ccoley34's reviews
78 reviews

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

dark inspiring 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

2.0

I didn’t really like this book. The story was fine, but the character arcs felt kind of predictable and honestly just never really connected with any of them. I know it’s fiction, but it also just seemed totally unrealistic.

Idk I just didn’t connect with this one.  

Trashlands by Alison Stine

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

I really really enjoyed this book. It was so wonderfully written and the characters are multi-dimensional and engaging.

Centered around climate disaster and drowning in single use plastic, it’s hard not to take the messages from this book and apply them to how we are currently living. I also really connected to the human desire and need to create for oneself without needing to monitize it. 

Additionally, the author does not shy away from how vulnerable populations are taken advantage of (lots of content warnings, there are some pretty dark parts of the story). I enjoyed how there was always a connection back to present times—though I could see how it could come across heavy handed. 

I found this to be so thought provoking and I liked how the ending didn’t wrap everything up in a nice bow, but instead let’s the reader draw their own ending conclusions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Rape

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

This book was just so slow and had too many unanswered questions  for me to really enjoy it. 

Overall the themes were thought provoking—like what does it truly mean to be human, and just generally the fragility of humans. But I just kept getting stuck on not understanding what was going on in their world. Maybe that was to add to the point of view for Klara, she was never fully accepted as an equal so she never had the full picture of things? But it definitely left me disappointed when the story ultimately ended and I was left with a million unanswered questions. 

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed the message of this book, but at times I just struggled to stay engaged with the characters and storyline. It felt like a lot of the story points were dragged on for way longer than needed. She also did a great job of capturing the frustration and hopelessness of the time, which also resonated with so much of what’s going on today. Also, the ending was so sad and kind of just ruined the whole story arc for me.

The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele

adventurous inspiring 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

3.0

This was a surprisingly positive book for being set in a post global collapse world. The story was interesting and the characters likable but everything just kind of wrapped up too perfectly. During numerous interactions I found myself kind of rolling my eyes at how it just worked out for the characters, and every point of conflict seemed to resolve with everyone pretty much unscathed. I also wish some of the story lines would have been explored a little more (like what happened after the Center fell??). Ultimately a nice read, and the over all themes were good, but left me wanting more.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was extremely well written and the story was interesting but I don’t think I fully understood it. 

The author did a great job weaving so many interconnected stories together. Main characters during certain segments were just passing references in others. I just generally struggled to understand the why at the end. But maybe that’s the point - life is just this meandering thing in which you are your own main character and everyone is just passing through, but also everyone else is having that same experience? 

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Definitely a book that makes you reflect on your current impact on the world. I really enjoyed the authors approach of describing the impending climate crisis and how all responsibility seems to be being offloaded onto future generations.

Some themes came across very heavy handed, but ultimately I think it did a great job of stressing how dire the situation is and how out of touch older generations are.

Also not having a religious background, I feel like I missed a lot of the religious imagery unless it was super overt

like the baby being born in a barn or the gathering of animals during a flood lol

What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I have complicated feelings towards this book. There were parts that were so captivating that I felt like I couldn’t put it down, but others that felt so tedious I struggled to get through it. 

I do like how it really captured how differently people grieve and how complex our responses to trauma can be. There were also some parts that I feel like I didn’t totally understand like

the glowing orbs of light during the Quaker meetings or really a lot of the religious overtones. I also didn’t fully understand the epilogue.

but ultimately a good read and would recommend (with the caveat that there are a lot of potentially triggering parts of the book)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

emotional hopeful 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

3.75

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25