to help us follow along) I think it added an element of authenticity. I don’t think grief ever feels chronological as you experience it. It’s a roller coaster of emotions, ups and downs. I think she chose rightly to organize the book as she did.

Lastly, the most important aspect of this book is the Christ-centeredness. Because our hope and confidence in future joy (and really anything) is grounded in faith in Him who is sovereign over all. And if we don’t have that, all other attempts to find a ‘silver lining’ are in vain. I think we all know the volatility of our feelings. I love this quote from the book about how we are to deal with our emotions in light of our faith in God, especially in the midst of suffering:

“I’m not saying we ignore our emotions, or fail to validate someone else’s. God did create us with those emotions. What I am proposing, however, is that we limit the power they have over us by switching our focus to God’s power. When you feel your emotions sending you on a downward spiral, consciously and purposefully meditate on the Good News of the Gospel.”

It’s so important to have our focus in the right place because that downward spiral is powerful and sneaky. What a great reminder to meditate on the Gospel and center ourselves on truth!

All in all, a valuable and important book for wherever you are at in life that will either help you through your own grief (now or later) or help you understand a loved one going through loss.

[One side unimportant comment about layout- I read the ebook so I don’t know how the print book lays out but there are a few images in the book that appeared small in the eversion. I was able to zoom in and see them clear enough but I am unsure how those will look in a printed version.]