I thought this was a thriller. It seems to have mixed opinions about the genre but it’s just not thrilling and the main character isn’t very likable. It’s not bad, just not what I thought it was.

I will say this is well written so if you’re in the mood for a very character-driven, reflective story with a survivalist theme then you might like it. 

This was cute but not noteworthy. The part where they were actually on the road trip was fun but the story got a little boring at the end. I think Jolene’s reasons for not wanting to commit to an actual relationship was weak and didn’t make sense.

Really unenjoyable.

This book is boring for like 200 pages. I was literally forcing myself to read it. It was very bleak and repetitive and I like dark topics but nothing really happens until the very end.

I’m okay with slow burns but I was never invested because I found the hook of this book uninteresting and weak. The whole thing we’re leading up to is why a 24yo “ran away” from home. ?? That’s just called moving out. And of course it alludes that “something” happens to make her suddenly leave but since she fantasized about leaving the entire novel I wasn’t surprised she left.

Eileen is wholly unlikable to me. I get that she had a rough life but I can’t bring myself to sympathize with her, and I definitely was never rooting for her.

I really loved all of the history content in this book. It’s really important to see the full picture of the suffragettes. A group of women who are praised in history, yet they have purposefully excluded and consciously did not support non-white women.

I also loved the connection between capitalism and white feminism. A really important and accurate lens to understanding modern white feminism.

The middle bits were really dense, and at some points in the audiobook the narration was extremely stilted, so much so that it was distracting.

I think I had higher expectations for this book. It was a touch boring to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve read some really graphic horror books but I don’t think this book had enough gore to be considered horror. It’s just a really dark fantasy.

I loved Marlinchen but she wasn’t super enjoyable to read about. She was very naive but also like oddly horny. She was such a doormat for nearly the entire book that I wanted to both shake her and give her a hug. She really was used and treated like shit by everyone around her so I definitely had sympathy for her but I think the character development took too long to start.

I did really enjoy the romance with Sevas. I think it was really pure and the two could deeply relate with one another. On the outside their lives couldn’t seem more different but they lived parallel lives.

Delightfully gross and descriptive! I found each story so unique and creative. Some scenes definitely made my skin crawl.

Brandon did a great job giving these characters personality and backstories in such a short number of pages.

Bonus points for the cat pov 🐈 

Karin Slaughter has yet to disappoint me. Lots of twists and turns and it did manage to surprise me a few times.

I didn’t realize this book was technically a sequel to Pieces of Her until I picked it up and I almost wish I hadn’t read the first. If I didn’t know Laura’s perspective then I probably would have been more on Andrea’s side about the conflict with her mom but I just wanted Andrea and Laura to get along. Seems like there will be more in this story so I hope we see them fully reconcile and not just get a bandaid fix.

Andrea frustrated me a bit but I really think she had a lot of character growth in this book. I loved Bible, he was so freaking likable. I hate Mike. I hated him in the last book and I hated him in this one. He’s not a bad guy per say but he’s incredibly pushy and it really gets under my skin.

I mean it was cute and smutty enough. I loved the idea because I vividly remember the commercial this story was inspired by. I also lol’ed at the dig on Folger’s coffee because it really is gross.

Disappointing to see that this free novella leads to a promo for her new Christmas book, published by Harper Collins, whose employees are currently on a Union strike. Sierra Simone is extremely successful so it’s disappointing to see her not standing with supporting the union.