cordelia_gretson's reviews
278 reviews

The 19th Christmas by Maxine Paetro, James Patterson

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

3.0

Remember days of the women collaborating? When a character wasn’t mentioned out of obligation and conveniently ditched for 97% of the book? When they used four bad asses collaborated to solve a case?
When it was actually the premise- WMC
The Snowball Effect by Haley Cass

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Hot and spicy with actual developed characters with depth. On the edge of my seat waiting for them to be caught, while simultaneously wondering where they’d risk next. 

This book is a win for the WLW world. 
Fly with Me by Andie Burke

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emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Would have been a four star for typical fake dating formulaic writing, but the relatability of the characters (who seem more fully formed than a lot of stories), their realistic conversations in their own mind, each other, and friends bumped it the extra half star. 
Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Actually rating it higher because I didn’t have to gag through heterosmut. The exploration of emotional baggage, PTSD, abandonment, abuse, familial deaths, untreated mental illness, fear of commitment, broken families, foster and found family is done so well - and a lot better than most fiction I’ve read. I might know what hobbies they like or what they do in their free time per se, but I felt more connected to the MCs in a way more authors fail to achieve. 
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Little Black Dress by James Patterson

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Almost an attempt at a woman taking control of her sexuality and feeling empowered, but without a plot and FMC slutshaming herself. 

Binge through it or skip it. Nothing memorable and probably won’t remember reading it a year from now. 
The Medical Examiner by James Patterson

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Book shots are like being dropped off at an amusement park and told you can ride one rollercoaster and you’re done- quick, adrenaline pumping, but ultimately too short to completely satisfy the thrill factor. 

Really enjoyed following someone other than Lindsay, especially with the series continuing to decrease emphasis on the integration of all four women- you know the entire concept of WMC. 

Cindy- I could strangle you (as per usual). I will never forgive Jim for killing Jill and not Cindy and then serving Yuki the short stick with every installment. 
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

The first 5⭐️ of 2025!

A rich and deeply emotional story bringing the resilience of human kind through one of the darkest periods of documented history. 

Isabelle’s journey from reckless and obstinate girl, to fearlessly defiant woman gives an important POV of women’s resistance and determination.

Vianne’s journey of dutiful and obedient wife, mother, and woman in society, following the straight and narrow more or less, to tenacious and preserving matriarch and savior of the forcibly abandoned. 

Both sister’s give an emotionally devastating glimpse of the battles endured off the traditional battlefield. The discover their own strength while maintaining who they are at the core despite how the war challenged and changed them. The typical fights and differences between sisters and strained relationship with their father make them feel even more realistic and tangible, which helps the narrative when so much happens that seems impossible, but realistically did. 

Love the unknown, present day narrator and went from one to the other and back again (ultimately landing on the correct person, but a gut punch served with its reveal).

If I hadn’t read several other WWII Occupation and Holocaust stories before, it probably would have made me cry- and almost did at the very end. I did feel the tension, anxiety, and fear throughout the book and therefore sat on the edge of my seat and devoured it.
The 18th Abduction by Maxine Paetro, James Patterson

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

As a book, it gets 3 ⭐️ I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.

As an installment in the WMC series? Are we sure they are even considering themselves that anymore? The lack of integration of the four women really steals the excitement and love of this series to the point of asking - Jim, when is enough, enough? Do you need 27 to edge out Sue Grafton’s 26 book collection? It’s like Grey’s Anatomy, being strung around because you were there from the start and want to see it to the end, but you’ve stopped caring about the characters, everything seems generic, and you question if you or the author is in life support. 

The 5 year flashback for most of the book is a bizarre choice and about 8 books out of sequence. Not as bizarre as the flash back in the flash back for a few chapters that had zero purpose or development. The ending was a lackluster - womp womp. Lack of justice and a how tf would that have even happened in the ICC. 
The Coworker by Freida McFadden

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

3.0

If you ever want to read a book where you hate every character and scream JFC at your book every third page as a form of stress relief from your daily life - boy do I have a recommendation for you. Not a single likable character.

This book does follow a favorite plot tool of Frieda’s
twisting a person’s name into something just obscure enough it doesn’t send up too many red flags. But looking at my annotations I nailed that twist concretely at page 35.


I liked turtles, and now I’m going to side eye every single one until this book falls from my memory. 

While I appreciate the inclusion of a spectrum character, I hate that she was so unlovable and unredeemable. An unfair slam, imo.