whothehelliskaitlin's reviews
90 reviews

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

5.0

I had bought this book because I really wanted to get back into the hobby of reading and I kept hearing really great things about it, and gosh were they right. This book had me staying up until midnight to finish it. All of the characters were so enjoyable and the romance had my heart feeling full of love. I loved reading how much the main characters grew as people and how much they cared for each other, it was beautiful. Will definitely be rereading this. This book made me fall in love with reading again.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

5.0

Such a lovable main cast of characters that their situation just completely breaks your heart. Beautifully written with beautiful storytelling that attaches you to the characters and opens your eyes to racial situations and shows how impactful moments like that are and how they are still happening today and still affecting people. Really takes you along for the ride with the characters, you feel the hope and despair that they feel. Trigger warnings as well for violence.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

3.0

Bought this as a recommendation from romance booktok. It was a nice book to read, the characters were fun to read about and the idea of a romantic getaway was great. However, I did knock it down a star because the last hundred pages of the book felt very different from the beginning of the book. The tone of the book changed and the characters kind of flipped. I didn't like how the main character was treated by the others and then it was all magically forgiven so easily. The ending wrapped everything up nicely though and I like happy endings.

EDIT SPOILER:

Spoiler

I just had to come back and add more because I went through the reviews of this book and it seems no one else has the same thought as me. I just really did not like how easily Ethan and Ami were forgiven for how they treated Olive. I know that the end of the book is supposed to show her growth how she isn't "bitter" anymore so she forgives them, but she never really got a real apology from them. Ami was better, but Ethan was just so mean to her and broke her heart. He thought she was a liar! And after one short silly conversation where nothing about what happened was really discussed all the suddenly they're madly in love again. And I also really think the whole thing with her job was silly and blown out of proportion. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of the book and was really into the romance and getting together. The end however moved really fast and was a lot more serious with a quick happy ending.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

3.0

I really enjoyed the Victorian aesthetic and supernatural elements to this novel as well as how the novel went against every Victorian expectation. The plot was very intriguing to me and was what pushed me through the novel along with my general love for Oscar Wilde. Despite this, I am giving it only three stars because although the plot drew me in the novel did take a while to get me to want to read it. Although I know the point of Lord Henry's character was to be unlikable, I found it hard to force myself to read through his hypocritic philosophical rants. It was also hard to force myself to get through the many pages where nothing happened plot wise and it was just Wilde going on and on about Victorian life and art. So for me, the book having an interesting plot mixed with the more boring tedious parts of the novel equals 3 stars. I am glad I read the book but I would not reread it.

Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark

3.0

I heard a lot of praise for this book and its spice scenes. Honestly, I was not entirely impressed with the writing or the development of the plot of the story. The writing seemed very elementary to me and the details about the plot and the characters were kind of all just dumped on readers at the beginning instead of a gradual build-up to learning backstories and details (maybe this is just a personal preference of mine). The sex scenes were nice and described in detail but they were nothing too kinky. It was very much a Wattpad story to me.

Despite all this though there was definitely something about this book that had me keep reading and I finished the book in one night. I think it was maybe just the needing to know when the characters were finally going to admit that they loved each other! It is an easy and fast read and although the characters can be annoying and immature it was not too horrible to get through. So three stars for a good ole fashion mafia romance and the fact that I actually finished it in one night, although I won't say there is anything special about it.

The Price of Salt, or Carol by Patricia Highsmith

2.0

Honestly, I tried very hard to like this book. I've heard how phenomenal it was and I was excited to start it. But let me tell you, it was a slow start. Despite this being a very short book it took me almost a full month to finish just because it was so boring. Nothing at all happened in this book until the last five chapters - the book mainly consisted of the two main characters drinking and going to restaurants/hotels.

Additionally, the two main characters were incredibly boring themselves. They had no real personalities except the younger one, Therese, being obsessed with the older woman Carol even though she knows nothing about her. It seemed to me that Highsmith tried making Carol seem mysterious and alluring but instead she just seemed flat and transparent. Therese herself was hard to like based off of her childish and sometimes dramatic inner monologues that detailed her rapidly swinging emotions. All in all, I would say if you choose not to read this book you are not missing out on anything special.

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

3.0

Honestly, I am not too sure what to say about this book which is surprising because when I initially started it I thought I would be rating this book highly. However, the second half of this book did not capture my attention the same way that the first half did and I was left feeling unsatisfied by the ending. I will say though that I liked how the narrator of the book touched on pretty much every topic there is to discuss, from personal loss to homophobia to the Red Scare. I am giving this book three stars because while it was a quick read and certainly not a bad book, it was also not very memorable and I do not feel moved by it nor would I ever want to reread it.

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

5.0

I think this is the best Christina Lauren book yet. I truly enjoyed the concept of this story and it played out so well. All of the characters were lovable (I love a found family type trope) while also having depth to them. I really loved being able to see their love grow, I appreciated the build up them confessing to each other. It seemed sweet and natural. It was really just a good, heart-warming book that made me want the romantic and family life.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

4.0

This was a very interesting read. Normally I am not drawn to books with religious themes but I thoroughly enjoyed the way that this book was written. I enjoyed seeing the church through the eyes of Jeannette and watching how her understanding of the way the world worked changed. Every character was interesting to read about in this book and they were all fleshed out very well, even if they certainly all weren't likable. A solid four stars. I took away a star because the bits about Arthurian legend in the book were hard and boring to get through to me and while it was a good book I would not reread it. The characters made me too mad and I wished that Jeannette would have yelled at her mom and stood up to her at any point throughout the story.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo by Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien

3.0

Read these stories for school. Tolkien's translations are a great help but are not always accurate to the original tales. The stories themselves are true to the times they were written but I would not say overwhelming enjoyable and I would not find myself reading these outside of school.