tiller's reviews
75 reviews

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

adventurous funny 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

4.25

I really really loved this book but I have to take .5 points off for how weird the

relationship between Joe and Gordo was- like seriously wtf?

and another .25 for my absolute least favorite trope

”we could solve this problem if we just talked but gosh darn it what about our PRIDE”

I’m gonna read the next book but fuck I’m so exhausted of the word Alpha

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

dark reflective fast-paced

4.0

Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

😭😭😭😭😭😭

A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 by David Sedaris

funny medium-paced

4.5

This is the most I’ve audibly laughed  at a book in some time. I took off half a point because sometimes he’s so out of touch, even though he knows it. But I still recommend reading both these sets of diaries.

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

dark informative tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I think this book would benefit from not describing it as a thriller. Until about 200 pages in, it’s a novel about gentrification and almost a romance, then suddenly it veres into a completely different book, and that one is definitely a thriller.

I think it had a lot of really great things to say that were largely underwritten by the sudden tonal shift, but I enjoyed both parts of the book for the most part.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.25

I have never rolled my eyes reading a book so many times in my life. The main character is loathsome, every choice she makes is terrible, every step is predictable. Additionally I think every other page had the word "hissed" on it.

That being said I felt compelled to finish it, so I cannot in good concious bring it down to a 2 flat.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The only reason I knocked .25 is Jesus Christ surely by the 80s this woman learned about dating!

I loved it, it was fast, fun and honestly there were some themes that really sat with me.

Here’s a quote I took a picture of- note it is a spoiler:

"I hope you know by now that all of your secrets are safe with me? 

Celia said as she started unbuttoning it to put it on. 

I think for her it was a throwaway line. But it meant a lot to me. Not because she said it, I suppose. But because when she said it, I realized I believed her. 

"I do," I said. "I do know that." 

People think that intimacy is about sex. 

But intimacy is about truth. 

When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is "You're safe with me"-that's intimacy. 

And by those standards, that moment with Celia was the most intimate one I'd ever had with anyone. 

It made me so appreciative, so grateful, that I wanted to wrap my arms around her and never let go. 

"I'm not sure it will fit me," Celia said. 

"Try it on. I bet it will, and if it does, it's yours." 

I wanted to give her a lot of things. I wanted what I had to be hers. 

I wondered if this was what it felt like to love someone. I already knew what it meant to be in love with someone. I'd felt it, and I'd acted it. But to love someone. To care for them. To throw your lot in with theirs and think, Whatever happens, it's you and me. 

"All right," Celia said.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

I really really wanted to like this book more.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.5

It made me cry even if at times it made me say “is this a college writing assignment” aloud