lattes_lipstick_literature's reviews
404 reviews

Oh crap Dresden, You just seem to get deeper and deeper into it, don’t you?
I absolutely enjoyed the second book, the different types of werewolves and Dresden's magic itself was much interesting than the first book. Considering that I choose the audiobook route (my first audiobook btw) it took me much longer to listen to it than it would be to read, besides this I still loved the audio book since James Marsters is the one that reads the book and his voice goes so well with who you think Dresden would be.

There were a couple of things that bothered me, one is that I wished Murphy and Bob were in this book a lot more, I love their characters and wish Butcher would have incorporated them more than he did. Another thing is the werewolf aspect, while I liked the different types of werewolves that are in this world, I still was bothered that they did not have the original type. There's a reason why it is a classic, and I missed that it was not in it.

While I really liked the book, I wished Dresden would think before he does something. Constantly throughout this entire book I was wincing at what this wizard was doing to himself and his body. Honestly it was really hard hearing this through audiobook as I can drift off throughout the book. I will continue reading this series through audiobook, but I do prefer books.

So this is the book that got me out of my slump. Weird right? First off your introduced to Damon a Magician in a really cool scene that sucked me into the book right away. Of course, our main character is Jason which didn't suck, because Jason is actually a good character, but I really liked Damon and I wished there was more of him in the book. I loved the incorporation of our real magic, you know card tricks and the whatnot because it almost makes it seem like this could be happening.

While yes, the story for me was a bit linear and I knew what would happen before it did, it was a good story. Jason was a bit too good a magic for him to just have been introduced to magic. I sort of read it as one huge montage and while Jason was probably studying magic for far longer than I thought, Abrahams made it feel like it was too fast. One character that bothered me was Allegra. I wanted to like her so bad, I mean a powerful badass magician that is a female. Instead, I grew annoyed with her in almost every scene she was in.

I'm grateful to this book for helping me past my slump and I kinda hope this is a series rather than a one-off only because I felt like the story of Jason Bishop and magic isn't over.

I listen to this audio book on a 13 hour drive from California to where I live now and I really enjoyed it. Voiced by Gaiman himself, this is the retelling (though Gaiman's words) of Norse mythology and the eventual coming of Ragnarok (no, I am not talking about the new Marvel movie). My husband and I liked the way he had paced his book, almost as if this was a history book, telling stories that have already happened. Gaiman's voice was soothing and calm while reading and I really liked it.

I will say that I am not an actual fan of Norse Mythology, My husband was driving and whoever drives picks what gets played. I find Odin, Thor and the gods brash and abrasive. They make bad decisions and I think ultimately with the choices they made Ragnarok is their fault. However despite my dislike of these 'gods', the book was very well written, it gave the characters life that I never bothered to notice. Gaiman's writing has a culture to it that makes reading (or in this case hearing) very easy and transitions each story in a smooth way.

I actually wished there was more, 9 hours of audio did not seem like enough.

Although I really liked the audiobook, I really wished I had read the book instead. That's just my preference though, not anything negative with the audiobook

I am surprised at how much I really like this book, considering how much I don't actually essay collections. Irby is incredibly funny and witty in her descriptions, I really love that she can find humor in everything even in the most depressing of situations. Despite these comedic writings she still does not discount the severity of these events in her life, still giving levity to each situation. Since I am close to Irby's age I knew all of her pop culture references and was incredibly happy when she talked about older songs I knew as well as technology, most books I've read lately have references to modern pop culture so it was refreshing.

Irby's observations were candid and honest venturing into topics such as sex, dieting, and flatulence. Honesty is so refreshing, with all the YA I've been sick of and science books reading was so much fun. Considering that Irby is a blogger I think I'll check out her blog 'Bitches Gotta Eat" and I hope it is just as funny and honest as this book was.

I really wanted to like this book, the concept was really interesting and something new for me. The beginning was good, introducing Liza and Tommy. However the more I read the more disconnected I felt towards the characters especially Liza, reading her POV I just scoffed each time a character in her arc was introduced. Tommy’s POV was interesting but still not strong enough for me to form an attachment. This was disappointing because the story itself was good. It was written wonderfully, I just really did not like the characters so whenever something story driven happened to them, it didn’t have the full impact it should of.

I am not saying that Liza or Tommy was not strong or have strengths that people would like, and honestly, I am not sure what I am looking for as protagonists in this story. I think that is another reason I couldn’t give them book my all, I was entirely unsure of what I wanted. Maybe if I reread the book it can give me a better understanding of what I wanted from The Lost City.

If you have read this let me know how you felt about the characters and if you had any favorites and why.

*rating is 3.5*

Can you imagine a society in which you can only use 500 words? It’s a scary though, words are freedom and to have that taken away would be crippling. This is the world in which Letta (play on letter I am guessing) has to live in. This book elicited some unwanted emotional responses, most was anger and disgust. I had to put the book down multiple times, read another book then come back to it. Considering this is suppose to be a children’s book (middle school grade) I was a bit shocked at some of what happens, there is multiple mentions of violence some of it a bit graphic, so if your child wants to read this you may want to double check if you are okay with this.

Forde’s writing was extremely easy to read and I really like the creative way she had the chapter titles, which was a list word and it’s definition. I think if I was in a society as this I would need to be a wordsmith, I cannot understand the whole stuttered speaking. I understand why Noa did this too, which sort of freaks me out honestly. I can say that I did not like the ending, although if this is a part of a series that leaving the end open like that is fine, however if this is a one-shot book than it stirs way more questions than it answers. I did like the characters you were obviously suppose to like and of course was disgusted by the ones you are not suppose to like. Maybe if I had read this as a child I wouldn’t have had such a emotional reaction to this book. I will say that the story and where it was going was extremely predictable, but considering what ages this book is aimed at I am completely fine with it.

Here’s one book down on my TBR list, I feel accomplished. Romantic Comedies seem to be what I have been in the mood for lately; they are easy reads, I don’t have to think too much when I read them and most of the time the endings are heartwarming. I wouldn’t consider this a romantic comedy, more like a women trying to find herself and what she really wants. While yes I rated it a two , I still liked the story. Marnie was a good character who just couldn’t see what everyone else already saw. This frustrated me to no end, she just stubbornly refused to believe that refused to believe that she loved this Sweet shop. All her excuses that everyone seemed to point out to her was just her lying to herself. I think she just wanted to feel connected to her mother who was constantly travelling away from Marnie all her life leaving her grandparents to raise her. Her mother was another character who annoyed me, she was just so fickle, and aside from being able to make sweets just couldn’t seemed to be able to do anything. Marnie’s grand mother, Celia on the other hand was great. I loved her and wished that I had a grandmother like her.

The romance angle was lacking. On one hand we have Josh who randomly comes along, like a savior and helps Marnie run the sweet shop. In the other hand we have Alex who is Marnie’s Ex-fiance who has moved to the states for a contracting job. While I did like Josh since there was a lot of him in the book, he was just so immature and obviously hiding something, which ‘Hello Marnie you should have been more suspicious!’ There just was not enough of Alex to warrant him being a contender besides Marnie’s love-sickness of being apart from him. There really should have been way more of him in the book to showcase why Marnie loved him as much as she did. Any information from Marnie seemed biased and too good to be true.

The positive side was that I really disliked Isobel and her stupid, insipid ways. This made me root for Marnie to pull through and put Isobel in her place. I just wish there was a bit more of a consequence for her crusade against Marnie. I feel as if she got off very light.

Clarke’s writing was really good despite those faults. It made me want to check out her other writings so see if maybe I could connect better to her other characters

I got this book in a book subscription that while I didn't like the contents of (so I ended up not posting a unboxing) I decided to read the book. Anything You Can Do is pretty much a stereo typical Romantic Comedy and that is absolutely not a bad thing. I went into this expecting some fun and that is exactly what I got and also what I needed. I've learned that sometimes I don’t always need the book to surprise me or have some plot twists that leaves me gasping in surprise.

The two romantic protagonists are Daisy, the main narrator of the book. She is of course the skinny, blonde, young doctor who is a big immature. We tend have her competitor and childhood rival Lucas who is of course the most hottest main in Hawthorne, who is also a doctor and has abs that can grate cheese. While I did enjoy the sexual tension and the hot scenes between Daisy and Lucas, Daisy's constant competiveness and overall oblivious of her feelings were annoying.

When Lucas finally confronted her on this I almost cheered out loud! The ending pretty much was what I thought it would be and I am actually pretty glad about that. Sometimes you need a happy ending, no unanswered questions, no waiting for the sequel. Just an ending.

don’t think I will ever get over these fun and carefree romances. In fact I find myself actively searching for them, sometimes I just need a light and easy read that has me feeling lighthearted. I don’t have to worry about emotional twists or a sad heartbreaking story. The Wrong Kind of Compatible absolutely met my expectations and even had Star Wars references! Oh squee my nerdy heart. Cassie was a great character and reminded me of myself and I love how Drew was just as awkward and adorable as I wanted him to be, no mysterious, brooding, emotionally challenged man here. (I am starting to really get tired of those guys…) I love how their sexual tension was immediate but Scott didn’t have it be an instant hook up.

I love how Scott gave Cassie a job that you would not normally see women in (data analyst) and how she made Cassie confident in her work (and Drew being confident in Cassie’s work as well) and that it wasn’t a contention in their relationship. In fact it was Drew’s investigation that was the problem. I do wish Scott explored that investigation a bit more and how the ending sort of wrapped up a bit too quickly for my taste.

Overall this was exactly what I needed to read when I was getting sick and a bit tired of the stress of life.

I needed a break from fantasy, Teen angst, and just everyday stress. I was hoping that by reading Domestic Goddess it would allow me to melt all of it away and it did for the first half of the book. I really enjoyed Bailey and her neurosis, she reminded me of myself. Bailey is controlling, determined and independent. We figure this out in the first scene of the book and I was sympathizing with her when Dudley (anyone still think Harry Potter when they hear this name?) dropped a bombshell at the most inappropriate moment and Baily came out looking like the bad guy.

So she needed a small getaway while her producer fixed everything. I really enjoyed her and Meg relationship and wished it was a showcased a bit more in the books. Bailey and Max's first encounter was a bit instant attraction for me, Bailey who is such a great character is turned into a horny mess who suddenly cannot vocalize. I understand that because the book is short that this instant attraction thing needs to be there but it doesn't mean I have to love it.

Max was great though and I loved that he stood up for himself whenever Bailey became a bit more controlling. They really balanced each other out. Bailey Mother and aunt, however, were a different story. It's not that I hated them, I just didn't really like them. I can really put my finger on why because their personalities should really be up my alley.

The story, in general, was quick and fun even if the ending was a bit rushed. There was never any doubt that Bailey and Max wouldn't end up together so any small fights that got in the way seemed slightly unnecessary.

Overall the book was fun, quick and just the thing I needed as an 'in-between' read. I do recommend it to anyone who likes quick, cozy romances.