brittishliterature's reviews
212 reviews

Started reading this one to try to help with my reading slump but quickly lost interest. May try again another time.

This was so cute! I loved little Garlic, who felt oh so relatable. The artwork was cozy, and it was a perfect October vibe. Very heartwarming and light read :)

Wow. I am wrecked. A mess. Actually cried while reading the ending. Will be immediately starting the next book but idk that I’m prepared for the EMOTIONAL DAMAGE headed my way. Rhysand and Feyre and Mor and Cassian and Azriel and Amren forever 😢 But Tamlin, just ugh... you can do better, bro. I loved this book so much and loved getting lost in this world with these characters. I felt all the feels, and this is an all-time favorite for me now.

“To the stars who listen— and the dreams that are answered.”

I think I read snippets of Anne of Green Gables and watched the movie when I was younger, but I don't believe I ever read the entire thing. I fell in love with Anne with an E on Netflix and finally decided to revisit the book in its entirety.

I did an immersive read via Libby with a digital copy and the audiobook narrated by Barbara Caruso, and wow! What superb narration! It made the experience even more enjoyable.

All the sweet and good feels in this one, I was left warm and cozy and happy and content at the end. Looking forward to starting Anne of Avonlea next! 

I really enjoyed this! I had tried to start it two or three times before and ended up DNFing, but I was determined because the bookstagram hype was real and the FOMO was major haha. Even though StoryGraph has it labeled as medium-paced, it felt slower just because I couldn't go too fast for fear of missing out on lovely imagery, important character development, and necessary world-building. It definitely wasn't for lack of quality, and I wasn't opposed to taking my time soaking it all up.

I've heard that the series really gets good after the first book, and I can see that because it wasn't quite a five-star read for me but I also feel like the storyline and development were necessary. And without mentioning any spoilers, I feel that what was lacking in certain aspects of the story was written that way for a reason.

But anyway! I'm so glad I finally finished it and am finally reading this series! I've already started A Court of Mist and Fury and am already LOVING it even more. 

I can see why so many people loved this one! Contemporary romance is often a hit or miss for me (I'll watch the movies all day long, but when it comes to books I tend to get a little bored in this genre). But I see why people love Emily Henry so much, and if I want to read some romance I can totally see myself picking up her other books at some point. 

I loved the story and characters and found it all to be refreshing and interesting. I think my only issue was that the writing didn't always feel engaging enough for me, I can't really put my finger on what it was. So, it took me a while to finish, but I enjoyed it overall!

I've put off writing a review for this one, because I wasn't sure how to adequately summarize what I loved about this book. 

First of all, it gave me hope. Hope for the Church and hope that there are people like Reese out in the world doing the good work of loving God and loving others well. It gave me hope that all is not lost and that the way of Jesus can be and is still relevant in our culture today.

Secondly, I thought this book was thought-provoking and a great conversation starter for those in ministry. I also personally related to some of the thoughts on Gen Z (as I'm a Gen Z, myself) and thought it put into perspective a little bit more why I am drawn to certain things and put off by others when it comes to church.

The research and information used within the book were synthesized well, and I didn't feel bogged down by information. I enjoyed the easy flow/pace of the book and found it to be engaging and very well-written. Nearly every page had underlinable, highlightable thoughts. 

One thing that stuck out to me was his approach to LGBTQ+ individuals in the church. While my theology in this area has been/is evolving, I thought his perspective and emphasis on creating a space where people feel loved and accepted was refreshing and hopeful. I think it is a huge step in the right direction for churches to leave behind messages of shame and rejection in order for true encounters with Christ to take place and loving communities of believers to be formed. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it, especially to anyone involved in ministry/church. 

This was a perfect case of the right book at just the right time. I was looking for a lighthearted read to escape into, and this provided exactly that and more!

An independently published debut from author S.C. Gray, this book was everything I needed and I couldn't put it down! I thought it was perfect. I was so excited every chance I got to settle back into the pages of this one! A 2022 favorite, for sure.

I do think that I connected with this book even more because I already followed the author's shop on Bookstagram (Porter Co. Book Shoppe - my favorite book sleeves!). That, and reading a signed copy, really added to the experience for me. And can I just say that I enjoyed the author's note at the beginning just as much as the book?? All the hearts and feels.

From the first page to the last, I was in love with every bit of it: the story, Salter's Ridge, the bookshop, Piper, Bishop and Campbell's romance, the very relatable bookish moments, the fun rules at the beginning of each chapter. It was the perfect escape, with plenty of fun laugh-out-loud moments, but I also thought it held meaningful thoughts about life, relationships, and the post-military experience for service members.

I usually don't reread books, but I may have to revisit this one again someday. I actually hugged the book after finishing the last page because I just loved the way it made me feel while reading it. It always left me feeling happy :) I also didn't realize it was set around the holidays and had a fun Christmas vibe at times, too.

S.C. Gray is easily a favorite writer for me now, and I'm looking forward to reading her next book, In for the Long Haul later this year :)

All the underlines and tabs for this one. You know those books that mark critical paradigm shifts in your life? The ones that expand your horizons in the best ways? This is one of those books for me. The past three or four years have held a lot of evolution, doubting, and rebuilding the way I see my faith. A big part of that was my evolving beliefs about the LGBTQ+ community and Christianity. This book was helpful for me in processing a lot of that.

I wish I'd read this book sooner, but I also think I read it at exactly the perfect time. I guess I was hesitant because while I felt that the church has caused a lot of hurt for the gay community, I also cannot escape the fact that my faith and the story of Christ continue to draw and compel me. The tension between caring for those I know in the gay community but not wanting to completely tear apart my faith was at times hard to reconcile.

Justin's own story as a gay Christian and his insights into Scripture and the message of Christ (and consequently God's heart) were packed with beautiful and important truth. So many times, these discussions end up creating even more polarization, but he manages to write an entire book full of compassion for everyone on either side of the discussion rather than angrily pointing fingers. I was left with a sense of hope and found that I don't need to scrap the Bible altogether or disregard bits and pieces of it in order to live out my faith with integrity. In fact, I think reading this book has renewed my desire to return to Scripture and the way of Jesus with a refreshed lens and view of the story of Christ.

Highly recommend for anyone. I loved this book and am so thankful my college pastor put this in my hands a few years ago.

This book wasn't really what I was expecting and was a bit too YA for me (I don't particularly enjoy YA as much these days, who knows I might have really liked this book when I was in high school). So in a way, I think the ending and book overall left me feeling a little disappointed? I get that it's a series so I wasn't expecting everything to be tied up by the end of this one, but the answers we did get and the twists in the book fell a bit flat for me as a reader.

After spending most of the book in the dark about what was going on, I felt that when the truth was revealed, the buildup/anticipation was very anticlimactic. I wished there would have been more clues/seeds planted throughout the book so that then I could have felt like "Whoa it was there all along and now we're piecing it together!" but instead the answers and twists were surprises simply because the author never mentioned anything previously for the reader. And a lot of information being withheld from Avery and the reader was simply due to the fact that the characters just wouldn't communicate what they knew, so by the end of the book when they do talk it's like, "Really? You could have said that like ages ago" and then it wasn't even as mysterious or shocking as we were led to believe.

And I just didn't find Avery interesting as a main character. She often repeated lines of text verbatim in her thoughts and explained things in her internal dialogue that were already obvious to the reader, which I found annoying. The brothers also weren't as interesting as I hoped, although I did like Xander and Jameson the most. Also maybe I'm not really into love triangles, but the fact that Avery was drooling over whichever Hawthorne brother happened to be in front of her at the moment was weird. The characters weren’t really fleshed out or developed, and the romance aspect seemed a bit shallow and unrealistic.

I personally wanted more of the focus to be on the mystery and the puzzles and the game rather than teenage drama. But I guess it is a YA book, after all. 

The ending left me slightly curious about a couple of things, but not enough to actually jump into the rest of the series right away. I will say that this book was fast-paced and easy to read, so it does have that going for it, and that's probably why I gave it two stars instead of one. The chapters are short and kept me propelling along; plus I really liked the cover and the feel of the book in my hands (trivial I know, but there it is).

I read this as a buddy read so that part was fun because there are plenty of moments to share reactions.  

Glad I could check this one off my list, but now I’m off to other things ✨