c0d3nam3qt's reviews
59 reviews
All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
2.5
For the most part I liked how this came together in the end although there were some glaring plot holes. I feel like there was too much repetition that was unnecessary and this could have been cut down by at least 20%. The reactions of the characters as explanations were revealed that felt inauthentic, like the climaxes of those moments just petered out.
Spoiler
I thought it was so gross that they really gloss over Isabelle dumping her birth control in the toilet to trick Ben into having a baby. The book really tries to make it seem ok because Ben was such a piece of shit. I don’t get why Isabelle was so quick to forgive her mother, it’s almost instant after she finds out she killed her younger sister and tried to kill her. And I understand that trauma can cause you to repress memories, but she would instantly remember everything so many times, it became a bit ridiculous. Personally I hate when you’re right at the action of the climax and it cuts away, it’s so unsatisfying. There was no reason they had to pull away when Isabelle and the new girlfriend were fighting/she killed her.
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
1.0
I made a mistake with this one. I should have read the trigger warnings. If I had I probably wouldn’t have read it in the first place.
I was excited about the podcast element and I did actually like that and the documentary inserts. I just find this particular story line over done and it didn’t really add anything new to it. If anything it sucked out the “thrilling” aspects which are normally in these plots.
I felt like for most (like 80%) of this book that I was supposed to think certain parts were twisty, but to me they were so heavy handed it was obvious, so I just had to wait for the characters to catch up. There is only really one “twist” and it more so just adds some ambiguity.
The characters and dialogue for the most part did feel real though. So I think it might have just been an issue with this story specifically and I’ll still probably checkout other works from this author at some point. Although there were some justifications of some behaviours that felt really gross and I wish there had have been a clearer line between what the author vs the characters believe. Unless she believes the same way, in which case that’s disgusting.
In the end of it all, the lines with “wishy-washy, wavy-wavy” and “flibbertigibbet” are still stuck in my head unfortunately.
I was excited about the podcast element and I did actually like that and the documentary inserts. I just find this particular story line over done and it didn’t really add anything new to it. If anything it sucked out the “thrilling” aspects which are normally in these plots.
I felt like for most (like 80%) of this book that I was supposed to think certain parts were twisty, but to me they were so heavy handed it was obvious, so I just had to wait for the characters to catch up. There is only really one “twist” and it more so just adds some ambiguity.
The characters and dialogue for the most part did feel real though. So I think it might have just been an issue with this story specifically and I’ll still probably checkout other works from this author at some point. Although there were some justifications of some behaviours that felt really gross and I wish there had have been a clearer line between what the author vs the characters believe. Unless she believes the same way, in which case that’s disgusting.
In the end of it all, the lines with “wishy-washy, wavy-wavy” and “flibbertigibbet” are still stuck in my head unfortunately.