life_full_ofbooks's reviews
2518 reviews

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 since we can’t give half stars.
I normally love Edward Rutherford’s novels. They are packed with history and the storylines are told in the most charming way. I especially love following the family lines through the different generations, and watching how families who were enemies in one generation become friends or lovers in a later generation.
China had none of that. It stayed in one generation but followed the storylines of several different people who ultimately interacted with each other at one point or another.
I found this entire book to be a snooze fest. There were some parts that piqued my interest and held my attention better but for the most part I couldn’t wait to be finished.

2.5 stars- rounded down since Goodreads doesn’t have 1/2 stars. I feel like Ms. Quinn wasn’t sure if she wanted this to be historical fiction, a mystery, or a romance so she threw a bit of everything into it. The book is told by two different point of views, one taking place in 1915 and the other taking place in 1947. I could have done without the 1947 storyline because the 1915 one was fascinating while the 1947 one felt forced, as though written just to help move the story.
Normally when I read historical fiction I do research on the side but I wasn’t sure how accurate this was so this time I waited until I finished it. The 1915 storyline is based on a true person but oddly enough that person is a secondary character. This book could have been great but there is just so much filler that ruins it.

4.5 rounded up to 5 stars.
The Mommy Wars is a very real thing. Moms pitting themselves against other Moms to prove they are the best Mom. I’ve always hated them, yet at the same time I’m fascinated by them. When I stumbled across this book I was excited thinking it was about to opposite Moms who swap families for a week, a la Wife Swap. I was only sort of right.
I felt so heard and understood while reading this book. I am a stay at home Mom (or as I like to put under occupation on forms a “Home Executive”) and when asked the dreaded question of “What do you do?” at my husband’s work events I always brace myself for the reply of, “Oh, that’s nice” followed by being ignored. It takes a special person to see past my job title.
The switch that takes place is eye opening for both the characters, but also for me, the reader. I fully believe women always see themselves through foggy goggles. We see our imperfections and nitpick ourselves for things only we see. How amazing would it be to see ourselves through the eyes of someone else? According to this book, it’s pretty amazing.

I want to start my review of this with a positive: the character development throughout this story is some of the best I’ve seen. All of the characters grew throughout the story and I greatly appreciated that.
I have read and heard a lot of reviews of this book and nearly the majority of them said this was the most depressing book they’ve ever read and they weren’t wrong. I know Ms. Hannah’s thing is making her readers cry, but this took it a little too far. It seemed that terrible things loomed around every corner and any time things looked like they might pick up again, our protagonist and her family were kicked back down.
The other part that really bothered me was the writing style. I absolutely hate when the word “said” is used for every piece of dialogue. There are so many better words that can be used to convey emotion: screamed, exclaimed, cried, whined, just to name a few. I listened to this book, so maybe I picked up on it more than had I just been reading it. It goes to show what a wonderful narrator Julia Whelan is because she was able to convey the emotion in dialogue that Kristin Hannah could not.

I found this to be one of the most creative books I’ve ever read. It’s science fiction, which is a genre I usually don’t read, but it’s a very fun book. The amount of imagination and creativity Douglas Adams had is simply astounding. This book left me wanting more and I’m looking forward to reading the others in the series.

This is a must listen! Even if you don’t like audiobooks this is one that needs to be heard. It’s an oral history of 9-11 told by the survivors. It’s a full cast, so each survivor has a voice, but included in the audiobook are actual recordings of the communications of the cockpit to air control, a flight attendant’s 911 call from the plane, President Bush’s speech from the Oval Office, and President Obama’s speech after Bin Laden was killed. After the acknowledgments there is an interview with Mr. Graff and the narrator who read the historical parts of the book.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her ability to draw in the reader and make the characters feel like people you want to know is amazing. Malibu Rising tells the story of the Riva family (if you read Evelyn Hugo you’ll remember Mick Riva, if you haven’t you can read it after you read this) and how the bond and relationship of siblings trumps all other relationships.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I wanted to read this since I enjoy the musical but because it is so long and I only have about an hour a day to read, I chose to listen to it. It was 58 hours and took me 3 weeks to listen to.
As far as the story goes, while I loved the parts about Val Jean, Cosette, Marius, etc, I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps Victor Hugo was paid per word because what takes 10 words to say, Mr. Hugo used 100. I could have done without all of the history. I felt like it dragged the book out and while I understand how Mr. Hugo wanted to paint a picture for us, it was just too much for me.
Perhaps I would have felt differently had I read this instead of listened. I didn’t want to take it out of the library for fear of not finishing in time and I didn’t want to use an Audible credit, so I listened to the version that is included with my Audible membership. It was a terrible recording filled with rustling pages, lots of swallowing, a stifled yawn, what sounded like a plane passing by, and a cat meowing (that actually made me laugh).
That being said, I do not regret one minute of the 58 hours and 3 weeks that I took to listen to this because the book delves deeper into the story than the musical does. It was interesting to me to see what kind of relationship Marius and Éponine had and how Gavroche was related to others (I always thought he was a random kid). The book is also a very interesting take on good vs bad and who actually determines what makes someone good or bad.

4.5 rounded up to 5.
I went into this expecting a story like The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (which if you haven’t read, you simply must!). This is nothing like that and instead is almost like a Dungeons and Dragons quest (I think. I only played it once). This book mixes fantastical fiction with realistic fiction and though it took me a hot minute to figure that out, once I did, I absolutely loved it. The story is gripping, the characters are likable and lovely, and the descriptions are fantastic. This is the perfect book for anyone who loves books, not just reading and I’m looking forward to seeing what more this author has to offer.

I actually loved this more than the first one (and I loved that one!). The writing is very clunky and it doesn’t flow the way other books do and because of that I kept putting it down every so often, but it is laugh out loud funny. I haven’t laughed this much with a book in a while and it was a nice change. I really love the creativity that went into this and while it doesn’t flow, it definitely works for the story Mr. Adams is trying to tell.