life_full_ofbooks's reviews
2518 reviews

My daughter and I have an informal Mother Daughter Book Club and Six of Crows was her pick. I went in to this knowing nothing and was a little wary about it. The first chapter sucked me in, but the second chapter spit me out. I kept finding things to do except read and then I decided I’d do better to just read then procrastinate. By the 4th chapter I was sucked in again and hated having to put this down to do my duties as wife and Mom. I read every chance I got, which really wasn’t that many, and I couldn’t wait to see how this phenomenal story ended- until I turned to the next chapter after the last chapter ended and saw the word “Acknowledgements”. I gasped, I cried when I saw the waitlist for holds was long, and then I decided just to buy it so I can jump right in. Another perk of the Kindle- instant gratification!

I was so sucked in to this story during the first book that I immediately jumped into the sequel to see how the story concluded, which is something I rarely do. I ended up buying it because I didn’t want to wait for it at the library. Crooked Kingdom is a great ending to Six of Crows, but it isn’t quite as good. While it had the same amount of adventure, shocking moments, and a more in-depth look at a beautiful love story, it felt forced in some spots. The ending sums up the adventures beautifully but it’s hard not to feel like the author was grasping for straws at some points while writing it. That being said, I am very much looking forward to reading the other books in the Grishaverse. If someone had told me the synopsis of these books and then told me I’d end up loving them I would have scoffed and said, “Yeah, right!” I guess I’m proof as to why one shouldn’t pigeonhole themselves out of a genre.

If I could only pick one book as the most important book a person could read in their lifetime it would have to be Night. This is Eli Wiesel’s memoir of his time during the Holocaust and his vivid memories bring the horrors to life in a way that historical fiction cannot. He lived this and he survived and made it his mission to make sure the world never forgets.
As a Jewish person I feel such a connection to the Holocaust, even though I don’t know of any family members who suffered during that time. As survivors are dying books like Mr. Wiesel’s are so important because history that is not remembered might be repeated. I fully understand this “review” is more of a soapbox lecture but what’s to review? This is a memoir and that’s how it’s written. It reads like a gentleman telling his life story to you while you listen in rapture. If you haven’t read this yet, please do. If you have read it, make sure you tell others to read it too. It’s a hard read that will make you cry, scream, and feel, but it’s the most important read you’ll ever find.

This was one of the hardest books I’ve ever read. Dystopian isn’t really my genre, and I didn’t realize this was Dystopian until I started reading it. Mothers are judged so harshly in our society and this novel takes that and stretches it out in such a way that had me gasping and crying at times. My heart hurts for Frida and the rest of the mothers who were sent to The School For Good Mothers and were held to impossibly high standards. I was all set to give this 5 stars because I could not put it down and it had me feeling all the feels, but I ended up hating the ending. I feel the author could have done a little more to end it a bit more tidily.

Elin Hilderbrand’s books are the best beach reads around. I read them whenever I need a getaway, even even I can’t physically get away.
The Island is different from her other books since it takes place on Tuckernuck Island, which is a tiny, primitive island off the coast of Nantucket. True to Ms. Hilderbrand’s form the relationships between the characters are deep and meaningful and the character development is fantastic. I loved all of the main characters, I loved the portrayal of the relationship of adult sisters, and adult daughters and their mother.

This is the second time I’ve read this book, the first being over 5 years ago. It was one of my favorite books of 2017, and one oh my Top Ten favorites. I’ve thought of it often throughout the years and often recommend it. Rereading it was like coming home.
The story Gabrielle Zevin weaves is one of the most heartwarming stories you will ever read. A.J. starts off as pretty grumpy and unfriendly, and watching him morph into someone happier is part of the joy of this book.
There is an entire cast of characters, all of whom will make you laugh, bring a tear to your eye, and a hug to your heart. I love everything about this book, but if I had to pick one thing that really stands out as very special, well, I can’t pick just one. The two things that really stood out to me and made me fall in love with this just a little more are the short story synopses at the beginning of every chapter and all of the books mentioned throughout the entire book.
This is definitely one for the ages and if you haven’t read it yet, you simply must as soon as you can.

I feel like such an outlier because I am not a fan of Colleen Hoover, but at the same time I’m always compelled to read her because I think I’ll feel differently with each one- I never seem to. I think it’s because I’m not a fan of maudlin romances and these seem to fit into that category every time.
I found the main plot to be too heart wrenching. The protagonist, Kenna, is hoping to reunite with her young daughter after spending her daughter’s entire life in prison. She is sneaky in the way she goes about doing it since the people raising her daughter want nothing to do with Kenna. There’s romance, steamy sex scenes, and tears- lots and lots of tears. It got to the point where I was just done feeling Kenna’s pain. While I know I’m not a fan, I also know I’ll likely continue to read Ms. Hoover’s books because the one I read and really liked (It Ends With Us) is what I always have in mind when choosing a Colleen Hoover as my next read.

3.75-
I loved Yellow Crocus so I was tickled to see it was the first of a trio. Mustard Seeds begins about 10 years after Yellow Crocus ends and brings Mattie and Lisbeth together again as they both set out for Richmond to deal with family issues.
I found this to be a fascinating read in the sense that I’ve only read a handful of books that take place immediately after the Civil War. Seeing how the black people were still treated was infuriating. I loved that things that I learned about in The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate were mentioned here and I loved the message of people with whom you share blood aren’t necessarily your family.
This is truly a great follow up for Yellow Crocus and provides an impressive history lesson at the same time.

I was so enamored by In an Instant that I couldn’t wait to jump into another book by Ms. Redfearn. Unfortunately Hush Little Baby wasn’t anywhere near as good.
Jillian Kane is married to seemingly the perfect husband and father, Gordon, and together they have 2 children, Drew and Addie. Gordon presents as a wonderful guy, but behind closed doors is a different story. After 9 years, Jillian realizes the time has come to do something, but it’s not so easy to get away.
I hated Jillian as a character. I had a lot of empathy for her, but seeing her berate herself as a mother repeatedly got old after a while.
While this is a very character driven book, I really didn’t believe some of the motivations of the supporting characters. It made it difficult to connect with said characters.
Ms. Redfearn is phenomenal at creating multidimensional characters and I really wish I had enjoyed this more. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of her work, though, since her characters are so real.

Maggie O’Farrell has done it again! She has quite the knack of taking someone’s story from centuries past and bringing it to light today.
The Marriage Portrait is about Lucrezia de’ Medici, Duchess of Ferrara . While there isn’t a lot known about her very short marriage to Alfonso Il d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio rumors spread after she died that she was poisoned. Whether she was or she wasn’t remains a mystery.
Ms. O’Farrell has crafted a fictionalized retelling of the life and events leading up to her death of the young Duchess by using alternating timelines to depict the past when Lucrezia was young and “the present” when Lucrezia is dying. The way it is weaved together is brilliant. The characters in this are gripping, from Lucrezia’s nurse, to her Lady in Waiting, and the assistants of the artist commissioned to paint her marriage portrait. I found it amazing how much love or hate I felt for certain people and it made me wonder if people such as her parents and siblings truly treated her the way it’s depicted in this novel.
The fact that there is hardly any information on Lucrezia is a huge bonus since it gave Ms. O’Farrell the perfect blank canvas to create a beautiful retelling of her life.
I’d like to think that she was as intelligent, artistic, and creative as Ms. O’Farrell imagined her to be. Between this and Hamnet I’m anxiously awaiting to see what Maggie O’Farrell has in store for us next!