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nothingforpomegranted's reviews
615 reviews
The Orchard by David Hopen
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
I’ve had this one on my list for a long time because how could I not read a book with Modern Orthodox representation that hit the popular sphere? Overall, I thought the writing was beautiful and the pacing was strong. I was immersed in the characters and the story, and I understood them deeply. There were a few moments at which I felt the manuscript could have used another pass from an editor because there were references to scenes that may have been left on the cutting room floor (I don’t think we ever explicitly learned that Evan laced Ari’s drink with Xanax, nor did we ever see Ari break Shabbat, but both of those things were referenced as throwaways later in the book. This could be an effective unreliable narration strategy, but instead it just felt unfinished). I also thought that the plot just went off a cliff at the end. Evan convinced his friends to join him on a so-called apology trip that actually was yet another of his experiments to see the face of God by lacing cupcakes with acid. We see them through their trip, which is bizarre and psychedelic and just too much for me, and then the final scenes are rushed: the next morning, they find Oliver blinded and Noah’s body. Perhaps the rush through the funeral and the end of the year reflects the overwhelmed, post-trauma reactions of the high schoolers processing this experience, but yet again, this just read as incomplete or even lazy writing by the author. We hardly got a glimpse at Rebecca, Noah’s girlfriend, and despite another dramatic moment of Evan launching himself into the fire, there was no real sense of closure. Hope could get away with it because Ari’s narration is so myopic to begin with, but I think the final third of the novel was just underdeveloped. I also didn’t love the philosophizing debates with Rabbi Bloom. First of all, they were simply not interesting to me, and I skimmed most of those sections s. Second of all, I just didn’t believe that this is how a group of relatively delinquent, though bright, high schoolers would be engaging with texts, as an educator and as someone who has read and engaged with a fair share of the philosophical canon. Those scenes read as pretentious to a fault, and they took away from my enjoyment of the book, especially as they continued to make the same mistakes over and over again. Nonetheless, I can’t deny that the story totally pulled me in and had me staying up late two nights in a row to follow what would happen to these kids.
The Scandal of It All by Sophie Jordan
fast-paced
4.25
I really loved the drama and chemistry in this one, and I thought the connection between the characters and tensions were well-built and less “romance reasons-y” than most.
After the first book, I was excited to read about Ella and Colin’s attraction, though I was expecting it to be a little bit more of pining hero vibe. Instead, the first moment is a super spicy scene in a sex club. Long-widowed Ella has finally agreed to accompany her friend Mary to the pleasure club for a night of adventure. To her surprise, she encounters her stepson’s best friend, Lord Colin Strickland. When it turns out her stepson himself is present at the club, Colin embraces her, and eventually she winds up on his lap, hiding from Marcus.
This sets them off on a clandestine affair that Ella resists at every turn while Collin pushes the attraction with enthusiasm. When it turns out Ella is pregnant from their first assignation, the drama really begins. Collin insists on marrying, Marcus runs away, Enid confesses her own feelings, and Collin’s uptight grandmother pushes Ella down the stairs to get Collin out of the marriage, nearly leading to miscarriage. Collin, for his part, refuses fo give up, and they conclude the novel very sweetly with the birth of twins!
After the first book, I was excited to read about Ella and Colin’s attraction, though I was expecting it to be a little bit more of pining hero vibe. Instead, the first moment is a super spicy scene in a sex club. Long-widowed Ella has finally agreed to accompany her friend Mary to the pleasure club for a night of adventure. To her surprise, she encounters her stepson’s best friend, Lord Colin Strickland. When it turns out her stepson himself is present at the club, Colin embraces her, and eventually she winds up on his lap, hiding from Marcus.
This sets them off on a clandestine affair that Ella resists at every turn while Collin pushes the attraction with enthusiasm. When it turns out Ella is pregnant from their first assignation, the drama really begins. Collin insists on marrying, Marcus runs away, Enid confesses her own feelings, and Collin’s uptight grandmother pushes Ella down the stairs to get Collin out of the marriage, nearly leading to miscarriage. Collin, for his part, refuses fo give up, and they conclude the novel very sweetly with the birth of twins!
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
In the first chapter, Eli receives an unexpected letter from her estranged childhood friend Homa. The framing of this chapter is perfect, and I actually listened to it again after finishing the entire book, and it is beautiful how many little clues and motifs are present already in that prologue before the story jumps backs decades to the 1950s in Iran, when Eli and Homa first meet. After the death of her father, Eli and her mother are forced to move downtown, away from their friends, their servants, their family. Eli’s mother refuses to work, claiming her royal ancestry, and constantly judges their new neighbors, fearful of the evil eye and the consequences of their certain jealousy. On the other hand, 7-year-old Eli is overjoyed to be welcomed as a friend by Homa, who teases her in a matter-of-fact tone and invites her to play hopscotch, cementing an inseparable childhood friendship. The girls cook and study and one day skip school to eat ice cream in the Grand Bazaar until one day, Eli catches her mother in bed with Uncle Masood (her late father’s brother). The two quickly marry, enabling Eli and her mother to return to the wealthy classes. After just a few months, Eli and Homa lose touch until Homa appears in Eli’s class senior year. She is just as brash as ever, and Eli, despite her embarrassment about Homa’s lack of social knowledge, cannot help but to be drawn to her old friend. Indeed, they quickly become inseparable again, and Eli, despite herself, finds herself seeking Homa’s approval of the boy she is seeing. Homa, for her part, is a devoted student and committed political activist, determined to be the nation’s first female judge.
At the end of the year, several classmates get married, but Homa and Eli, as well as Merdad (the boy) elect to go to Tehran university, the most prestigious university in Iran. Here, their friendship solidifies even more as they grow into adults together. Eli struggles continuously with jealousy, from her childhood envy of Homa’s living father to her suspicion that Homa is flirting with Merdad at a party. Nonetheless, the two young women are deeply connected to each other, fighting and forgiving, until Eli makes a grave mistake, confiding about Homa’s communist political engagement to someone who can pull exactly the strings that lead to Homa’s arrest.
The rest of the book follows the women as adults, despite their estrangement. While we remain primarily in Eli’s perspective, we also get tidbits from Homa’s perspective, reflecting briefly on the abuse she faced in prison, the relief she felt with Abdoul, à college classmate who was smitten with her from the outset but whom she only agreed to marry out of desperation and necessity to raise her daughter. It is this period during which Homa and Eli have entirely lost touch, except for one chance encounter at the Grand Bazaar, until Homa’s strange message: a request to harbor her now-teenage daughter at their home in New York to help her escape from the trauma of the war with Iraq. Having never succeeded in having children of their own, Eli and Merdad agree, forging their own bond with teenage Behar and reconnecting with still-politically-active Homa.
This was a beautifully told story and well-narrated on audio. The characters were so well-developed, with hints dropped in meaningfully and subtly throughout the novel, building consistent personalities even as the characters matured. I loved each of the women, as well as the men they loved. The focus on female friendship, though, made this story stand out, placing it in a camp with Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan Novels.
At the end of the year, several classmates get married, but Homa and Eli, as well as Merdad (the boy) elect to go to Tehran university, the most prestigious university in Iran. Here, their friendship solidifies even more as they grow into adults together. Eli struggles continuously with jealousy, from her childhood envy of Homa’s living father to her suspicion that Homa is flirting with Merdad at a party. Nonetheless, the two young women are deeply connected to each other, fighting and forgiving, until Eli makes a grave mistake, confiding about Homa’s communist political engagement to someone who can pull exactly the strings that lead to Homa’s arrest.
This was a beautifully told story and well-narrated on audio. The characters were so well-developed, with hints dropped in meaningfully and subtly throughout the novel, building consistent personalities even as the characters matured. I loved each of the women, as well as the men they loved. The focus on female friendship, though, made this story stand out, placing it in a camp with Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan Novels.
A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
The Swift family is an ancient family with generations that have been named by opening to a random page in the revered family dictionary. The idea is that the name speaks to the character and destiny of the person, so Shenanigan Swift, the youngest of three daughters, is constantly getting into trouble and irritating her siblings. When Inheritance, the family archivist, arrives just after the latest rehearsal for Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude's funeral, with an announcement that it's time for the next family reunion, relatives appear from all across the globe to search for ancestor Vile's treasure. Suddenly, Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude is found at the bottom of the stairs, victim to a suspected attempted murder, which kicks off the exciting mystery element of the story. Shenanigan and her scientist sister Phenomena, along with their non-binary cousin Erf and twin relatives Flora and Fauna, investigate every clue, much to the disdain of Inheritance, who is concerned with the implications for the family archives and treasure. The sisters initially suspect Daisy, the hopeful fiancee of cousin Candour, who had been denied Matriach Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude's blessing of marriage, and plenty of clues point in her direction throughout the book. Ultimately, though, it turns out that Candour himself was the guilty party, and his shame is revealed at the end of the book, complete with Shenanigan's analysis of the definition of his name.
This was fun and adventurous, and I loved the wordplay, which was reminiscent of The Phantom Tollbooth. I thought some of the gender stuff felt a bit forced, but most of it was natural and important representation. I likely won't go out of my way to read the next book in the series, but I definitely enjoyed this.
This was fun and adventurous, and I loved the wordplay, which was reminiscent of The Phantom Tollbooth. I thought some of the gender stuff felt a bit forced, but most of it was natural and important representation. I likely won't go out of my way to read the next book in the series, but I definitely enjoyed this.
As Husbands Go by Isaacs
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
4.0
I have been loving these cozy mysteries with New York as a strong starts with Susie, who is Morris, and her husband, Jonah, who is successful plastic surgeon. They have three triplets, all boys, and the marvel begins with Susie‘s first person reflection on what went wrong. it is obvious from the beginning that something bad has happened to Jonah; however, I wasn’t expecting him to be murdered, except that I accidentally had the back of the book while I was not quite far enough into it. Susie, sarcastic tone and engaging and lighthearted, despite the heavy subject matter. I am still finding it challenging to read about spouses dying, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed this and I really enjoy Susan Isaac writing. This was in a nostalgic New York 2010, and most of the plot features Susie going around the recommendation of the police department in Long Island and New York in order to solve her husband‘s murder herself. she never believes that she was the victim of the hooker whose apartment he was found in, and she was reluctant to believe that he, always a devoted husband and father would have gone to a prostitute in the first place. ultimately, she is vindicated, and her research determines that in fact, Jonah did not go to this prostitute for the purposes of sex; rather he was conducting his own internal investigation into one of the partners at his private plastic surgery practice. The ending happened a bit too fast in my opinion and so much suspense, the conclusion was a little bit clean and the nose, and we didn’t actually get to see Susie finalize her discovery. We jumped right to Dr. confession. I also would have liked to see a little bit more closure with Grandma, parents and in-laws, as well as the triplet boys.
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
4.25
Higginbotham’s account of the Challenger explosion and the personal stories of the astronauts aboard the Shuttle was informative and heartbreaking. He struck an impressive balance between sharing technical information and cultivating the personal connections.
The book begins with the live reporting of the launch and explosion of the Challenger before jumping back in time to the explosion of Apollo during a pre-launch test in 1967. From there, Higginbotham explains the history of space travel, the boredom of American civilians, and the origins of the Space Shuttle program, as well as details of spacecraft machinery and engineering, specifically those aspects that failed in the Challenger launch.
It was painful and chilling to read about failure after failure, error after error, bad decision after bad decision. The imagery of this book was profound, as Higginbotham described the structure of the O-rings, the arrangement of the seats, the icicles forming out the outside of the Shuttle. The pressure put on NASA and thusly on Morton Thiokol to launch was repulsive and resonant of so many analyses of acceptable risk that politicians and organizations have to engage in now, and it is harrowing to accept that so many factors contribute to a decision, beyond the risk to human life.
I think Higginbotham did an excellent job of summarizing the events and the decisions, including where things went wrong, without wholly villainizing those who made those choices. He described the human elements of despair and pain, which felt especially significant because he built up the characters of the astronauts and their families throughout the book. I was also impressed with the way that he incorporated the language of Ronald Reagan and other political pundits throughout the development of the space programs and the devastation of this crash.
Some of the technical detail was challenging for me to follow, and there were points where I felt that the narrative was a bit disorganized, poorly integrating the information. I especially found it difficult to keep track of some of the families. In addition, there were quite a few grammatical and spelling errors in this copy, which irritated me.
The book begins with the live reporting of the launch and explosion of the Challenger before jumping back in time to the explosion of Apollo during a pre-launch test in 1967. From there, Higginbotham explains the history of space travel, the boredom of American civilians, and the origins of the Space Shuttle program, as well as details of spacecraft machinery and engineering, specifically those aspects that failed in the Challenger launch.
It was painful and chilling to read about failure after failure, error after error, bad decision after bad decision. The imagery of this book was profound, as Higginbotham described the structure of the O-rings, the arrangement of the seats, the icicles forming out the outside of the Shuttle. The pressure put on NASA and thusly on Morton Thiokol to launch was repulsive and resonant of so many analyses of acceptable risk that politicians and organizations have to engage in now, and it is harrowing to accept that so many factors contribute to a decision, beyond the risk to human life.
I think Higginbotham did an excellent job of summarizing the events and the decisions, including where things went wrong, without wholly villainizing those who made those choices. He described the human elements of despair and pain, which felt especially significant because he built up the characters of the astronauts and their families throughout the book. I was also impressed with the way that he incorporated the language of Ronald Reagan and other political pundits throughout the development of the space programs and the devastation of this crash.
Some of the technical detail was challenging for me to follow, and there were points where I felt that the narrative was a bit disorganized, poorly integrating the information. I especially found it difficult to keep track of some of the families. In addition, there were quite a few grammatical and spelling errors in this copy, which irritated me.
While the Duke Was Sleeping by Sophie Jordan
fast-paced
3.75
I wrote an entire review and it was deleted. That’s so annoying.
OK, a quick summary of the book: Poppy, which I think is the most common name for a romance heroine these days, works at a flower shop. The Duke of Autenberry comes in each week to buy flowers for various paramours, and Poppy fancies herself in love with him. When the Duke nearly gets run over by carriage after a fight with a strange man, Poppu saves his life by pushing him out of the way and sending him to the ground. Fortunately, the strange man happens to be Struan, the Duke’s estranged half-brother, and he saves Poppy. The three characters wind up back at the Dukes home where his stepmother and two sisters are immediately drawn to Poppy’s positivity and kindness. This instant connection complicates Poppy’s impulsive lie to Struan, claiming to be engaged to the Duke, and their budding attraction further exacerbates those complications. When the Duke finally wakes up—totally fine despite his weeklong coma because romance reasons—Struan and Poppy have a desperate last encounter, making love in the stables. Poppy realizes that she is actually in love with Struan, but she is sure that he will never be able to forgive her lie. On the other hand, Struan has determined that Poppy cannot truly be in love with the Duke, but accepts that she will return to him and their engagement now that he has awoken. Poppy is surprised by the Duke’s proposal that they actually do marry after all and initially accepts him. After a few days of wedding planning, though, she realizes that she cannot go through with it, and she leaves the house with her sister Briony, searching for Struan until she eventually finds him, admits the truth, and falls into his welcoming embrace.
I haven’t been as engaged in my audiobook listening lately, and it has been a bit challenging for me to follow the plot. I’m not sure if it’s related to the fact that the world is nuts or more of an internal struggle to focus and engage with anything, so I can’t say I loved this or loved the characters. However, I did thoroughly enjoy the world that Sophie Jordan created and look forward to reading the next book in the series at least. Indeed, I initially picked this up because Sarah MacLean and Jen Prokop recommended the second book in the series in an episode of Fated Mates, and I’m a completionist who wasn’t about to start with the second book in a series. I had fun with this, and I’m glad to add Sophie Jordan to my list of preferred authors, especially because she writes historical as well as contemporary.
OK, a quick summary of the book: Poppy, which I think is the most common name for a romance heroine these days, works at a flower shop. The Duke of Autenberry comes in each week to buy flowers for various paramours, and Poppy fancies herself in love with him. When the Duke nearly gets run over by carriage after a fight with a strange man, Poppu saves his life by pushing him out of the way and sending him to the ground. Fortunately, the strange man happens to be Struan, the Duke’s estranged half-brother, and he saves Poppy. The three characters wind up back at the Dukes home where his stepmother and two sisters are immediately drawn to Poppy’s positivity and kindness. This instant connection complicates Poppy’s impulsive lie to Struan, claiming to be engaged to the Duke, and their budding attraction further exacerbates those complications. When the Duke finally wakes up—totally fine despite his weeklong coma because romance reasons—Struan and Poppy have a desperate last encounter, making love in the stables. Poppy realizes that she is actually in love with Struan, but she is sure that he will never be able to forgive her lie. On the other hand, Struan has determined that Poppy cannot truly be in love with the Duke, but accepts that she will return to him and their engagement now that he has awoken. Poppy is surprised by the Duke’s proposal that they actually do marry after all and initially accepts him. After a few days of wedding planning, though, she realizes that she cannot go through with it, and she leaves the house with her sister Briony, searching for Struan until she eventually finds him, admits the truth, and falls into his welcoming embrace.
I haven’t been as engaged in my audiobook listening lately, and it has been a bit challenging for me to follow the plot. I’m not sure if it’s related to the fact that the world is nuts or more of an internal struggle to focus and engage with anything, so I can’t say I loved this or loved the characters. However, I did thoroughly enjoy the world that Sophie Jordan created and look forward to reading the next book in the series at least. Indeed, I initially picked this up because Sarah MacLean and Jen Prokop recommended the second book in the series in an episode of Fated Mates, and I’m a completionist who wasn’t about to start with the second book in a series. I had fun with this, and I’m glad to add Sophie Jordan to my list of preferred authors, especially because she writes historical as well as contemporary.
My Antonia by Willa Cather
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed the beginning of this, but as the book continued, my interest started to wane. I was intermittently connected to the characters and well enjoyed the book within a book that reminded me of Frankenstein. The story itself didn’t totally capture me. There are some parallels here with the nature writing and the wildness of the growing up in nature to Where the Crawdads Sing.
The story begins with a conversation between a man and a woman and continue with the man’s reflections on his childhood friend. In fact, this structure also has some connections to To Kill a Mockingbird, but yet again, the story wasn’t quite as compulsive. I don’t know if it’s that my taste for quiet novels just isn’t present at the moment with so much going on in the world or if I don’t really really like them anymore, about this characters reflections childhood friendship, or lost love just wasn’t doing it for me. Antonia immigrates from Bohemia to western Nebraska, where Jim and his family live. together, they discover the attractions of nature and develop strong friendship so especially after Jim‘s parents die. I didn’t feel included in the friendship which I think is what I’m looking for when I read these interior novels. I listened to the episode of Novel Pairings podcast. While usually those episodes really help me connect to the text and understand it and explore it on a different level, this episode was much more a discussion of their previous experiences with the novel (especially because they had a guest who was one of Sara’s former students) rather than the novel itself.
The story begins with a conversation between a man and a woman and continue with the man’s reflections on his childhood friend. In fact, this structure also has some connections to To Kill a Mockingbird, but yet again, the story wasn’t quite as compulsive. I don’t know if it’s that my taste for quiet novels just isn’t present at the moment with so much going on in the world or if I don’t really really like them anymore, about this characters reflections childhood friendship, or lost love just wasn’t doing it for me. Antonia immigrates from Bohemia to western Nebraska, where Jim and his family live. together, they discover the attractions of nature and develop strong friendship so especially after Jim‘s parents die. I didn’t feel included in the friendship which I think is what I’m looking for when I read these interior novels. I listened to the episode of Novel Pairings podcast. While usually those episodes really help me connect to the text and understand it and explore it on a different level, this episode was much more a discussion of their previous experiences with the novel (especially because they had a guest who was one of Sara’s former students) rather than the novel itself.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
I really love the beginning of this and was totally immersed in the New York world of the 1930s, by then it really started to flag after about a third. I liked Katie. I thought Tinker was fascinating and Anne Grandon was engaging and exciting. Eve, though, why is shallow and manipulative and not a good friend. After the accident, I was disturbed to see the dissolution of Katie‘s relationship with Tinker. It also became very internal. Katie stopped talking to Tinker and Eve as the two of them went off on their Italian adventure that nobody seemed to want, and I couldn’t keep track of all the other people Katie was hanging out with or their relationships with Tinker and Eve. the truth is this is mostly disappointing because I was particularly excited to read this before I finish the final story in Table for Two, but it’s just didn’t do it for me and now I’m not especially interested in reading the continuation of Eve’s life in Hollywood. Amor Towles’ writing is beautiful, and the setting is one that I absolutely love, but I just didn’t love this. Still excited to see the next thing that he produces.
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
funny
fast-paced
3.75
This book was fun, easy listening with lots of melodrama and also some interesting insights about narration and perspective. In sophomore year in college, Margo finds herself in an affair with her married English professor, and after just a few weeks, she winds up pregnant. Fired from her job and blackmailed by Mark’s mother onto dropping out of school after the birth, Margo is desperate for funds to pay rent and, for the first time in her life, she asks her retired pro wrestler father for financial support. Jinx takes a few weeks to respond, and when he shows up at her front door, it turns out that he’s been in a rehab program and is looking for a roommate and accountability buddy himself. Jinx moves in, cleaning and babysitting and getting to know Margo as an adult. Inspired by a throwaway comment in a conversation, Margo discovers OnlyFans. She starts posting and reserving other successful users, eventually forming a friendship and a social media plan with two other popular users in which she acts out a robot from space engaging in weird Amelia Bedelia antics and sexual scenes.
Honestly, this story is weird. The collaboration between Margo and her father on her sex work career felt bizarre and often uncomfortable. The rest was fun and funny, but I just couldn’t love it.
Honestly, this story is weird. The collaboration between Margo and her father on her sex work career felt bizarre and often uncomfortable. The rest was fun and funny, but I just couldn’t love it.