spaghettireads's reviews
672 reviews

funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Quality Time by Susannah Showler

[gifted copy from @penguinrandomca ]

Set in Toronto around 2008, Quality Time follows a couple in their late 20s who every day repeat something they did on that day during their first year together. While this is the premise, it’s definitely more of a character driven book, where we see Lydie the main character try and figure out where her life is going and what she wants.

The whole time I was reading this I couldn’t stop myself from thinking how the whole book is just a big Toronto reference. This both really works for the book and doesn’t at all. Since I got the references I loved them, and the whole vibe of the book did feel very left wing arts community adjacent Toronto. Raccoons play a significant role in the story (and it did teach me how the compost bins open when they are dumped in the truck 🤯), Lydie crashes her bike after getting the fire caught in the streetcar track, Rob Ford crack scandal is mentioned. However, if you aren’t familiar with all this and you didn’t get the references they aren’t explained so I just don’t think the setting would feel important to the story.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this and I liked the writing. However I did feel like the ending wasn’t good enough payoff for the setup and I’m not sure that I really get what the book was trying to say or do. It was a good vignette of the character, but I think for the setup with the anniversary recreation there needed to be more plot.

Content Warnings

Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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? No

4.25

Forget Me Not, by Julie Soto

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

Anatomy: A Love Story, by Dana Schwartz

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Content Warnings

Nora Goes Off Script, by Annabel Monaghan

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

Daisy Jones & The Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

As everyone has said, the audiobook narration and production is excellent! However at 30% I still just wasn’t that into the story and i wasn’t that disappointed that it had to go back to the library!

Content Warnings