meeshreads's reviews
742 reviews

I've never laughed out loud more while listening to an audiobook. The length of it threw me off at first, but Leslie is telling you the stories from her memoir with plenty of side bars and goes off script, so it's way longer than if she just read the book. She's had an interesting life, is so hilarious, her laugh is infectious, and I really enjoyed this. 

This is an interesting and thought provoking book. Definitely gives off vibes of Get Out + Stepford Wives. I liked Jasmyn as a narrator, the story kept me guessing along with her at what was really going on. The last few chapters really ramped up the tension and led to a quick and upsetting conclusion. I was hoping for a different ending. 

This book is extremely dark with many unreliable narrators, but it moves along at a swift pace and definitely kept me guessing.

This book was a fun romp through NY in the 80s, through the eyes of Nina during her last summer in the city before going off to college. Nina makes a fun new friend who introduces her to the "gorgeous excitement" of cocaine, and chases after a guy she likes, desperate to lose her virginity before she leaves for college, while also dealing with her mom having some mental health issues. Nina was a good narrator, I liked being inside her head through this story. She felt very naive at the start and definitely evolved through the book. The ending felt a little abrupt and not very satisfying, I was expecting some bigger reveal or conclusion. I love the cover art! I think this would be a really good audiobook, too. 

I'm not too sure what to write about this book. I'm glad I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, Miranda's voice really brought it to life for me.  About halfway through, I couldn't decide if I hated the book or if it just wasn't for me. I stuck with it, and found it mostly entertaining, very unpredictable, funny in parts, cringe-inducing in (many) other parts, and wholly unique. 

This was a wild ride. I really knew nothing about her going into this book, and now I feel like I know almost too much. I appreciate Julia's candor, there is no sugarcoating in her stories, and there are A LOT of stories! If you like your memoirs full of insane adventures, so many drugs, a bit chaotic, and with a breezy conversational tone, this is a good one (audiobook is read by the author!). 

Loved this book. Poets writing fiction is one of my favorite genres and this was a great example. I can see rereading it, which for me is rare. It's about life, death, family, addiction, love, art, and just life. My fave read so far this year.

This is a pretty straightforward mystery with a little bit of a love story thrown in. I liked it fine, but it didn't feel super memorable. 

I liked this but not as much as Cultish. 

This book is a little too realistic. Set in a world where algorithms know everything about us, including mining dreams for data from a device marketed to help people sleep. A stressful life situation could manifest in an upsetting dream that lands you into a detention center "for observation." It's not a prison, but has plenty of similarities. Words and explanations mean nothing--the data doesn't lie. Sara is a sympathetic character, and I was really invested in her story, hoping she would be able to be released but also not seeing how it could be possible, with the way the center worked, where every tiny infraction incurs more time, the bureaucracy of the hearings, and of course the dream data that is never ending.