luluwoohoo's reviews
472 reviews

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
☀️☀️☀️⛅

This romantic comedy was significantly more comedy than romance, sometimes to its detriment, but it was an enjoyable ride all the same.

Alexis Hall knows how to write funny characters, quick-witted banter and the organised chaos of large groups, so having all of those elements within this novel was a great starting point. The amnesia plot was unsurprisingly ridiculous but it slotted right in alongside the wacky supporting characters and whatnot. 

Though I found the support characters to be entertaining and decently fleshed out, there were simply too many of them and it is probably the main reason this novel is as long as it is - verging on too long for a romantic comedy. The antics of Jonathan's family could have been condensed to allow more time for the romance subplot, which did suffer in comparison.

I think Hall handled the enemies-to-friends aspect well enough, but I found the transition into being romantically interested a bit haphazard - balancing that alongside the difficult to navigate topic of their power imbalance being boss and employee wasn't given enough consideration and then was subsequently steamrolled by the late emergence of Sam's character arc and backstory. I didn't mind the late introduction to his family history but it did feel uncomfortable dealing with that and the stereotypical third act break up/make up in one scene feel cramped and rushed. 

I think this book did manage to find a good balance of humour and the doses of reality between, but the odd pacing and lack of believable chemistry hindered the overall effect for me. 

A Study In Drowning by Ava Reid
☀️☀️🌤️

Part fairy tale, part psychological mystery, this novel gets lost in the woods it so beautifully created.

This is difficult to write, because I admire Reid's work here and can really see the time and care she's taken to craft such beautiful writing throughout. The prose is rich and atmospheric and appropriate for the gothic style. 

But that's where it starts to fall apart - this book doesn't quite fit within its genre. It purports to be mature and mysterious and whimsical, but the plot itself is pedestrian and predictable with no plot twists or interesting interpretations to justify its existence. The magical, fairy-tale aspects are nice, and that part of the world building does maintain some interest, but ultimately the rest of this universe is constantly at odds with itself - does it want to be reality, or fantasy? Straddling both was obviously the point at first, but even by the end it doesn't feel like it chooses a victorious side. 

Both main characters are bland and unexceptional. Effy is intolerably emotional, crying at nothing all the time (which could have been good character work if her traumatic backstory was given enough work beyond face value examination). Preston's single defining quality is that he's....not a creep? Apparently the bar is that low. They had zero chemistry and the romance made no sense. 

The location and the house itself were lovingly described, and as I said before, Reid doesn't lack talent when it comes to prose. It's just unfortunate that it came at the expense of the important bits that actually connect readers to the book. If I'm not rooting for them, if I don't care about the outcome, gorgeous metaphors don't matter. 

For a book of 'vibes' it's not awful, but it had great potential to be something much more exciting than it ultimately is.

Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang 
☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

An unashamedly bold, uncomfortable, and laugh out loud satire exposing the publishing industry for its dark underworld.

Told through the lens of a self-important white woman who resorts to plagiarism to fulfil her dreams of literary stardom, June is truly a wonderful character to read. She is undeniably awful and her level of delusion is utterly cringeworthy, but these characteristics make her a car crash we want to see explode into flames. There are just enough hints of legitimacy to her emotional frustrations and her mental health struggles to keep you on your toes until the end, but like everyone else in Yellowface, you don't root for June's success, but rather revel in the downfall. 

Having read Babel last month I was already familiar with Kuang's style, and this is no less ballsy and confronting. She pulls no punches when it comes to spotlighting racism, xenophobia, trauma porn, tokenism and the viciousness of social media clapback. Is it self-inserty to the max? Sure. I don't think I really care because I had a lot of fun. The bold simplicity of the storytelling and the multiple pop culture references won't work for everyone, but they felt appropriate within the confines of this story. 

The background of publishing is obviously incredibly meta, but I appreciated the industry as a backdrop for the scandal. Through the examination of art as a commodity under the capitalist system, Kuang does build sympathy for June and others who are statistically unlikely to succeed in the business at all, and portrays characters like Athena as lucky more so than just talented. Much of June's success relies on white publishers, and the subsequent backlash comes from primarily Chinese sources, but Kuang paints a nuanced picture of how subtle racism can be without also acknowledging the complexity of ownership and voice.

This is a razor sharp and witty tale that keeps you equally uncomfortable and enthralled the whole way through. It felt a bit too real at times, in the best way. A truly wonderful achievement that I'd happily read again and again.


"I worked my ass off doing blog interviews and podcasts, hoping that the more sweat I put into publicity, the more my publisher would reward my efforts. But now, I see, the author effects have nothing to do with a book's success. Bestsellers are chosen. Nothing you do matters. You just get to enjoy the perks along the way."

Those Who Wait by Haley Cass
☀️☀️☀️🌥️

An opposites-attract romance that had great potential, but failed to live up to the hype.

Firstly, I found this book to be far too long for the plot. I liked the elements at play - political backdrop, the romantic setup and the friendship foundation - but there was too much filler happening in and around those. 

The relationship between Sutton and Charlotte has pros and cons for me. I like their dynamic for the most part, and there was some character growth from both throughout, but the sex scenes were too repetitive and the constant miscommunication/misinterpretation during conversations grew tiring. And the thorn in their sides for the length of this novel didn't feel important enough to warrant the sneaking around and the third act break up - as a progressive politician surrounded by queer and supportive people, hiding that part of Charlotte's life as if would completely destroy her career should have at least had some consequences beyond her deciding to come out publically and everything magically being okay in the end. For a story with a political subplot as significant as this, that needed to be addressed head on, but it was squashed on at the end despite the 600ish page length of this book. 

I was disappointed by Cass' writing in general. The style is quick and relatively easy to read but she fails at mastering punctuation and has a repetitive set of words and phrases that became more and more cringey as the story went on.

This book obviously appeals significantly to a lot of people but the quality of the writing and the strange pacing/plotting left me wanting more.

The Dinner by Herman Koch 
☀️☀️

A glaringly dark and drawn out story that didn't do anything for me.

I can see what Koch was trying to do...I just didn't enjoy it. Unlikeable characters can be done well, with depth and growth, but here I couldn't find redeemable qualities in almost anyone throughout the whole novel. Even the 'good guy' wasn't given enough to be sympathetic. 

The plot is painfully slow to the point of being irritating - it's not an exaggeration to say that nothing significant occurs until the final 50 pages. The build up was interesting in the beginning but by the end I was convinced the payoff wouldn't be enough for all of the palaver, and I was right. The flashbacks, at least, were spaced well to reveal Paul's character, but the reveal itself didn't evoke anything in me.

Koch's take on mental health and medical issues throughout were uneducated and downright harmful. There was so little care taken with the examination that I was left deeply uncomfortable by the portrayal.

For a book whose pitch was enticing, I was bitterly disappointed and couldn't really identify any aspects that I enjoyed other than that it was a quick read to finish. 

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer (audiobook narrated by James Fouhey) 
☀️☀️☀️⛅

A dark and confronting sci-fi that achieves a lot more than it first suggests, but also not as much as it had the potential to do.

Firstly, the book that this is marketed as and the book itself feel very different - I'd been pre-warned by some non-spoiler reviews, which helped, but this definitely isn't the simple YA space romance they want you to believe it is. The only aspect that makes this book sit in YA is the protagonist's age, which is essentially irrelevant to the plot but also managed to make me a bit uncomfortable at points given the occa ional focus on their previous sexual exploits.

Speaking of the plot: I thought the mystery was well executed, though I saw the reveals coming from a mile away. The world building was a bit too simple and on the nose for my liking - I kept waiting for more of a deep dive into their respective backstories in a way that would develop beyond the stereotype, but then the mystery took over and we never got that. 

For such a harrowing, emotionally driven story, I also struggled to connect with the characters in the way that I was obviously supposed to. The first act being significantly more character driven should have helped more, but ultimately I wasn't convinced by the time we learned more about the mission, and I also found some of the information left behind by each character a bit loose and awkward which didn't help the characters in their current state.

The end was quite rushed in comparison and felt convenient by sci-fi standards, but given what we'd been set up for I wasn't surprised. 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 
☀️☀️☀️☀️⛅

A powerful and informative book that reveals the very human story behind one of science's greatest discoveries.

This is really two books in one: a story detailing the discovery of HeLa cells and their continued impact on science today, and the story of Henrietta herself and that of her family. I found the balance of these two stories good, though the end dragged a little once all of the science itself was out of the way.  I appreciated the way both subject matters were handled, and that due credit was attributed to the Lacks family who suffered so much and gained so little from Henrietta's unfortunate circumstances.

The book invites questions regarding ethics and morals from several perspectives, namely examining the lack of consent sought or given throughout decades of research on Henrietta's cells and the blood of her descendents. The lack of fiscal, emotional or historical recognition for one of science's biggest breakthroughs is heartbreaking to read about, as is the generational turmoil the Lacks family can't seem to escape from.

I'm very grateful that one of the most important women in science has finally been immortalised, as her cells have been, through the lens of a compassionate and generous narrator. Kloots honours Henrietta and her family beautifully, and doesn't hold back on any uncomfortable details in doing so. This is a must read for anyone interested in science, history, ethics and legal quandaries - it's a mind boggling situation from all vantage points! 

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman 
☀️☀️☀️☀️

A blisteringly funny, sharp and original novel that, to its detriment at times, has too many good ideas for one book.

Two talented writers collaborating on something so unique and satirical was always going to be special, and there's no disputing that Good Omens is special. The concept is simple but remarkably complex in its execution, employing a whole cast of characters who each play a small part in the apocalypse. I enjoyed the setup immensely but found the middle got too waylaid with less interesting characters, and the end being anticlimactic genuinely suited the arc but felt a bit lacking after the sluggish pace of the second act. 

The writing is hysterically funny. Dry oblique humour is the backbone of this tale and it serves it well, shining a spotlight on humanity's weak spots with impeccable skill. I don't think I'd have enjoyed it nearly as much without the persistent undercurrent of mocking, well, everything.

Aziraphale and Crowley were undoubtedly the highlight from a character perspective, which is probably why I found the middle of the book lacking where focus strayed from them. The other support characters were well written and moderately interesting but the centuries old friendship was this books shining beacon of emotional connection, and I don't hesitate to say it would have been a stronger narrative with more time spent in their presence.

As a book I can confidently say this is well written and deeply intelligent in its assesment of humanity, but it held back a bit too much in emotional stakes and had too slow a pace to truly hook me in the way I hoped it would. 

If The Tide Turns by Rachel Rueckert (audiobook narrated by Pilar Witherspoon)
☀️☀️⛅

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC audiobook!

A historical romance that casts a wide net but, for me, doesn't yield enough for its efforts. 

Set in 1700s America, Rueckert sought to examine societal expectations of the past through the main characters of Maria and Sam. Each struggle with their more modern perceptions of what lifestyles could be open to them, and this aspect of the story was interesting, but their connection to each other didn't feel like a strong enough bond to carry the plot forward. Maria in particular presented as too young and naive to be likeable in the beginning, and Sam never quite moved beyond it with his lofty aspirations and fools luck abroad. I mostly enjoyed Witherspoon's performance of them, however, but Sam's accent grated on me after a while.

Part two was when I thought the story lost momentum for me - splitting the main pair up and bouncing between their experiences became a bit disjointed and I found myself struggling to concentrate on the details of Sam's journey in particular. I understood his motivations but found the shift to piracy and captainship too sharp, even being the "good guy". And I'm not really a fan of the surprise pregnancy trope, so Maria's arc wasn't particularly enjoyable for me either, though at least the tension was better there. 

The timeline was long and stretched and with no clear finish line I struggled with the continuous trauma. I did enjoy the full circle circumstances of the ending with Maria being the rescuer, and the pair finally running away together, but the journey to get there felt too drawn out to fully appreciate.

I don't think this is a bad book, just not one that was written in a style I enjoy and employing too many tropes I disagree with to fully commit emotionally to.

"What if God gave you a heart full of desires you could trust, exactly as they are?"

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid 
☀️☀️⛅

This sports drama had potential, but the bland writing and unreachable characters left it feeling quite devoid of connection.

For starters, Carrie needed to be a special character to carry a book of this style, but she's glaringly one dimensional. In part I think this is kind of intentional - her schtick is being a tennis machine who has no life - but it wasn't softened enough by her external relationships to balance out the issue. This is further enhanced by there being only a few scenes that don't explicitly revolve around tennis; more would have definitely helped bring out better character development.

The structure and timeline feels too thinly stretched for me. Too much ground is covered so that every tennis match is left feeling repetitive, despite Jenkins Reid more often than not brushing over the play by play details. I somehow wanted more AND less tennis in these scenes, which is difficult to reconcile. Carrie's career is so long and varied that Jenkins Reid would have been better off selecting highlights to really dig into, rather than the broad strokes of a full career.

Supporting characters like Javier and Nicki were better developed, and the time spent with them were the best scenes of the book. 

I wanted to like this story but the execution lacked finesse and ultimately left me disconnected from Carrie's journey to the detriment of the book.