mcgbreads's reviews
1125 reviews

ARC review; thanks to NetGalley and Fourth Estate for the access to this ebook. Pub date: April 10, 2025. 

I... don't know how to feel about this one. I got through it pretty quickly and it's an okay mystery, it's just nothing really new or surprising. I quite disliked the main character for most of it and the pacing felt a little off to me, but I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the chaotic kind of approach to it? I honestly don't know, I just know I didn't fully vibe with this and can't say I'd recommend it with my whole chest. It would rather be like "Well, if the description calls to you, give it a shot, idk." Do with that what you will. 

Sci-fi? Feminism? Bitch, WHERE? Please, show me. 

This rant is full of spoilers, FYI:

The one thing this book does well is depict a psychologically and verbally abusive relationship. Even if you as a reader decide not to feel anything for Annie because she's a robot (I've seen someone actually say that on booktube, and found it extremely off-putting. What do you mean you can't empathize with this character because she's a robot??? Anyway...), everything that Doug does to her has to get you in some way. Especially if you've ever been in a relationship with even a pinch of that kind of abusive behavior. It was upsetting to read about and it was terrible all around. 

Other than that, the story has a whole bunch of potential, but it just doesn't do anything worthwhile with it. It doesn't say anything about any of the big themes it touches on. (1) Why would you have your character decide to make his robot a whitewashed version of his ex-wife if you have absolutely nothing to say about race and racism? You could've left that out and it wouldn't have changed a thing, Doug would still be the biggest piece of shit. 

(2) Why wouldn't you explore the journey of this robot gaining sentience and consciousness a bit better? Nothing to say about humanity or what makes us human. Just a robot that could mess with her programming a bit and gain agency, but also, that agency is held back. Why? I thought this was feminist. 

(3) Why would you have so much sex in this book for no reason? We didn't need so many scenes of this awful fucking man using this robot. They felt gratuitous after a while. Especially because they had nothing to say about consent or SA or anything. That's another conversation this book just refuses to explore, and it's right there. Again, why would you establish something that touches on such an interesting theme and not explore it? Why wouldn't Annie wonder about consent when her programming changes so much? Especially near the end, when she's at a point where she has her own thoughts. 

(4) When Annie finally leaves Doug, it's not because she outsmarted him or found a way to leave him. It's because Doug disables her tracker and basically gives her freedom because he thinks she'll stay put like a good little robot. It's not even that Annie manipulates him into it so she can be free. And then, she just leaves him. No revenge, no nothing. She could've reported him to someone or, at the very least, ruined his reputation by telling his ex-wife, telling the world, what we know to be his shameful secret: he has been fucking and abusing a robot that looks like a white-washed version of his ex-wife. No, she leaves him sleeping in his bed instead, and he's rich as fuck because of her, so he'll be perfectly fine. No consequences. 

(5) Not only that, but when she leaves him, she goes back to the only other man she knows, the one she met when she tried to escape the first time (that was a much better attempt at letting this character have agency), a person she knows very little about. It's written like a happy ever after, where she found a new home and a purpose; helping other robots gain agency or whatever. 

Like, is this a joke? Doug could easily find her like he did last time. He knows that's the only place she would go to cause it's the only other place she knows. Are we supposed to believe he won't do anything? The petty, small little man who likes to feel big by having power over a robot? MORE IMPORTANTLY, she's incredibly valuable to him. She made him millions and, right before she escapes, he breaks the news that he can make even more money from her. Again, are we supposed to believe he won't go and retrieve his extremely valuable property? She should've ridden into the sunset with the excitement of trying to figure out life on her own, WHICH IS WHAT SHE WANTED TO DO. She wanted to live. Why would you send her to be with another fucking man? 

(6) Don't even get me started on the lack of worldbuilding. Categorizing this as "sci-fi" is crazy because the only sci-fi thing about it is the robots and we don't even learn much about them. We know they exist and the 4 or 5 different roles they can play, and we kind of know how they function (but even that has inconsistencies), but we know nothing about how they were created, how that kind of technology changed the world (it seems that not at all, btw, because when we do get a glimpse of the outside world, everything seems normal, not even a little futuristic), etc. 

This was just so underwhelming. It lacked substance all around and it missed the mark on so many things that were right there. There's so much that could've and should've been said that it kinda pisses me off. This story not only wasted my time in the end, but it was also an unpleasant reading experience. 

This is probably one of the most human books I've read this year so far. I loved the way this explored heartbreak, the grief of losing a relationship you thought would be endgame, the way that untreated psychological trauma manifests without you noticing it, and how it affects the relationships you have. 

It felt very vulnerable and personal, and this nameless character felt like a real person to me. I liked her immediately and I understood her. While I haven't been through everything she has been through, there's so much I related to and connected with. 

I do feel like the story drags a little in places, but overall, it's so beautifully written, I got lost in it. It was very creative to start from the breakup and move backward until the moment they met. And it worked really well, this was heartbreaking and beautiful in equal measure. It was also so grounded in reality it almost felt like it was autobiographical. 

ARC review; thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Quill Tree Books for the access to this ebook. Pub date: May 13, 2025. 

The story follows Eliza during her senior year. She's the perfect student and has it all figured out until she's enrolled in a Culinary Arts class and can't get out of it. Suddenly, she's not the smartest person in the room. Enter Wesley, the star of the class. They get paired up for a group project and, through that, they reluctantly get to know each other and confront each other's prejudices. More importantly, Eliza discovers that cooking is about much more than throwing ingredients together; it's a bridge. 

-

I really enjoyed this one. The story is Young Adult and it's perfect for its intended audience. It's nicely written and, more importantly for me: the characters feel like real people, and their experiences, conflicts, etc., felt authentic. It touches on themes like grief, love, family, friendship, confronting your prejudice, finding your passion, showing up authentically, learning to communicate, and more. All very relatable things to any human being.  

I feel like a few things here and there could've been explored a little deeper, and some things aren't tied up as best as I thought they would be, but overall, this was a very nice story. I loved the way food and cooking connected the characters and these kids were just adorable. A super solid YA contemporary romance debut!

ARC review; thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the access to this ebook. Pub date: Mar 18, 2025. 

The story follows Elle, who moves to her grandma's house because her Alzheimer's is progressing and she wants to be there, only to find Adam, her grandma's new live-in nurse already living there. If you like forced proximity and can connect with the emotional experience of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's or any other illness, I think you'll enjoy this. 

From here on out are my thoughts and they contain some spoilers, so beware:

This sounded really good, but I couldn't get through it because I didn't vibe at all with the execution; got to 35%. I could see the author's hand the entire time and it took me out of the story from the get-go. This is one of the most forced "enemies to lovers" I've encountered, and it didn't have to be that way. There's no reason for Elle to be instantly rude to Adam, but she is, and she also immediately objectifies him upon meeting him. I didn't buy the conflict at all because it had no legs to stand on. 

The dynamics were off because this had to be "enemies to lovers" but it just wasn't working. Why would you dislike someone who's there to care for your grandmother? Because you found him sleeping in your bed cause he had no idea you were coming to stay? Because he didn't offer to give up the bed? He's a NURSE. He was half asleep and probably more tired than you, I wouldn't have given up the bed that night either. Neither would you. It can be sorted out the next day, it's really not that big of a deal. Also, her vibrator falling from her bag as she was meeting him for the first time was so cringe. I could tell it was meant to be funny, but it didn't come across that way. Anyway, this could've simply been dislike to like, and the conflict could've been around caring for the grandmother or something, ANYTHING, that's easier to buy into. 

The way the fake dating is set up also made my eyes roll. They have to pretend that they're in love because her grandma thinks they're the younger version of her and her husband and, given her Alzheimer's, correcting her would cause more harm than good. Mind you, I buy that correcting her grandma would cause unnecessary stress, but using that to get these two to fake date and continue acting like they have a problem with each other for no reason was grating to me personally. 

There was also no reason for them to immediately talk to each other like they knew each other. That also felt forced and just unrealistic. Again, it took me out of the story. The fact that she makes a joke along the lines of "you can stare at my ass all you want, it's a nice one" the morning after they only introduced themselves to each other was so uncomfortable. In my opinion, that's just not how a woman would talk to a man she barely knows and who happens to live under the same roof as her. And I don't think a normal man, one who isn't always thinking about ass and tits, wouldn't be made uncomfortable by that comment from a woman he doesn't know. I just didn't like this romance set up or these characters, I'm sorry. 

What I did like about this was the grandmother. Lovie, and I sympathize with that part of the story. It's very difficult to care for a loved one with Alzheimer's and navigate how to talk to them and keep them safe, while also seeing them lose their grip on reality and not recognize you. But it's also beautiful to still make memories with them even if they're one-sided. 

This provided a lovely, easy-to-follow, and eye-opening introduction to gift economy; what it means, how it works, how easily we can find it in everyday life, how communities default to it in times of crisis, and how much it would benefit the world if we all collectively practiced it with respect. 

<i>“In a gift economy, wealth is understood as having enough to share, and the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away. In fact, status is determined not by how much one accumulates, but by how much one gives away. The currency in a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude, as interdependence and the ongoing cycles of reciprocity. A gift economy nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is “we” rather than “I,” as all flourishing is mutual.”</i>

It strikes me as one of the things that would truly heal the world if we all woke up one day and decided to adopt it. I appreciated the food for thought in this book and I definitely feel like I learned something new and valuable. The audiobook was great; the author does a great job narrating her own work. 

ARC review; thanks to NetGalley, Pushkin Press, and Pushkin Press Classics for the access to this ebook. 

This is a novella and yet I just couldn't get into it, but I feel like that's on me. I'm just not the reader for this kind of story. I couldn't get my bearings or sink my teeth into it. Nothing was making sense to me and I appreciate that that's the style of the genre, but I don't particularly enjoy reading this kind of dream-like story that I can't grasp. If things don't make sense, I need to at least be able to connect at an emotional level to be willing to go along, but that was missing for me. I appreciate that it reads like a nightmare and it's very disorienting, which can feel disturbing and create a sense of dread that other reviews report feeling, but that didn't happen for me. I was just confused and not into it. 

So far, so great. I'm loving this manga, things are building up very nicely, I love the historical details, and it has brutal moments. I can't wait to continue reading. 

ARC review; thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Press Classics for the access to this ebook. 

I was drawn to this book by the cover and the description, but unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the writing in a meaningful way. But if you love character-focused, deeply introspective stories, you'll enjoy this a lot. I think it's the perfect example of a reflective book, where the character looks back on her life at 70 years old and reflects on it from that present-day perspective, providing a lot of insight into her experience as a woman in 1920s Japan. 

ARC review; thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and HarperCollins for the access to this ebook. 

This is a YA dystopia that will feel familiar to anyone who loves 2000s YA dystopia and I enjoyed it a lot because of it. It feels modern and adds enough new elements to make it different from the stories it takes inspiration from. 3.5 stars. 

Fable for the End of the World is set in a world where a corporation, Caerus, controls every aspect of society and has built a credit system that encourages the lower classes to rack up massive amounts of debt. When the debt gets to its limit, the person is nominated to the Gauntlet, a live-streamed event where they get hunted and killed by an Angel. Angels are girls that the corporation modifies and trains as assassins from a very young age; they're made beautiful, lethal, and emotionless through a bunch of means. Here's the kicker, though: if the person who racked up the debt has family, they can nominate someone to replace them, essentially sacrificing them. 

That's what happens to Inesa, a 17-year-old girl whose mother has gone into debt behind her and her brother Luka's backs despite their best efforts to avoid using the system to get by. Fortunately for her, the Angel sent to Inesa's Gauntlet, Melinoë, has had a lot of trouble recovering from her last kill. The trauma of it is fighting memory deletion and it's essentially rewiring her brain; she's having feelings, primarily guilt, and killing is no longer as easy as it used to be. 

Like I said, I really enjoyed this and virtually read it in one sitting. The writing is nice and descriptive, the world is interesting, the dynamics between the characters are engaging, and though it's quite predictable for most of it, it still managed to excite me. This post-apocalyptic world felt very creative to me and the commentary on climate change, oppression, the vilification of needing/relying on one another in society, capitalism, and the commodification of violence/trauma is done quite well and makes the story compelling. 

The issue for me is that the execution falls a little short and some things in the story are unsatisfying, like Inesa's confrontation with her mother, [spoiler]the way that Luka reappears after he's separated from Inesa during the Gauntlet, Melinoë's confrontation of her maker/handler[/spoiler], among other things. Characterization also felt surface-level overall. While we learn a lot about Inesa and Melinoë's lives through their POVs, I wanted to learn more about *them* as individuals. Secondary characters felt like cardboard cutouts when they shouldn't have because they had influence in the story. 

I also felt that the relationship between Inesa and Melinoë moved a little too quickly. I wanted more development, more getting to know one another, more tension. And, omg, there are so many questions left unanswered. The last 20% of the book moved incredibly quickly, the climax felt rushed, and the ending was a little too open for my taste. Worst of all, I suspect it was done that way to leave room for a sequel if this does well. I hate that if that's the case. If you're going to make a duology, make a duology, have that be the plan from the get-go, and make sure the first book feels whole on its own. But I digress... 

Overall, I liked quite a few things about this book, but it doesn't quite hit that threshold of greatness for me. 

Lastly, I want to comment on this comparison the book description provides: "The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes." The Last of Us is maybe my favorite piece of media of all time, and I didn't find any of it here. Just cause two people reluctantly go on a journey together and end up caring for each other doesn't make it comparable. Terminator would've worked a lot better. I do agree with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, though. There are way more elements here that can be compared to that book and The Hunger Games in general.