this was the book equivalent of the bakery case holding the magic of manifold pastries within.
in other words, it contained many of my favorite things this was the book equivalent of the bakery case holding the magic of manifold pastries within.
in other words, it contained many of my favorite things (books about career women becoming mothers, the line between lit fic and family drama, character driven to the point of nothing driving at all), but i felt constantly separated from it, as if there was a film between the story and me.
we very much live within these characters, but i didn't feel like i really knew them. their feelings felt separate from me. and while i am one of the few defenders of the way children are written in lit fic (call me precocious!), this was ridiculous — five year olds writing perfectly spelled complete sentences, babies expressing fully developed concepts of abandonment.
there is also a catfish (as in the mtv docuseries hosted by the silver fox) (silver fox as in handsome gray-haired man, also not the animal) plotline that i do not understand. not "i don't know why it was in the book." not "i'm missing what it was trying to say." i actually straight up am incapable of comprehending what literally happened. i reread pages. i tried explanations on for size. i don't know.
i think, to my misfortune, this author just may not click for me.
bottom line: i said earlier that i don't like lockdown fiction, but that's actually one of the only aspects of this i appreciated.
2.5
------------------ tbr review
i will be honest, i have never once read lockdown fiction and been like "great, so glad i get to read about this time during which the only thing i could do was think my thoughts about this time."
a book told through museum wall labels??? this sounds like a dream...
but unfortunately the format was the coolest part.
this book's medium outshone itsa book told through museum wall labels??? this sounds like a dream...
but unfortunately the format was the coolest part.
this book's medium outshone its story. it is a very cool idea to talk about the concept of a wealthy 20th century woman as a glowing object, intended to be owned and to look pretty and nothing else, through museum labels, emphasizing the concept of the object.
but i wish it were only done partially: perhaps each chapter begins with the label, but in some way there is character development or relationship dynamics or themes of any kind. in other words, that there were something preventing this book from being dry and literal and repetitive. but alas.
i will follow this author though!
bottom line: sounded too good to be true, and was.
(2.5 / thanks to the publisher for the copy)...more
maybe, when you're a brilliant writer as it stands and you've won major awards, learning another language and refusing to write in anything but that mmaybe, when you're a brilliant writer as it stands and you've won major awards, learning another language and refusing to write in anything but that might have an effect.
possibly.
i spent more than half of this collection writing mini-reviews for each story, but i had to stop because it was negativity city and vitriol was being spewed everywhere and all of them amounted to the same thing: the best parts of this collection explore the relationship between alienation and culture, often describing the plight of immigrants within italy. but eventually even those fell into the same predictable pattern of recycled material and telling, not showing.
i have read another book by jhumpa lahiri in her post-italian-writing-declaration years and enjoyed it, but this one felt...shallow and hard to get into.
bottom line: i miss the old jhumpa.
(2.5 / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)...more
this book is peak "i don't support women's rights, i support women's wrongs."
which, on paper, isn't a bad thing, except...i thought i was picking up athis book is peak "i don't support women's rights, i support women's wrongs."
which, on paper, isn't a bad thing, except...i thought i was picking up a book that would kind of relish exploring the ways women manage to be devious and wicked. but i was wrong.
the level of gymnastics this tries to do to make serial killers, assassins, and general obsessive or greedy girlies seem redeemable and pigeonholed and ultimately actually feminist heroes...annoying! unnecessary! not every woman's choice is a product of institutionalized misogyny! that's actually patronizing!
otherwise this was very well researched and impressive. but just let women be evil!!!
why does cartoon food look so much better than real food???
that constitutes the majority of my thoughts on this.
that, and the fact that i have a love why does cartoon food look so much better than real food???
that constitutes the majority of my thoughts on this.
that, and the fact that i have a love / hate relationship with the word "supper."
this was cute and fine and i liked the art and i would like a bowl of cartoon mac and cheese, even if this book did put too much on its plate and also put blue cheese in the included and aforementioned mac and cheese recipe...
two significant crimes.
we forgive. kind of.
and probably forget about this book entirely.
bottom line: fine!
(2.5 / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)...more
if anyone has any leads on grocery lists or post-it reminders, i'm all ears.
i would have liked this in the market for anything melissa albert writes.
if anyone has any leads on grocery lists or post-it reminders, i'm all ears.
i would have liked this book even more if i didn't know what level of creepy dark gorey evil girl witch fairytale gritty glamorous magic melissa albert was capable of.
but i do, so this was a level below.
i liked some things about this — evil girls, friendship, possession — and didn't like others — thrown in romance with a guy with a bob, abrupt ending, eh relationships, kind of inconsistent deus ex machina logic around the creepy nonsense magic.
but i like melissa albert everything at least a little bit.
bottom line: as long as this author writes creepy evil magic girls, i'll be reading....more
not completely sure but i think a neverending series of weird short books in which fairytales are real could cure me.
this is kind of like if fredrik bnot completely sure but i think a neverending series of weird short books in which fairytales are real could cure me.
this is kind of like if fredrik backman wrote an installment of this series, in that it is technically a story about a group of weird children who have gone in and out of magic worlds, but that the whole thing feels fairly shallow and filled with the kind of truisms and bland banter that drives me crazy.
but the treat of this series is that even disliking one book doesn't mean i'll dislike the next!
and for a girl whose every opinion is unpopular, that's a miracle.
bottom line: more magic, less feel-good, please.
(2.5 / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)...more
you know that feeling of when you put on a too-small shoe, or have a cozy lil bowl of chicken soup where the broth tastes like nothing (aka 99% of chiyou know that feeling of when you put on a too-small shoe, or have a cozy lil bowl of chicken soup where the broth tastes like nothing (aka 99% of chicken soups nationally), or go outside at all in any way during the winter time, or exercise, and you're just..."oh. that doesn't seem right."
that was me with this book.
this just fell flat for me. i couldn't connect. i love a devious teen as much as the next person but these folks seemed truly evil to each other, and then the instalove, and then the insta-repaired-friendship...i just couldn't.
too much and not enough.
bottom line: i don't know what it is, but it isn't for me.
there is still a lot i love about YA fantasy — the banter! the fast pace! the creativity! the tropes! — but there are two things i don't like at all.
tthere is still a lot i love about YA fantasy — the banter! the fast pace! the creativity! the tropes! — but there are two things i don't like at all.
those things are: 1) what feels like a legal requirement that each one include a halfhearted, at least unnecessary and often unpleasant romance 2) the fact that each character has the ego and chosen one mentality of any given teenager. (we've all been there.)
this, unfortunately, had both. a lot of both.
and not a lot of pirates, which i thought this was about.
bummer.
bottom line: i am not the target audience for this book! but it shows.
bought a book because it was cheap and pretty again...
and this time, the expression "don't judge a book by its cover" won.
i've read a lot of books expbought a book because it was cheap and pretty again...
and this time, the expression "don't judge a book by its cover" won.
i've read a lot of books exploring the relationship between mother and daughter recently, and i've read a lot of literary fiction that dares to be difficult lately, and the setup of both of those comparisons was to this book's detriment.
it wasn't necessarily terrible, in and of itself, but it wasn't memorable, and it didn't hold up in the lineup.
i adored open water, but this one fell a little flat for me — on paper (buh dum ch), it felt like it should be just asdisappointments build character.
i adored open water, but this one fell a little flat for me — on paper (buh dum ch), it felt like it should be just as good: poetic writing, significant themes, characters coming of age.
but all of it felt stilted and effortful. open water unfolded naturally and gorgeously, while all of this felt like it took something.
this was longer than open water, yet it felt shorter, accomplished less.
it wasn't bad...just not built to stand in comparison to its predecessor.
bottom line: bummer.
-------------------- tbr review
NEW RELEASE BY THE AUTHOR OF OPEN WATER!!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!!!!!
the problem with setting a book in one of the coolest places in the world is that real life is going to be better than the story.
and the problem with the problem with setting a book in one of the coolest places in the world is that real life is going to be better than the story.
and the problem with the word "cloisters" is that i hate it.
it's worse than moist.
i didn't hate this book, on the other hand, but i would 200% have rather just gone to the museum, and 100% have rather read about the museum itself, than whatever confusing hijinks and love triangle bullsh*ttery happened here.
i'm filing this with The Woman in the Library as part of a burgeoning subgenre i call Actual Places Are More Interesting Than The Stuff You Made Up, Even Though You Had The Power Of Imagination On Your Side.
rolls off the tongue.
bottom line: meh!
2.5
---------------- tbr review
committing a huge act of bravery (reading this even though it contains one of the worst sounding words in the english language)
don't mind me, just constantly attempting to find a romance i truly love in the midst of being the worst and most critical and pickiest person alive <don't mind me, just constantly attempting to find a romance i truly love in the midst of being the worst and most critical and pickiest person alive <3
and constantly failing.
the beginning of this book is fun, but afterwards it just feels odd.
the pacing...what the characters want...the side characters...it all feels not only unrealistic, but kind of all over the place? this was really promising, but the way it unfolded didn't work for me.
in the shock of the century.
bottom line: what's the definition of insanity again?
first: this is the most insane title of any novel i've ever seen in my life.
second: actual book stuff.
the armenian culture in this was fascinating, defirst: this is the most insane title of any novel i've ever seen in my life.
second: actual book stuff.
the armenian culture in this was fascinating, deftly entwined in the story, and wonderfully written...but unfortunately, the other parts didn't work for me.
the romance fell flat, and i couldn't root for our main character, who was constantly lying, borderline cheating, and putting herself above everyone else. i thought some of the things she did were unforgivable, and she was very easily forgiven, with essentially no character development.
also, i don't like authors who post about reviews. i just don't.
bottom line: not for me!
2.5 + thanks to the publisher for the e-arc...more
everything changes in this life. seasons. the casts of the 1,000 technically different but somehow identical netflix dating reality shows. how many coeverything changes in this life. seasons. the casts of the 1,000 technically different but somehow identical netflix dating reality shows. how many cookies i eat in a day (anywhere between 1 and 24).
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