feliciaclark's reviews
720 reviews

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Right from intro, this book had me laughing and melting.

“We’re going to have much fun, Sissy, and you’re going to fall in love with a lumberjack!”
“If there’s one thing that makes me horny, it’s deforestation.” 😂

“My mouth feels like it’s melting. Like I’m wax and he’s the burning wick down my center.” 🥵

Nora Stephens is a literary agent in NYC who agrees to go on a vacation to the small town of Sunshine Falls in North Carolina with her pregnant sister Libby. While there, Nora keeps running into the brooding Charlie Lastra, a book editor who she meet back in the city for one of her clients. The two must process their personal stories and compare notes to get on the same page or live the same life. 
The Weight of a Curse by K.L. Mielke, K.L. Mielke

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

This fantasy romance story is a retelling of Rapunzel and Beauty and the Beast, so—naturally—I was very excited to read it. I would like to argue it also has some serious Shrek vibes as well.

A closeted sorceress Elisora (Ellie) runs away from her evil mother, Moora. She swears off using magic to keep her mother from finding and mocking her back in the castle. 

When Ellie encounters Grant, a man on revenge journey, they realize it would be easier to travel as a group if they want to safely accomplish their missions.

Once I started reading this, I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed living in this fairy tale world of New Barrow while it lasted. It felt me longing for more!
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

“A convenience store is a world of sound.”

What is normal? How does one truly become accepted by their society? Their culture? 

Keiko Furukura is a 36-year-old, neurodivergent, Japanese woman working at a convenience store that has become a part of her identity. As a child, she was labeled the “odd one” and she learned to adapt to the culture around her to fit in and make those around her comfortable. 

Now she’s starting at the age where society is now giving her new labels: “old womb” and “a burden on society.” It isn’t until she agrees to let an immature man move in with her that people in her community start seeing her as the “late bloomer” finally following societal norms. But nothing is ever what it seems behind closed doors.

Will Keiko conform to what society expects of her and give up her dreams or will she choose what’s in her heart and live with the consequences?

This was a wonderful short (3 hour audiobook) story chocked full of laughs and heartfelt moments with undertones of feminism, which I loved. It is a reminder of how toxic society can be and how most have conformed to thinking there’s only one right way of living that’s acceptable.
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

“Practical Magic” meets “Gilmore Girls” in this witchy, young adult novel. 

Some people use shields for protection, including trying to save everyone else and setting our well-being aside. Insert Sadie Revelare here. Despite her best efforts, Sadie cannot hide behind her stony walls forever. Once they are down, it’s time to face her own demons. When their beloved grandmother, Gigi announces she is dying from cancer, Sadie and her twin brother, Seth, uncover generational secrets to find a way to end the family curse. But breaking curses never comes easy; it always comes with a sacrifice. What would you sacrifice to save your loved ones?

“Helping people is not the same as loving them, Sadie.”
One Day in December by Josie Silver

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Love at first sight that goes wrong from the start, but what’s meant to be will eventually be—no matter how long it takes. What a beautiful story about friendship, heartbreak, loss and missed opportunities.
Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This might be one of the most heartbreaking novels I’ve ever read. 💔❤️‍🩹

This story spans 46 years between multiple generations of female characters, each grappling with the difficult decisions about motherhood and being labeled a “fallen” woman. It is a story about how important choice and bodily autonomy can be. Published in 2023, this storyline is just as important as ever.
The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 3.75

“That’s what people in love do: they protect the hearts of those they love. Even if that love will never be returned.”

This was a sweet, friends-to-lovers romance novel. Kate Turner is a 34-year-old, single, British woman bitter about love. Her best friend signs her up for a holiday dating adventure that consists of 12 dates with 12 men in 23 days before Christmas. After every disastrous date, she discovers love has been under her nose all along.
Happy Place by Emily Henry

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There is no one who understands love and captures it as precisely Emily Henry. Every sentence counts in her writing and every action is important to the storyline. She is so good at capturing the essence of humanity from our logic to our ego to our emotions.

Harriet and Wyn have been broken up for 6 months and pretend they’re still together for their friends’ sake at an annual get together at a cottage in Maine. The truth behind their breakup slowly reveals itself in back-to-back gut punches.
Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper

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adventurous slow-paced

3.0

Book 1 of The Witches of Thistle Grove follows the story of Emmy Harlow, who has returned to her witchy, magical hometown to carry out a family duty. She reconnects with her best friend Linden Thorn and the wickedly gorgeous and charming Talia Avramov. 

Will Emmy agree to help her friends get revenge on Gareth Blackmoore, an ex they all have in common? Will she ever return back to Chicago to try and forget about her magical roots? Will Talia fall for her just as hard as Emmy?
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“What a terrible feeling to love someone and not be able to help them.”

“It’s not what you take, it’s what you leave.”

“You are all the colors in one in full brightness.”

***𝑻𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑮𝑬𝑹 𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮: 𝑺𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏***

Violet Markey and Theodore Finch find themselves in the bell tower at school. Who stopped who from jumping? Regardless, they keep each others’ secret and form a trauma bond that turns into romance. But while Violet lives for the future, Finch lives moment by moment, and his time is almost up.

This heartbreaking, gut wrenching book was very well written but there were many moments I wanted to throw my phone and scream. Definitely ugly cried in the woods after I finished this one. Luckily the last hour of the book provides closure to bring you back to earth. 

The author’s note at the end reveals that she lost her boyfriend in high school to suicide as well as others in her life, making this story very special and therapeutic to her.
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