anamazingday's reviews
101 reviews

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Multi generational family saga with a touch of magical realism. I enjoyed the audiobook for this one. 

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

adventurous emotional funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Let the Games Begin by Rufaro Faith Mazarura

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What a great debut novel! Olivia and Zeke are such lovable characters. They have such great chemistry and it’s so fun to watch their relationship progress throughout the book. I wish we would have seen an epilogue, but that’s just a personal preference. 

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Very informative book. I liked that it was narrated by the author and that many different perspectives were given. 

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My 7 year old said “I loved it!” She said Clementine is kind of like me. She liked that Clementine is fun and crazy. 

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book! What a joy to watch the characters make their wishes and then work to make them a reality. Clock Island was such a fun premise. And I love that a children’s book series played such a pivotal role in the character development seen throughout this book. I loved seeing the happy endings at the end. 

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow! This one was intense. Definitely look up cw’s for child abduction, cult like behavior, and violence. I loved the audiobook with the different narrators. The story was well written and the connections that came up were surprising to me. I liked it overall, I just wish we got more of an epilogue with what happened next. 

Opinions and Opossums by Ann Braden

hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Super cute middle grade book. Agnes is finding herself and takes a great journey through life with choices she makes at school, confirmation class, and at home. She grows a lot and ends up realizing she is the one that gets to tell her own story. 

Funny Story by Emily Henry

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I absolutely loved this until the third act breakup scene. The dialogue was great. The Michigan references were amazing (I’m looking at you Tom’s Food Mart and Meijer). But the “unforgivable” thing Miles did just seemed so out of character for him that it drove me bananas. It made some sense after the explanation, but that definitely knocked it back a whole star for me. 

Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This one had potential to be great, but ultimately fell flat for me. It was the ending that really brought it down for me. There was a huge emotional scene, which makes sense for it being a romance where bridges were burned. But then forgiveness happened too quickly and another event happens and then all of a sudden they are back together. And then the epilogue seemed unrealistic to me.