stephsbooktalk's Reviews (915)

Mini Audiobook Review:  Oomph another one where I'm not sure if was the wrong book at the wrong time. I had seen so many positive reviews of this one and for me it just was so long. I think we were supposed to dislike the main character and if that was the goal, I know it certainly worked for me. She did come off like a regular corporate girlie and I thought the author got that part of the book down.  I found myself continuously looking at my phone because I felt like it was taking forever to get through. So much had happened but we still had 3 hrs, 2hrs, 1 hr to go.  

I did feel bad for her because she tried to do right and say that she had access to these emails but as usually a man wouldn't listen because how could they possibly have messed up. I am not sure how I felt about the ending. I loved that they all got together and we could see what all the characters throughout the book were up to; I just don't know if I liked who she ended up with. Though I shouldn't have been surprised. 

I thought the narrator Nasim Pedrad was great as Jolene and was a positive for me while listening! 

Mini Audiobook: 3.5 - This seems to be a buzzy book at the moment so natural I put it on my library hold list and it came much sooner than I was anticipating. I am not really sure how I feel about it. I really loved the first half of the book and then it all got a bit to wonky for me. Perhaps some got lost in translation with it being the audio or that was the purpose to confuse the reader? The main character Eve was slowly starts to spiral and it was hard to tell if she actually was or were just meant to make it seem like she was?  This is one where I will need to listen to a podcast to have them dissect the book and provide insight that I might have missed or what they inferred in their reading. 

I also wouldn't say that I was scared but the idea of having someone come up to my house and ask to look inside because they used to live here, seems really creepy & feels like it could happen in read life. Which is what makes it so scary. Honestly Thomas was such a scary character. I did not have nightmares but those that are sensitive may have a hard time with this. 

It apparently has been picked up by Netflix to adapt starring Blake Lively. I will definitely be watching! 

PS - Poor Shiloh! No need to harm a dog! 

Mini Audiobook Review: Thank you so much to Simon & Simon for the free book!

Sigh. This was not a book for me. I am not sure if it was because I read it with my ears as oppose with my eyes? I did not like with the audio that there was 1 person for essentially 3 point of views. I think that was where I lost a lot of what happened. At one point after listening for about 4 hours, I started over when I realized that there was a male POV. I was good for a bit until I wasn't. And then suddenly it was the end and I was left thinking, what revenge did she get?

This also may have been the case for wrong book at the wrong time because there are plenty of other reviews out there that loved this book. As I mentioned I did read this via audio and I thought the narrator Genevieve Gaunt was a fine narrator just as Maude. I just didn't think she should have tackled the sister and the male POV.

I think if you're a fan of historical fiction with adventure, this may be the book for you!

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for an advance copy of the eARC and free copy of the book!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio of this book!

This book will be out July 16, 2024.

Holy moly! I knew Jessica Joyce was going to be one of my favorite authors after reading and loving You With a View but this book just solidified my feelings towards her writing. HER BRAIN! Like the gasping, the cheering, the smiling, the laughing, the sniffling, all the feelings you want to get while reading a romance book. I knew from early buzz that I was going to love this book but I was not expecting to fall so hard.

Eli. Eli. Eli. Have I said holy moly yet? Because holy moly this man. He has heart eyes for Georgia from start to end. My heart just went pitter patter for him and even though I know this was going to give me an HEA, I was so wrapped up in the journey to get there. Him telling Georgia, "This is going to mean something to me." when they were contemplating on taking their sexual tension to the next level. GAH! And if there is one thing Jessica excels at is the banter. It truly comes across in this book. There were so many moments that I giggled my way through the dialogue. He never shied away from his feelings, "Fuck, the way I wanted you. I don't know how anyone cannot look at me and not see it." SWOOOON!

Georgia. Peaches. This woman. She felt so relatable that she knew if she would be around her ex, it would end badly. She was so vulnerable and did not want to go through the heartbreak that she knew was coming. She was so afraid to get sucked into this vortex of Eli Mora. And being in close corners did not help in the matter. "I did my best to cling now, but those little flashes of further and future and forever snuck in, revealing what my deepest, messiest self wants: Eli in every era." The journey she went through the book was so fun to see from the outsider view. She had this big change with work that she was excited about but at what cost? She was so scared to lose these relationships with her friends and as I think a lot of adults go through, we fear that change of growing up and moving on.

I know I focused most of this review discussing the love interest but I also want to say I love Adam - our groom, best friend to both & champion of them as a couple. This book had a bunch of side characters that did not feel overwhelming and just added to the story. There was a scene that had me cackling between Georgia, Eli and Georgia's friend Jamie - once again the banter was chef's kiss. And I loved all the little moments of them trying to get this wedding to happen but these roadblocks keep happening. Which in the end it only brought our love interests closer together.

I paired my reading with the audio and once again Kyla Garcia knocked it out of the park. I loved listening to her narration & her tone just makes it such a fun listen.

This review is not going to do the book justice but if you were a fan of Jessica's writing in her debut and just a love of romance novels, please read this and scream about it with me.

PS: Chapter 34 - BROKE ME. How dare you Jessica!

Sampling of my favorite quotes:
"She had fake pepperonis all over her face, and she was still the most beautiful person in the room. She rearranged everything in my body when she ran into me. Again, literally and figuratively."

"It's weird seeing your friends have other friends, and it made me feel far away again, you know?"

"What are we doing tonight?"
"Everything."

"I'm going to knock on your door later. Please answer it."

Thank you so much to Random House for the eARC of this book!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book is out now.

If you are looking for a love letter to Pennsylvania, this book may be for you!

I appreciated the sense of community in this book and the feeling of living with other people and the complications that can come from that. I appreciated her diverse characters especially Leah. I love seeing their type of body being described in the book. They had a quote that really stood out to me: "Do you think it's people's eyes or their brain that makes them hate fat people?" In which Bernie replies, "Brain. There's nothing wrong with our eyes." That whole section was a dagger to the heart. Bernie was also an interesting character as she is the woman in a crossroad of her life where she doesn't know what she wants to do. She is this talented photographer but the mentor who taught her everything was not a good person. She has these conflicted feelings on if she proceed with these skills from this man.

I loved the chapter taking place in Lancaster, PA. My husband and I love traveling to our neighboring county and it really is such a beautiful area! And even though I have seen the Amish just about every time I take a trip there, I am still fascinated by them & their culture. I am not sure if the interaction with the Amish kid would happen but I guess it could? Of course selfishly I would have loved a stop in my town of Reading, PA but maybe in another book.

This book is written from a perspective of someone looking into the lives of these people specifically Bernice and Leah. And it did not occur to me until much later in the book that this was the case.

I have not written anything by Emma before. I know that she also writes articles for publications which I am interested in looking some of the pieces she wrote about the lack of fat characters in books (she's not wrong). The way that Emma writes was just so beautiful. Her description to the characters & the setting really helped placed the scene. This book does not have quotations mark so if that is something you're not into or haven't tried, just be warned.

I paired the audio of this book and queen Marin Ireland. She made the listening experience so easy and was able to change the different tones to match the character.

I recently got to see Emma at a bookstore in Lancaster and the way she speaks is so eloquently. And the repore with the owner was so enjoyable and I felt like I learned a lot about the process of making this book and the deeper parts that in retrospect made a lot of sense. And it actually wanted me to go back and re-read to catch all the things that they talked about and see it from this new lens.

I love that this was written about a real life couple whom is lost in history. I had no clue that Bernie was based off a real photographer, Bernice Abbott. I love when author's find these people who were impactful in their life but are not known.

 Thank you so much to Simon & Simon for the advance copy of this book!
Thank you so much to Simon Teen for the physical copy of the book!

This book is out now.


Today Tonight Tomorrow was my first Rachel Lynn Solomon book and one of my first audiobooks so it will always hold a special place for me. I loved Rowan and Neil so much and their growth throughout the first one that when this sequel was announced, I was super excited to see what would happen to them post graduation!

I thought Rachel did such an excellent job with balancing what it is like to be in love, starting off in a new city & school and navigating a long distance relationship. I had been in a long distance relationship when I was in college and let me tell you, I wish it was like Rowan and Neil! Neil was so head over heels for Rowan and its not that Rowan wasn't into Neil but I felt like it came across more during Neil's point of view. I was happy that we did not get any sort of love triangle or anyone specifically trying to flirt/date one of the two characters.

"When you have that desire deep in your bones, you can't simply shut it off. Even during a drought, it's always there, waiting to seize inspiration and weave it into something beautiful."

I kind of wish I did a reread of the first one just to refresh my memory of that adventure that the two went on during the scavenger hunt. I like that Solomon revisited the concept of the scavenger a few times in the book. I really loved seeing both Neil and Rowan grow within their respected campus and hanging out with new people. Making friends in a new environment is tough and I'm glad they were able to find their group. I also liked that we got separate story arcs for each of them. They both had personal challenges that they had to overcome. I was proud of Neil for taking that step to seeing his father and then seeing a therapist (which honestly I kept yelling at the book for him to do).

I do feel as if this book was skewed for the older age range for young adult as it did have some adult themes. I don't think it felt out of place and felt right for the characters and their college experience. Also I just love young love and the innocence of it all.

I paired my reading with the audiobook and I thought both narrators did a great job with each of their characters. Rebekah Ross is back as Rowan while this time we get Neil's perspective, narrated by Ali Andre Ali. They both sounded age appropriate.

I just loved this world that Solomon created and selfishly I would love to see this transition into the adult world after college but if not, this book ended at such a great spot! 

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for the advance copy of this!
Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book is out now.

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for the advance copy of the book!

I have been a fan of Mazey since the first book I read by her and she has continuously wowed me. I often found myself within the characters of her pages especially those that have ADHD. She just always finds ways to make her characters relatable to the average person. And just like with her other books, Edding does such a great job with queer & neurodivergent representation.

This is her first time writing a sapphic novel and I remember when the cover was announced, I knew that it was going to be a smash! Eddings comes up with such a creative way to make you get attached to the characters and their storylines. This story was such a unique one and yes I could suspend reality that someone would actually buy a flower farm in Asheville (which by the way is such a fun town). I love that Opal and Pepper had to work together to win a competition. I love that their relationship was a progression and then when it hit, it hit. One thing Edding knows how to do is write a love scene. She wrote Pepper's inexperience with such grace and Opal was so tender towards her and only wanted her to be comfortable.

This book is told from dual POV and I thought the narrator, Ellie Gossage, did a well enough job to distinguish between the two character and their POV. Would I have loved to have two narrators? Of course it would have added to the listening experience. Her tone & cadence was enjoyable and made the listening very easy & quick.

This was not my favorite Mazey book but I did really enjoyed this & Mazey will continue to be an auto-buy author!

Read this if you enjoy flowers, forced proximity, queer rep all set at a flower farm!

Okay so I think I may have been a tad not smart enough for this book? I do plan on listening to podcast that will break it down for me and perhaps then it will all click. It wasn't that I couldn't follow it all compared to world building/high fantasy but towards the end when things all came to head, it kind of went over my head. I was trying hard to figure out who did what when.

Of course I love the romance of it all! And actually thought it was much more spicer than I was expecting in the few pages that the romance was present. And I felt that it was only natural that when you are spending so much time with someone that romantic feelings developed.

"When something changes you constitutionally, you say: The earth moved." But the earth stays the same. It's your relationship with the ground that shifts."

I really enjoyed the parts when everyone would hang together! Who knew that the Electric Slide would still be bringing people together in 2024. Also some of my favorite parts were when Graham was learning about modern living. There were times when I found myself giggling at the dialogue.

I did pair my reading with the audio (thank you Spotify) and I thought the narrators, George Weightman, Katie Leung did a pretty good job with the narration. I think if it wasn't for the narration I would have certainly struggled to keep going.

I wanted to read this to see what the buzz was about and I'm glad my book club pushed me to read and get outside of my comfort zone to read sci fi.

Mini Audiobook Review: Thank you to Dial Press for the complimentary book!

Last year I read Hello Beautiful and I absolutely loved the family story that Napolitano created so I knew I wanted to read this one as it centers around a big family. 

I will admit this one starts out a little slow but then the storyline of all the characters start to come together. There are quite a few different POVs and it was hard to follow in the beginning but as the book went on you learned more about each character and their role in the book. 

I love a book with family drama and this one was full of it!  You get connected and drawn into each storyline and you are rooting for them all. I felt connected with Kelly trying to be the rock of the family and was the main caretaker of their mother and it just reminded me of what my mom went through as a caretaker. During Catherine's point of view, her talking about her younger days up to her seeing relatives that passed away, reminded me of my grandmother who was starting to see those who have left this world and had such vivid stories. I am not sure if I missed things but I felt like some stuff were alluded more so with Kelly & Louis rather than the author coming out and explicitly saying what caused their separation. 

The audio was done SO well! Full cast with each point of view getting their own narrator. That was so helpful especially to help keep track of all the point of views. It also helped that there was a family tree in the front of the book which I did reference especially early on.

This book is out now.

I really enjoyed Camp Sylvania when I read it last year and I was excited to see that we were going back to camp again this year! And this time Julie called on a friend Crystal Maldonado, to make this a dual POV taking on the role of Nora, Maggie's best friend.

"What if your natural, best self sometimes doesn't feel good enough for other people?"
"Part of being yourself is not worrying about what other people think and still being confident in who you are."

Man oh man, even though I am pushing 40 and reading a middle grade book I could still feel like this book related to me even as an adult. The paranormal aspect aside this book dealt with themes of growing friendships and the feelings of growing apart from your best friends. Nora sees Maggie with her camp friends from last year and can't help but to feel left out. And then the other side Maggie sees Nora connecting with her new roommate and her friends and feels like she is missing out on her life. I feel as if this especially in the age of technology and seeing friends doing this and that and feeling left out. 

That aspect of the book I was really drawn to but with all that happening there was some tween wolf happening as well!  Just like with the last one, it was fun and campy and I love how both authors incorporated this element within the book.  And we also have Maggie experience her first crush and kiss! 

I paired my reading with the audio and even though both narrators Katie Ladner and Victoria Villareal were good narrators, I felt their voices were too similar. I was happy that each chapter stated which POV we were in. The audio is a quick listen clocking in around 6 hours. 

I am not sure if there will be another adventure at Camp Sylvania but I hope so!! I will read anything that Julie or Crystal read.