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ellytheskelly's reviews
165 reviews
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
3.5
I loved the author's note. I really appreciate that Helen Hoang felt that she got to write authentically for this book.
I think Stella is a really strong and interesting character, but some things really made her fall flat in some areas that I couldn't ignore.
It felt like a third of the book was preoccupied with Stella and Michael having sex. PUT DOWN YOUR PITCHFORKS FOLKS, I know autistic people have sex. HOWEVER, it felt like an erotica (not my genre) at that point, and it watered down the characters personalities for me! It felt like they could have been swapped out for any other character in any other book for a large part of those scenes, which to me, is not a good thing! I think if a book is going to be that explicit, it should strengthen your characters!
Also the moment that Stella had where she tried to force herself to mask just felt pointless to me. I think this story should have let Stella not mask! I've started The Heart Principle and it seems like a story about a masking woman, so it isn't like this was the only opportunity to represent/portray a high-masking person. Esp bc masking is such a larrrrge topic with lots of depth to unpack so I think the brief aside Stella had about it didn't do the topic justice.
Jeez, that was a yap fest.
I enjoyed it a lot, Helen Hoang is worth supporting (afaik!) and we need to uplift #ourvoices so we can have more female autistic representation ♥️🫶
I think Stella is a really strong and interesting character, but some things really made her fall flat in some areas that I couldn't ignore.
Also the moment that Stella had where she tried to force herself to mask just felt pointless to me. I think this story should have let Stella not mask! I've started The Heart Principle and it seems like a story about a masking woman, so it isn't like this was the only opportunity to represent/portray a high-masking person. Esp bc masking is such a larrrrge topic with lots of depth to unpack so I think the brief aside Stella had about it didn't do the topic justice.
Jeez, that was a yap fest.
I enjoyed it a lot, Helen Hoang is worth supporting (afaik!) and we need to uplift #ourvoices so we can have more female autistic representation ♥️🫶
We'll Never Tell by Wendy Heard
3.0
Liked: We are ANTI TRUE CRIME that glorifies murderers and hurts families!
We have socioeconomic diversity in this book, and it really affects the way you perceive these characters, their choices, and just the story in general.
LGBT+ representation (though the word "lesbian" isn't used, which is weird? A friend mentioned that they have issues with authors being hesitant to use the word so it popped out to me here that it was not used)
Chapter 39 is really good. I liked the closure that she gets with her mom there, and it comes full circle. I wish this was the ending of the book.
A CRAZY twist (that you can see coming if you think about it)
Disliked: The tone of this book "feels" YA. Like aggressively. It felt like several chapters ended with an on-the-nose musing that made it sound kinda preachy/strange.
The climax/ big dramatic scene wasso confusing? Why didn't she... just leave the house??? why go all the way upstairs instead of trying to leave through the front door? Genuine question. And it really dragged for me BECAUSE I was confused and it felt like "i got trapped, then I got out, then I ran, then I got trapped again, then I fought, then I ran, then I couldn't get out, then we fought more..."
Dallas' characterization during the climax was waaaayy dramatic tbh. Felt really over-the-top and for what?
The wrap-up after the climax just felt... off, rushed, contrived, and just plain unsatisfying. I wish that something was set up before the climax for one of Casey's friends to come find her, or the cops to, or something along those lines, and for Dallas to get caught. IDK. And I didn't like that the friend group decided to keep breaking into places after all of this... like why? Wouldn't it cause anxiety remembering how wrong things can go? Did they not learn their lesson fr? And I wish there were consequences to Jacob being stabbed, it got REALLY swept under the rug once we figured out who did it. And the scene with Eddie's family supporting him, like I said, feels contrived. Meh? Meh.
TLDR: The ending felt a bit fumbled, but it was still generally enjoyable
We have socioeconomic diversity in this book, and it really affects the way you perceive these characters, their choices, and just the story in general.
LGBT+ representation (though the word "lesbian" isn't used, which is weird? A friend mentioned that they have issues with authors being hesitant to use the word so it popped out to me here that it was not used)
Chapter 39 is really good.
Disliked: The tone of this book "feels" YA. Like aggressively. It felt like several chapters ended with an on-the-nose musing that made it sound kinda preachy/strange.
The climax/ big dramatic scene was
TLDR: The ending felt a bit fumbled, but it was still generally enjoyable
Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
I was between a 4.5 or 5 rating, and I decided to round up, because I think that I'll still really like this in the future.
I don't want to be that guy, but I fear that some people just really didn't get the point of Friends With Boys! I see a lot of middling reviews saying that Faith Erin Hicks left too many things "unresolved" but I personally disagree.
I think the POINT is for things to be "unresolved," but that the issues that you can't resolve should not be shouldered alone, and there's no secret key to fixing your problems.
First, the ghost. In my opinion, the ghost represents the "elephant in the room" for Maggie's family. Everyone feels the absence of the mother, but it goes unresolved, because it can't be resolved. Daniel can't tell Maggie that her lack of connection with her mother didn't cause her to leave, but he can at least be there with her and listen to that for her, instead of making her bear that burden alone. I think it's really interesting how in a lot of aspects, Maggie branching out and beginning to be a part of the world after being kept away from it for so long was directly at odds with her mother('s wishes). (ex. the movie Alien, going to public school, connecting with her siblings and father...) The "ghost" (literal and figurative) haunting their family doesn't stay, but it doesn't necessarily go away either. What matters more than that is that they all bonded together and addressed it truly. Acceptance. I think this is one of those stories where the problem never really goes away, it just gets a new perspective and character growth.
Even Alistair is "haunted" by his past. Things do not get resolved for him because in real life actions have consequences. And he understands that. I love it.
What a cool coming of age story.
I don't want to be that guy, but I fear that some people just really didn't get the point of Friends With Boys! I see a lot of middling reviews saying that Faith Erin Hicks left too many things "unresolved" but I personally disagree.
I think the POINT is for things to be "unresolved," but that the issues that you can't resolve should not be shouldered alone, and there's no secret key to fixing your problems.
First, the ghost. In my opinion, the ghost represents the "elephant in the room" for Maggie's family. Everyone feels the absence of the mother, but it goes unresolved, because it can't be resolved. Daniel can't tell Maggie that her lack of connection with her mother didn't cause her to leave, but he can at least be there with her and listen to that for her, instead of making her bear that burden alone. I think it's really interesting how in a lot of aspects, Maggie branching out and beginning to be a part of the world after being kept away from it for so long was directly at odds with her mother('s wishes). (ex. the movie Alien, going to public school, connecting with her siblings and father...) The "ghost" (literal and figurative) haunting their family doesn't stay, but it doesn't necessarily go away either. What matters more than that is that they all bonded together and addressed it truly. Acceptance. I think this is one of those stories where the problem never really goes away, it just gets a new perspective and character growth.
Even Alistair is "haunted" by his past. Things do not get resolved for him because in real life actions have consequences. And he understands that. I love it.
What a cool coming of age story.
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
5.0
The book itself was a 4.5 but the way it made me feel.... a 5 for SURE
Super trope-y, easy to digest type of romance, but the emotional scenes really hit for me. I am very excited to read Nothing Like The Movies when it releases in October!
why was Wes smoking cigars??? It felt super unnecessary and kind of ruined his appeal for me tbh
Super trope-y, easy to digest type of romance, but the emotional scenes really hit for me. I am very excited to read Nothing Like The Movies when it releases in October!
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
3.25
I liked it, but I think this book could’ve been 100 pages shorter because it felt like the MC was just turning her wheels going through the same exact ideas for too long. It felt like TOO MUCH slow burn by page 240 for me. Also the constant sex drive aspect made me kinda uncomfortable. A very emotional scene felt undercut by the MC being a horndog. I really liked the character interactions here, and I also really liked that neither of the MCs changed who they were by the end. (And representation of parentified children turning into overbearing adults was real.)
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
fast-paced
5.0
Ali Hazelwood ate and left no crumbs. Within 5 minutes of starting the book I knew how it would end and I LOVED that. One of my favorites reads for this year.
Claudia and the Bad Joke by Ann M. Martin, Arley Nopra
2.75
In terms of art, I liked this one! Arley Nopra did a wonderful job illustrating and it has been very cool to see how the art style of the series has evolved after changing illustrators.
I wish that the story did not play into the fear of having casts removed! I was hoping that Claudia mentioning being scared of it would end up including a line about how the "saw" they use was not scary at all, but it was a real missed opportunity that kind of bugged me.
I also didn't particularly agree with the choice/message that the prank issue was up to the BSC to handle and resolve. I think that when Claudia got hurt, that should have been the breaking point for the BSC to bring up the issue to her parents. Also publicly shaming her after she is already being ostracized just left a bad taste in my mouth. Even if she was unkind to her peers and may or may not have "deserved" to be excluded, I don't think it is good for a role model and authority figure to re-affirm that she "deserves" to be embarassed and publicly ridiculed.
I wish that the story did not play into the fear of having casts removed! I was hoping that Claudia mentioning being scared of it would end up including a line about how the "saw" they use was not scary at all, but it was a real missed opportunity that kind of bugged me.
I also didn't particularly agree with the choice/message that the prank issue was up to the BSC to handle and resolve. I think that when Claudia got hurt, that should have been the breaking point for the BSC to bring up the issue to her parents. Also publicly shaming her after she is already being ostracized just left a bad taste in my mouth. Even if she was unkind to her peers and may or may not have "deserved" to be excluded, I don't think it is good for a role model and authority figure to re-affirm that she "deserves" to be embarassed and publicly ridiculed.