eleana's reviews
515 reviews

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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

3.75

I found this a bit slow and at times monotonous and sad, but overall really enjoyed it. The timeline switches were a little hard to follow sometimes. I had a better time with it after Henry showed up. 
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

5.0

This is her best one! I love these stupid grieving brothers  and their relationship and all their girlfriends so much. Such sweet fleshed out characters. And polyamory in a Sally Rooney book?! Unexpected and very very welcome
She's Always Hungry by Eliza Clark

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adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

I really enjoyed this and found I wanted more of these stories. A lot of them ended quite abruptly and without a satisfying ending. They were all gripping and unique stories though just wish they'd been given some more detail and exposition. Some very funny stories though. Little Chitaly is my favourite of the bunch still. 
Six Years by Harlan Coben

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Booo! Main protagonist sucks. Hated being inside his head. He's mean and condescending and I hate how he describes women. Everyone that isn't precious Natalie is haglike, grimacing, wooden. Shut up! Even Natalie's bloody family! The whole premise is so cheese and dude too. Grow up. The marvel movie of thrillers. 
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

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

4.0

This was almost a 5 star read, but then the ending left me feeling kind of icky so... Star retracted, Lisa! I have a lot to ramble about in the spoiler section, but I will say here that this was a gripping read! Could not put down. Made my days at work fly by so much quicker. I loved the pace and the way the povs changed and we were drip fed information. I loved Laurel's character development. My type of fantasy is a parent that repents for their mistakes lol. Highly recommend.

Now starting with my main gripe. WHY DID YOU KILL FLOYD OFF?! What was so wrong with Floyd? We're told so much about how fake a man he is and how he's got bad energy and all of that, and god the big claim Blue makes that his love for Poppy is fake... And all of that turns out to be not malicious whatsoever. His big secret is that he killed the crazy woman and parented his non bio daughter really lovingly to reunite her with her family?! Why does that deserve a big confession then him killing himself?! How is that justice for Poppy?! Really felt like Lisa Jewel just didn't want us to have too happy an ending so forced a death and I don't like that. We could have had it all. I see no good reason for Floyd's character arc. He really seems to me like a a traumatised man that got very little exposition.

Also we got such strange controlling vibes from Poppy and Floyd's relationship and I felt we got no real resolution there. That was bothersome. Just felt like an abandoned plot point. 

Anyway, that's my main issue... My other nitpick is that I haaated being inside Laurel's head. It gets addressed at the end as she grows and becomes a nice parent, but the way she spoke of her daughter Hannah throughout was really hurtful. Made it hard to read at points. Glad we get a sincere apology and growth out of it, but the path there was rough.

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-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

4.0

This sort of had the same satirical energy as The Boys on Prime (can't speak on the comic). I really enjoyed the characters. Some of them felt really flat at the beginning, but by the end it all comes together really nicely. Love love the happy queer endings too. Very meta
I Found You by Lisa Jewell

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

3.75

I had a bit of a weird time with this book. I struggled to get into it at first, there's a lot of characters. It all comes together really nicely towards the end and I thought it was quite a complex, nuisanced and original mystery that the characters got to solve in this book. Unfortunately I think the nuisance and the emotions of the protagonists were written a bit too well, because I really struggled to keep going with the story. I just found it too dark, too brutal, too sad. Had to take many breaks to finish it. It just wasn't nearly as light as the rest in the same genre. Lisa Jewel suffers from her own success. 
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

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

3.75

Just the book I needed right now. Very fun, light read. Loved the twist on backwards groundhog day and I like how it was all resolved at the end. Did kind of guess the reveal 70% through but didn't detract from the fun
Half-Arse Human: How to live better without burning out by Leena Norms

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funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

So so good! So wise, so comforting. Would expect nothing less from Leena to be fair. The audiobook was like the longest youtube video I didn't know I needed
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

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

4.0

So much weirder than I thought it would be in a wonderful way. We should start using humbug again