This is definitely one of the better debut mystery novels that I've read in awhile, and I really appreciated that the author took the time to make sure her characters were diverse enough to match the environment that the story was set in. I grew up in the Monterey County, and it's absolutely wild to being reading a story like this with the mindset of having direct knowledge of how well her descriptions matched. This book will definitely be one that I will be recommending. 

This was super interesting in the sense of getting to learn about the PDJ race and the physical aspects regarding taking part it, and I thought this book worked perfectly as an audiobook as the narrator gave it a bit of a cinematic feel. 

Listening to this was equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. Mailhot is not afraid to share the messy parts of her life, and very much doesn't sugarcoat anything. It's a breath of fresh air to hear someone outright say that while they have been dealt some crappy hands in life that they are not broken, and even more so coming from an indigenous voice. 

I adore the movie and this is a great book to have as a fan. I think the overall story needed one or two more issues, especially when certain shocking things happen, so we can have more time with the characters. I also have to deduct points for the lack of “ack acks” in the book, but overall it’s a fun little side adventure away from the movie itself.

I chose this on a whim, and honestly, this was the perfect amount of history and shock factor regarding the Salem Witch Trials. I also thought that the narrator did a fantastic job with keeping everything exciting and very much gave it a podcast feel. Even though this is on the shorter side for an audiobook, I think it was the perfect amount of time to cover the topics that were being discussed, and leaves enough interest for the reader/listener to want to delve deeper into the subject matter through other books.

I normally don’t mind a slow burn story, but I also expected this to be a bit scarier based on the description and praise it got. This had a great overall story, but I think there were details that had gotten lost in translation.

It is 1000% my bad for not researching the publication date on this because this has a very small timeframe that is being discussed. I do think that in a historical aspect, this is a decent look into the movies that were chosen to be highly focused on. However, I think more topics of discussion could have been added because the separate sections seemed to almost drag with how much they were trying to be expanded upon. 

I think this book did a fantastic job at hitting a range of emotions that you might not have been expecting in a book categorized as a contemporary romance. I definitely found myself heavily relating to Sammy's personal connections and life experiences, and I think anyone who may struggle with feeling like they have no one in their corner would appreciate this book. I don't think this book particularly needed spicy scenes considering the deeper topics being discussed, but also, spice is a part of life and I appreciate the author being realistic about that aspect.

This memoir is super heavy, but I also think that it's important that it exists. Domestic abuse as a general topic is already something that something that people don't like to talk about, and unfortunately, even more so when it comes to queer relationships. While I wasn't too big on the format of this in audiobook form (I definitely think this format would work better in the written form), I think that Machado's narration expertly brings the reader in to the devastating events that she discusses in this book. I think this book should be required reading for proper sex education classes.

This was very much cute but with a pretty decent plot. I had a lot of fun and absolutely recommend for anyone looking for a lighthearted read for the Halloween season.