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lozs_shelf's reviews
52 reviews
Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
If you would have asked me to review this book at the 75% mark, my review would be completely different. From 25% - 75% I hated this book. I was telling me family and friends that I have never encounter a book where I hated ALL (and I mean ALL) the characters so much and WISHED the couple would just break up.
I found the beginning bit interesting and cute, but once they leave Italy it all goes down hill until the third act break up (I don't think this isn't a spoiler, it's pretty damn obvious they need to throughout the whole book) and then after that I found it really interesting and cute again. I don't know why after the break up I found it so cute again, but I guess I liked the way the characters worked out their problems with each other and grew overall.
I also found all the characters (main couple and their friends) to be a little weird, sometimes in a quirky way and sometimes in a dislikable way but I liked the diverse characters (diverse races and chronic illness rep).
Even though I liked the beginning and end, the middle made me so mad that I just can't give this a 3/5 stars, so it gets a 2.75/5 stars instead.
I found the beginning bit interesting and cute, but once they leave Italy it all goes down hill until the third act break up (I don't think this isn't a spoiler, it's pretty damn obvious they need to throughout the whole book) and then after that I found it really interesting and cute again. I don't know why after the break up I found it so cute again, but I guess I liked the way the characters worked out their problems with each other and grew overall.
I also found all the characters (main couple and their friends) to be a little weird, sometimes in a quirky way and sometimes in a dislikable way but I liked the diverse characters (diverse races and chronic illness rep).
Even though I liked the beginning and end, the middle made me so mad that I just can't give this a 3/5 stars, so it gets a 2.75/5 stars instead.
Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It's a cute quick read.
It may not completely accurate in terms of the visa/green card stuff. But I truly didn't care (I also don't know a lot about this stuff so it didn't really matter to me)
If you want a short, spicy (this part was perfection), 'I only see you' obsessed MMC, then this novella is perfect.
It may not completely accurate in terms of the visa/green card stuff. But I truly didn't care (I also don't know a lot about this stuff so it didn't really matter to me)
If you want a short, spicy (this part was perfection), 'I only see you' obsessed MMC, then this novella is perfect.
The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Boring. No real plot or conflict. I found the main characters (the couple and 3 friends) to be extremely unlikeable, obnoxious and unrelatable. They constantly made me mad with their unsavoury actions.
This books follows various characters (the couple and three friends), but most focuses on Celine and Luke over a year as they go from getting engaged to getting married. Most of the book is about ‘oh, they definitely shouldn’t get married to each other (or anyone really)’. But part from that nothing is no one is really going on and no one is really doing anything. The author seems to use this situation to philosophise dismally and dishearteningly about relationships and people.
The only part that I felt engaged and interest was Luke’s part where he debates about whether he should married Celine as he writes his grooms speech. I love when he philosophises about Jane Austen and feminism and everything else as it was peppered in throughout his internal struggle and debate, I wish the book was more like this. The characters having internal conflict while philosophising about life and relationships, instead of the characters philosophising about life and relationships while doing the most boring stuff. Honestly, you could pull Luke's part out and make a short story from it and I would eat it up. The rest of the book was so unnecessary.
I’d say this is a book with no plot, just vibes. But honestly the vibes were bleak.
Be warned that this is definitely not a ‘sparkling story of modern love', it’s a very pessimistic and cynical view of modern relationships (including familial, romantic and platonic) and the people in them.
Disclaimer: While, this is all my honest opinion, take my review with a grain of salt because I'm not the target audience for this book. I do not like literary fiction, I find it hella boring. I was hoping this book would be different considering it was marketed as 'sparkling' and 'witty' but it just didn't work for me and has cemented why I avoid literary fiction.
This books follows various characters (the couple and three friends), but most focuses on Celine and Luke over a year as they go from getting engaged to getting married. Most of the book is about ‘oh, they definitely shouldn’t get married to each other (or anyone really)’. But part from that nothing is no one is really going on and no one is really doing anything. The author seems to use this situation to philosophise dismally and dishearteningly about relationships and people.
The only part that I felt engaged and interest was Luke’s part where he debates about whether he should married Celine as he writes his grooms speech. I love when he philosophises about Jane Austen and feminism and everything else as it was peppered in throughout his internal struggle and debate, I wish the book was more like this. The characters having internal conflict while philosophising about life and relationships, instead of the characters philosophising about life and relationships while doing the most boring stuff. Honestly, you could pull Luke's part out and make a short story from it and I would eat it up. The rest of the book was so unnecessary.
I’d say this is a book with no plot, just vibes. But honestly the vibes were bleak.
Be warned that this is definitely not a ‘sparkling story of modern love', it’s a very pessimistic and cynical view of modern relationships (including familial, romantic and platonic) and the people in them.
Disclaimer: While, this is all my honest opinion, take my review with a grain of salt because I'm not the target audience for this book. I do not like literary fiction, I find it hella boring. I was hoping this book would be different considering it was marketed as 'sparkling' and 'witty' but it just didn't work for me and has cemented why I avoid literary fiction.