brimelick's reviews
347 reviews

Perfect for those interested in one of the friendships that helped form a nation. From revolutionaries to friends, to political enemies, and back to friends, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams are a tale of opposite views and how they worked to create a functioning government in a time when no one thought it would be possible. Dying on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Fourth of July, this story is a tale of founding brothers whose stories still effect us today.

This book was so cute that I blew through it in two days. I would've read it in one, but I had chores. So, I love a good online-friends-to-lovers-but-they-don't-even-know-it-in-the-real-world storyline, but I have only read ones where both characters found out they were online friends and didn't know it while they were already dating. This one takes it up a notch to a fan and celebrity being friends online, but only the celebrity knows about it and keeps it a secret. And I loved this storyline more. The chemistry and sexual tension between the fan, April, and the celebrity, Marcus, was palpable through their entire first date, and it gets better each date they went on until the tension boiled over. 

I found it engaging that the author was able to tell us the story of April and Marcus while also showing us the relationship of their online persona, Marcus's relationship with his costars, and the actual storyline of the show he stared in as it is the central part of the plot. A trashy TV version of a great book series based on mythology is a fabulous way to connect with readers as we ALL have fallen in love with a show that butchers the already-written book series. We've all wondered how the cast handles it if they also love the source material (ex: Henry Cavill stepping down from the Witcher). 
I also love the author shopping the personal side of this; we have a gorgeous actor that everyone loves for his looks, but he feels as if he must create a persona for the public as well as deal with his parents publicly writing op-eds about how they hate their son's job. On the flip side, you have April, a geologist by day and fan girl by night, who struggles not only in her family life with her size, as she spends years learning how to love herself, but she has a mother who struggles with this as her husband has hardwired her to stay thin and beautiful or he won't love her, that, of course, destroys his relationship with April, his daughter. She also struggles with this in the fandom world; there has always been this stigma that more prominent people cannot cosplay a certain way and that showing a character as bigger or fat is harmful or that they are a terrible character in fanfictions, a stigma that April tries her best to make people aware of in the fandom community. 

All in all, I enjoyed this book, and I have a feeling any of my fandom fellow people from the 2010's tumblr era (who still use tumblr with pride) will also enjoy this book!

For a first book to publish, this was a bold and captivating way to start.

Felicia takes us on a journey through a coming of age story of a Hasidic Jewish young women struggling with her identity and sexuality while navigating college and her very religious family.

In one sentence, I think this book is a love story to those living in overly religious communities and the journey of finding themselves within it.

In just 250 pages we follow Raizl from admitting to her therapist about her addiction to porn after being given a laptop in her scholarship to go to college and study to be an accountant. In the Hasidic community, specifically in Brooklyn, NY where this story takes place, electronics and the internet are not allowed except for education and work purposes. With this knowledge in hand, Raizl goes on this deep dive that lads her to porn, she is enamored with toeing the line between keeping kosher and tang bacon and egg sandwiches and cheeseburgers, drinking alcohol, wearing pants, and using the internet for non educational purposes. We see her struggle through these decisions and her addiction all while tying to be the religious person she is within the Jewish community. Within this narrative, readers with little to no knowledge of the Jewish community, let alone the Hasidic sect (being th most conservative regarding their laws) get to learn about the community through the lense of someone growing up within it. We see Raizl go through dates with men the matchmaker finds, and it doesn’t always go well, we see celebrations of culture and faith and see the important of family. We also see in the story itself a celebration of the Yiddish language.

First things first. his book wreaked me.

After getting though Iron Flame and not enjoying it, I have to say out of all three books currently out. OS is by far my favorite. I enjoyed literally every part of this book, it lost one star because I wanted more from the ending. How dare she write such a great last chapter and then we turn the page and it’s BLANK. WHY REBECCA WHY. I HAVE TO WAIT TWI YEARS AHHHHHHH.

Okay, into the specifics.

I LOVED the addition of so much worldbuilding, getting to see the world around the continent that isnt even on the MAP. What was exciting for us as readers , was to learn about the isles being explored by Violet and her team for the first time, even though Violent knew little bits, we were learning with her.

Xaden. My guy. He loved Violet SO loud in this book, and I have a feeling it was mainly to help ground him to his soul and how quickly he was losing it. It was amazing to get to see him throwing himself into his love and showing it for all to see.

The ending killed me, and I will never forgive Rebecca for hurting me but I will thank her for Broccoli, that cat made everything so much better.

I felt the plot hit flat, even though it was marketed to being a great story as well as the main male character being slightly unbearable toward the main female character.

As a Labyrinth fan, I had to read this book. It required all those who yelled at Sarah to stay with Jareth at the end. (I do love me some David Bowie)

I enjoyed the take on this where the main character struggled with staying versus leaving, and when she made up her mind, no one, not even Enver himself, could sway her. I also loved seeing the other people solving the labyrinth and that Nell had to help them solve it to move towards her solving her labyrinth. Although I missed the 80s music and the incredibly tight leggings in this version, I truly enjoyed this story and Enver and Nell's chemistry together.

*read with the tandem read of Empire of Storms*
I loved this book, and it may be due to my love of Chaol and my hope for him to have some character development after the fourth book. I love the storyline of Chaol and Yrene during his physical and spiritual healing process. I also loved Sartaq and Nesryn's story in this book; the rest of Sartaq's siblings hurt my head, so they were a nice break from politics. I LOVED the worldbuilding and seeing Antica and the healers in their own space. I loved Yrene's story from Assassin's Blade, so I was excited to read more about her. The ending of this book had me crying more than Empire of Storms.

** spoiler alert ** *read with the tandem read*
This book was a fabulous way to get to know the characters more individually and as a group. After the last four books, we see the beginning of the war and how that directly affects every part of the world. I loved seeing Lorcan and Elide's relationship form as they reached Aelin. Aelin and Rowan form a stronger bond and become mates (like I thought the whole time, thanks, Maeve.) Lysandra and Aedion form their relationship, only to see it fracture at the end as Lysandra serves Aelin first. Aedion and Gavriel meet each other for the first time in years. The complexities of the inter-relationships of these characters make for a story filled with raw emotion, humor, and grief, as they would do anything for each other and their people, even going so far as sacrificing themselves in the end.

*reading this with Tower of Dawn was a fabulous idea since it follows very similar timelines; it is easy to understand that so much is going on at once

This was a fabulous overview of the interwoven lives of some of the most prominent founders of America from the 1760s to the 1820s. Joseph Ellis expertly weaves these figures together by using some of the most significant moments in their private and political lives with events like the duel between Burr and Hamilton, Washington's farewell address, Jefferson's slightly treacherous years as VP, and Jefferson and Adams's dynamic. My only complaint is how long the chapters are, knowing that there are just six main points; several subpoints in each chapter make it hard to remember the main argument with everything going on.