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jessicaxmaria's reviews
995 reviews
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Fantastic. Happy to have gone in without reading much about it, and the audiobook narrators were great actors!!
Longer review to come.
Longer review to come.
Liliana's Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
The Most by Jessica Anthony
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
A swift, excellent read that ping pongs like a game from different perspectives chapter to chapter. The game is tennis, as one of the protagonists, Katherine, is a former college tennis star. She quit tennis and married a genial, good-looking man named Virgil nearly a decade ago. Over the course of a few hours, while Katherine dips into their apartment complex's pool on a unusually warm November day, the layers of their marriage is revealed to the reader, as they grapple with what to reveal to each other. Biting and propulsive, I greatly enjoyed the volley of perspective and how deftly this was written. I also greatly enjoyed how it ended; it's a dark tale but ended with more hope about people and their capacities than I'm used to when it comes to recent reads about marriage.
I bought this two days before it was long-listed for the National Book Award, and perhaps it suffered a little from higher expectations contextually since I read it shortly after the announcement, but I won't deny its worth.
I bought this two days before it was long-listed for the National Book Award, and perhaps it suffered a little from higher expectations contextually since I read it shortly after the announcement, but I won't deny its worth.
For You and Only You by Caroline Kepnes
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
3.5
I will continue to listen to these books with glee because of Santino Fontana's beyond excellent narration as Joe Goldberg.
This one made me laugh a bunch but felt off-kilter... went real meta there with the SB character, but I did enjoy the New England setting.
This one made me laugh a bunch but felt off-kilter... went real meta there with the SB character, but I did enjoy the New England setting.
Liars by Sarah Manguso
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Just absolutely scathing. As someone married for 15 years, lots of released breaths during this. And also gratitude for aspects of my partner missing from this 'John'. Whew whew whew.
Flew through this - more elaborate review to come.
Flew through this - more elaborate review to come.
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
At first, confusion. Though the rhythm becomes apparent after a few pages, I felt less guided into INTERMEZZO than in Sally Rooney’s previous novels. The stream-of-consciousness writing drops the reader into a funeral from the onset. And so the book begins to reveal the tenuous and complicated relationship between two brothers. Ivan is a 22-year-old chess champion, and Peter an established lawyer ten years his senior, and their father has died.
The novel displays the brothers’ lives in contrast to each other in their grief, and in their romantic interactions with a few women. Rooney is a remarkable writer, and her popularity is probably most associated with the way she writes intimately about her characters. I do think she leveled up in this novel, in getting at the innermost thoughts of two men; outwardly, one seems awkward, the other social and affable. But there’s that inward layer to each that is far more complex and inspected with razor-sharp insight by Rooney. The stream-of-consciousness works not only because it differentiates Peter and Ivan’s chapters, but it adds to the confidential feeling of the narrative itself. The dizzying, exhilarating thoughts captivated me. I came to love both of these men, and the women as well. I don’t think I’ve felt a more resonant character lately than Margaret, someone who has a history and is trying to cultivate a pleasant life for herself–and wondering whether she deserves it.
Rooney’s characters are always of a searching variety, but aren’t we all? Isn’t that what always feels most human about them? We, too, are searching for a nugget, a shred, a sliver of joy–that fleeting feeling of happiness that can power us through the dread, monotony, unjust qualities of modern living. Rooney has a powerful ability to create a sense of wonder about life and relationships and the choices we make. We can mean well and be principled and make mistakes and not be perfect, but we still deserve to feel worthy–to feel love. And that may seem corny, but I have to believe it’s one of life’s truths. I think Rooney must, too.
The novel displays the brothers’ lives in contrast to each other in their grief, and in their romantic interactions with a few women. Rooney is a remarkable writer, and her popularity is probably most associated with the way she writes intimately about her characters. I do think she leveled up in this novel, in getting at the innermost thoughts of two men; outwardly, one seems awkward, the other social and affable. But there’s that inward layer to each that is far more complex and inspected with razor-sharp insight by Rooney. The stream-of-consciousness works not only because it differentiates Peter and Ivan’s chapters, but it adds to the confidential feeling of the narrative itself. The dizzying, exhilarating thoughts captivated me. I came to love both of these men, and the women as well. I don’t think I’ve felt a more resonant character lately than Margaret, someone who has a history and is trying to cultivate a pleasant life for herself–and wondering whether she deserves it.
Rooney’s characters are always of a searching variety, but aren’t we all? Isn’t that what always feels most human about them? We, too, are searching for a nugget, a shred, a sliver of joy–that fleeting feeling of happiness that can power us through the dread, monotony, unjust qualities of modern living. Rooney has a powerful ability to create a sense of wonder about life and relationships and the choices we make. We can mean well and be principled and make mistakes and not be perfect, but we still deserve to feel worthy–to feel love. And that may seem corny, but I have to believe it’s one of life’s truths. I think Rooney must, too.
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Excellent narration by Elle Fanning for the audiobook.
I was hesitant to start a book that had "Money Troubles" in the title, one of my least favorite topics to read about in fiction, but it charmed me well enough. I enjoyed these characters a great deal, and especially the way Thorpe broke 'the fourth wall' in speaking directly to the reader regarding choices in the writing/perspective.
I was hesitant to start a book that had "Money Troubles" in the title, one of my least favorite topics to read about in fiction, but it charmed me well enough. I enjoyed these characters a great deal, and especially the way Thorpe broke 'the fourth wall' in speaking directly to the reader regarding choices in the writing/perspective.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
4.0
A very enjoyable romantic audiobook. One of my favorite tropes, too. Sittenfeld's writing never disappoints.