gracescanlon's reviews
715 reviews

Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.

This book should've been a smash hit for me, but I cared less and less as I read further into it. The plot moves at a glacial yet jerky pace and the characters are way too far removed to provoke any emotional investment. The part that was all letters got old about five pages in - without anything between them, it was a fifty-page info dump.

Don't Worry: 48 Lessons on Relieving Anxiety from a Zen Buddhist Monk by Shunmyō Masuno

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hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

I liked the Love Hypothesis; it was cute. Olive was an idiot, but at least she had some likable qualities.

Mallory, however, is wholly unlikeable — self-righteous, stubborn, and short-sighted.

There were multiple plot holes that I couldn’t get past, though I only read 17% of this book.

1. How on earth is dear old dad not paying child support/alimony???? Two of his three kids are still minors!!!!! Hello??? Is he dead???

2. Mallory’s lack of big-picture thinking about her job and the chess fellowship she was offered completely negated any and all believability of her having any actual skill at chess. You’re telling me she can strategize multiple hypothetical moves/outcomes in multiple turns ahead of time, but she can’t see that the year-long, SALARIED fellowship can not only lead to tournament wins with huge payouts, but also make her name and intelligence public, leading to more and better (and higher-paid) jobs in the future??? Come on. There’s literally no way that’s the same character.

Mallory was insufferable. I also didn’t like what seemed to me like the vilification of Easton, who honestly rocked. Mallory’s mom is in a terrible situation — as a woman with a chronic condition/physical disability, I so get it — but something about her absence (physical and emotional) didn’t sit right with me at all.

A Twist of Fate by Kelley Armstrong

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

I really enjoyed the through-line of August and Rosalind working through their issues and past actions, and the twists did surprise me and logically followed the plot. The original conceit — Rosalind tricked into the governess position for her own son — was fun, and I laughed along with Rosalind at its uncanniness.
However, this book was rushed. The second half had me breathless, because everything happened and resolved the way dominoes fall - faster and faster. I would’ve preferred if Armstrong had taken her time with the end. It would’ve been delicious, if drawn-out rather than crammed together. Still, Edmund was adorable and August had grown immensely from book one. I don’t know how I feel about Rosalind — I might have to think on it and return to this review when I form an opinion.

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Next Of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young

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challenging hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this!
My favorite things:
1. Deaf representation!
2.

Warren is a very giving lover, and has the sweetest and also the dirtiest mouth on him. Total hottie!

I was PRAYING the third-act conflict wouldn’t be either a breakup or Connie relapsing. Thank you, Ms. Bonam-Young, for taking a different tack!!!

A few things kept this from a higher score for me:
1. I wanted Chloe to be more verbally expressive to Warren about the nice things she thought about him. Not at his level (but SWOON!), but I felt like Warren deserved a little more verbal affection.
2. Chloe didn’t pick up on one of the things Warren said soon after moving in and repeated later in a more romantic context:

“I don’t want to be your friend.”

The second time he said it made his original intent obvious. Chloe didn’t make the connection, which was a little disappointing.
3. Whyyyyyy were we never shown Rachel’s visit to the apartment and evaluation of Chloe’s circumstances???? What a missed opportunity for some higher-stakes tension!
4. It was pretty insta-lovey, which on one hand makes sense (Chloe and Warren share v similar pasts in addition to their present similar situations), but on the other was a bit concerning, given both their traumas. Their repeated statements of wanting “forever” when they’ve known each other five months at most worried me.
5. Warren does a bit of a 180, personality-wise. The book is in first-person POV (Chloe’s POV), so it’s understandable that she might not have picked up on Warren’s more concealed positive attributes, but Chloe doesn’t comment on either her surprise or reflection with her new understandings of who Warren is. This and my second list point made Chloe seem entirely unobservant, which was frustrating.

TL;DR — Fast-paced and mildly steamy, but also heartwarming. I loved the recurrent themes of healing and forgiveness, as well as opening up to and being vulnerable with loved ones for deeper bonds.

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Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I really, really enjoyed this, but there was too much telling in it. That said, if Kiley publishes another book, I'm definitely reading it!

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Violeta English Edition by Isabel Allende, Isabel Allende

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.

It's...fine.

That's the trouble, actually. It's fine. I could only read this before bed, because it kept putting me to sleep. That is, in a small way, also a compliment - Allende's prose, its rhythm, is soothing. But the book is also boring boring boring.

I've been trying to read more diverse books. Even so, Allende in general has been on my TBR, as a renowned female South American author. However, leaving the country where the book is set unnamed was frustrating to me. I've learned since abandoning this book that it's set in Chile, but as I read it, the vagueness of the location irked me. I want to know more about other places. Leaving Violeta's setting unspecified was counterproductive to that - it just wasn't a choice I liked or appreciated. I'm quite aware that that's a personal problem, and that Allende's choice was purposeful and valid, but I don't have to like it.

The amount of people in the reviews who were at all surprised as to Camilo's identity is baffling to me. It's so blatantly obvious to me that he's her grandson, or at the very least a grandson-like person in her life. Y'all need to work on reading comprehension.

Violeta seems, to me, aimless - an odd sensation, given it's the story of a woman's life that spanned throughout tumultuous times. But even 35% through the book, Violeta has only been "involved" with contemporary world events tangentially, if at all.

Also, the older Violeta telling the story has a little personality, but her younger self has very little. Honestly, the side characters were all more interesting than she was, from Torito and the Rivases to her aunts and Miss Taylor.

So, ultimately, I didn't care, don't care, can't care. I'll be donating or selling this book.

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