titalindaslibrary's Reviews (687)

This book had the audacity to sound so interesting but wait until the 70% mark to actually say something. Honestly, Black Widow did this premise better. 

A fun, quick read that blends a multiverse, modern take on a classic fairytale.

I fear this quirky-cute writing style is just not for me. It’s giving me HSM vibes 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s a hot, sapphic summer in Paris! While I really loved Cora and Manuela’s story, something was missing that would push it to the 4 star range. The pacing was just so inconsistent throughout that it somewhat frustrated my reading experience.
Loved the narrator once again though and looking forward to the next book in this series! 

Okay, nobody told me Miles would be Nick Miller coded!?!? I love that! 

Daphne may be my new favorite FMC from Emily Henry’s books. The pessimistic, withdrawn librarian was so relatable to me. And to see how she grows and stops running away from hard things was well done - down to the friendships too! 

Somebody needs to get this entire family in THERAPY. Oh my god!

Ahem. Anyway.

Oh Marisol, my angry, grieving teen self. There were quite a few times I winced from recognizing my past self in this screaming teenager. The fraught mother-daughter dynamic of an Americanized teen and her immigrant mother is relatable. And then to lose her so suddenly?? Yeah, I’d say this depiction of a confused and angry girl is pretty spot on. This book is one messy knot of FEELINGS, but most especially grief. 

There are just too many things that kept disrupting my enjoyment of this book that I couldn’t overlook.
The first being that I started this on audiobook and while the narrator’s voice for Marisol was fine (really nailed the teen angst), I was constantly taken out of the book when she voiced any of the male characters??? Idk, it just didn’t work for me. Then there were several moments of dialogue that just felt so stilted and forced. I can’t recall all the examples, but I’m still chuckling over a parent addressing her kid as “eldest child” seriously.

This book is all played out through a young girl’s mind, so the internal dialogue reads a lot like my teenage diary entries. Rambling and a bit repetitious. The amount of times I’d read the same verb stacked up as triplets was obnoxious. Some examples I can recall from the top of my mind:
“…drive and drive and drive…”
“…walk and walk and walk…”
“…sleep and sleep and sleep…”

Combine this with pacing that feels all over the place thanks to the constant time jumps and flashbacks, and I was a bit underwhelmed. I think this book has something to say, it just gets lost via lackluster writing and stilted dialogue.

Phew! I devoured this on audio! Nneka Okoye did an incredible job with this, switching between voices and accents fluently. Highly recommend checking this out on audiobook.

This scratched the historical romance itch, serving up a diverse, feminist story about a determined rum maker and a privileged Scotsman. I appreciated the balance of conversations that addressed misogyny, classism, and racism throughout - especially considering the time period this is set in. Too often a BIPOC lens is missing from this genre. I think you definitely have to be a bit in a delulu mood to truly believe in the amount of insta-love/lust going on (omg why are we kissing so early in the book!?), but I'll let it slide simply because Nneka's narration is so delicious. 

Overall, I think I'll be adding Adriana Herrera to my Courtney Milan books as top recs for historical romance. Excited to read more in this series!

I know the publishing description has been comparing this to Celeste Ng's work (which I'm not too familiar with and the one book I read by her I intensely disliked), but I think Yellowface meets Gossip Girl is a better description. 

I really liked the depiction of Aki, who has internalized the model minority myth, struggling with social justice issues her daughter is so vocal and aggressive about. Watching her close that gap between them was so satisfying, and I'm pleased by the character development that went into that. While initially torn between knowing something is wrong but wanting to protect her daughter, Aki starts to reconnect with her values (and fucking backbone, omg). It took forever for her to grow a spine, but once she started putting others in their place it was extra satisfying remembering the doormat she started off as. Sometimes it just takes a racist, hypocritical prep school to break you down for years before you can rebuild, you know?

This was obviously an arc and there were many jarring formatting issues that I had to glaze past. Overall, this was an indulgent read that clearly depicts the problems of fake posturing towards diversity and inclusion in elitist spaces. 

Ugh, Lila, when did you become so annoying!?!? 

As a FilAm who barely saw herself or her culture represented in books, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen is a delight! I love all the food and creative fusions Lila comes up with. But in book 2, I felt like her character arch massively suffered. 

Perhaps my biggest annoyance with her flared up when her two potential love interests appeared on page. Instead of handling these situations with any sort of maturity, she corners one guy (whom she has repeatedly turned down I may add) when he starts flirting with another woman, and sets her friends loose to interrogate him!? Please. 

Also her cousin Bernadette made some valid critiques of Lila’s behavior and she reacted in the most self righteous way. Instead of conceding any sort of ground she snubbed her and demanded an apology. Girl, take a look in the mirror!!

While I enjoyed everything else about this book, it’s a shame our main character (and therefore narrator) is so insufferable. I’m going to give book 3 a chance and hope Lila’s had some self reflection and growth by then because I can’t keep doing these books if not!

Romance is alive and well, and it’s found in YA graphic novels like this one!