juliajjshields's reviews
396 reviews

my 100th book this year and I am speechless and in awe and obsessed and warm and AH wow I loved this book. I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve heard wonderful things the last years about Addie LaRue & it all lived up to the hype. The details & writing were incredible. Almost historical fantasy? Going back and forth in time and pov…scratched an itch I didn’t even know I had. Loved loved loved her and Henry and his patience and their time together. The ending was so clever!! Leaving me feeling smug for Addie and imagining hell on earth for Luc. I want to fall into Schwab’s entire bibliography !!! I cannot wait to discuss this with bestie book club🥹 NO NOTES

such a powerful & profound story. the epilogue to finish the book written by his wife made my heart swell. this was so special & wild to read the story of and written by a neurosurgeon who ultimately died due to the very illnesses he studied and worked with…it’s beyond. I appreciated the ways Kalanithi described his duty and the role of a doctor in a patient relationship. The ways he described his own learning of needing to slow down when the nature of the role is so go go go. I hope other practitioners can take notes in regard to patient care. Im so glad Kalanithi was able to share his story truly just so wild and special 

loved the characters loved the lil pop star plot (thank you ford) loved the banter screamed at the scenes…not even religious & i feel I need to repent or touch grass & immerse myself in cleansing nature lol. in short it did its job. that is all

3.5✨ this was so wholesome & cutie!! especially in comparison to the scandelousness of the books in the series that came before her. Henry is just such a wonderful fmc I love him & the maturity is a1 & not something we often see in male characters of the romance genre. Their relationship felt genuine & we got to see it grow which I also feel is rare! I’m such a fan that there wasn’t instant love & that they were together without their being a title and they were able to have open conversations about it and each other’s boundaries like hello??? And they’re 20/21? Applause. 

I enjoyed it for sure but there wasn’t anything that blew me out of the water hence the mid energy of a 3.5. 

There was something about Halle that I struggled with. I enjoyed seeing her grow & make decisions for herself, figure out who she is but at times it just felt too “I haven’t had any experiences! I have no time!” And it annoyed me ? ah idk! lol regardless I was glad that the major “conflict” at the end was between her & her family & she finally stood up to their dumbasses & kicked her disgusting ex out of her life. It was again just so refreshing that the actual point of tension between the lovers was them taking space to focus on their own selves + communicating the whole time like….unheard of fr! Pop off Hannah Grace. 

My prediction is a Cami plot next with whatever that guys name is who kept flirting with her…we shall see but regardless I will continue eating our girl Hannah’s lil hockey books up!!

3.5✨solid portrayal of the layers of friendship & unpacking what have become societal norms around what friendship vs romance is. I appreciated the world history and context embedded throughout the book & wish there was more of that approach rather than the focus on individual people’s stories. Though I did enjoy hearing about these people & their lives, I definitely found myself spacing out at times (I audiobooked) whereas when Cohen was breaking down the events that led to why things are this way now or looked at friendships in other cultures & time periods, I was much more engrossed. I did appreciate that she spent time de stigmatizing friend breakups! This is something I’ve always talked about openly as someone who has gone through my fair share of them & used to be effected, but now has come to just accept the ways we all change. Definitely will continue to think about this one as friendships change & evolve in life! 

finished this with tears streaming down my face & am now lying here unmoving & unsure what to do next. was this the most perfect amazing read in every way? Idk but it was beautiful & heavy & made me feel oh so much. floored 

3.75✨ this surprised me! The last Katherine center book I read I wasn’t a fan of. I felt it was silly and while this one had some elements of silly (as many rom coms do) it continued to take turns that felt new and refreshing and I enjoyed it so much. At the end, I audibly said aw🥹 while there is quite a bit of trauma just slapped in there lol and I sometimes found how our fmc Emma would narrate things to us to be a bit cringey, I overall felt the feelings alongside Emma throughout this. A fun one I’d recommend for those of us who love a romance but want something a lil bit different 

an unconventional & beautiful portrayal of family & love! it was a bit slow for me to get into, but I grew to find V & G both endearing. I just enjoy a quirky character & as we got to learn about their family, it all made sense lol. I personally felt things dragged on for the first half until Val went to see Xabi. I liked the stories and context, but I didn’t feel I needed as much of it. Regardless, it was cute and left me with questions around their mum & Gep. While I could see some aspects of this book being surprising to some, I found things to be predictable. Regardless, it was so solid , different & fun! 

Spotify gets me once again with being 30min away from finishing a book when my audiobook listening time runs out lmao. So weeks later I have now finally finished this one! It’s narrated by Harris which really added to the experience since she’s a wonderful storyteller.

Being a Bay Area kid & remembering Harris throughout the years, it was interesting to hear the background of many moments I can recall. She didn’t include the shortcomings around her prosecutor days which was disappointing but expected. I enjoyed hearing about her upbringing & her mother who I know has been a huge inspiration & influence for her. 

I wished there was more storytelling about Harris’ early life than listing of big milestone accomplishments. While of course important, it clearly felt to me like a book by a politician? Bahah like calculatedly vulnerable enough to seem like a person but not too much, and the heavy focus of career wins & preaching on the importance of human rights/basic equity…it was well done but clearly was published in 2019 for the moment in the future for her next campaign. A lot of things around hot topics & moments in recent history from her perspective, but nothing revolutionary that we haven’t heard. 

2.5🌟 I am utterly unimpressed. I have really liked Foley in the past & this really just didn’t hit. I found it to be so scattered and thrown together in the end. Nothing really thrilled me and I wasn’t surprised by the plot twists. Maybe the brother? I didn’t necessarily see them coming but I wasn’t shook… it was just so messy. I felt the premise was solid and I was intrigued about the potential + loved the ending “old birds” very satisfying & made me smile. 

But overall it just felt like too many things were trying to come together idk if anything I was left with more questions like what made her this way? why did he lead them all there ? Like he says he had a feeling something would happen…gorl WHAT?? You went through this elaborate scheme on a hunch?? And then this pulling everyone together idea to be explained in 1 page was just not it. Disappointed!!