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michaelapr's reviews
74 reviews
The Night Before Christmas by
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
It's getting a 4 star rating from me because of the lovely art.
The Stocking Stuffer by Holley Merriweather
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.25
A cute Christmas book!
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A secluded island. A wedding with a bunch of drunk 30-somethings pretending to be in their 20s. A bride, a groom, a wedding planner, a bridesmaid, a best man, and a plus one, all with a lot of secrets. And a storm brewing both figuratively and literally in the distance.
This book has an interesting premise, as anyone can see. I believe it's been compared to an Agatha Christie novel - and with all its twists and the way Foley connects the characters together while leaving hints along the way I can see why. Unlike Christie, however, this book is incredibly slow at the beginning. You go back and forth between the Wedding Night for a couple of pages and then to hours earlier through the perspectives of different characters. This should work pretty well, however it instead makes the book drag until around 60% of the way through. Once you hit that 60% - that's when the book speeds up, things start to really click together in quick succession, and it gets really good. This is why there are so many high ratings and hype for this book - you finish with that fast pace when it's really good and that's what you remember. Unfortunately I still remember how slow that first part was and that's why this book doesn't quite make that 4 star mark.
This book has an interesting premise, as anyone can see. I believe it's been compared to an Agatha Christie novel - and with all its twists and the way Foley connects the characters together while leaving hints along the way I can see why. Unlike Christie, however, this book is incredibly slow at the beginning. You go back and forth between the Wedding Night for a couple of pages and then to hours earlier through the perspectives of different characters. This should work pretty well, however it instead makes the book drag until around 60% of the way through. Once you hit that 60% - that's when the book speeds up, things start to really click together in quick succession, and it gets really good. This is why there are so many high ratings and hype for this book - you finish with that fast pace when it's really good and that's what you remember. Unfortunately I still remember how slow that first part was and that's why this book doesn't quite make that 4 star mark.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Crying in H Mart did not disappoint. I have heard how good this book was since it came out and I for once (as I am insufferable about not liking over hyped books) agree with the majority. Michelle Zauner writes about her mother's death yes, but also about the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship, how love is shown in many ways, and what happens when losing a parent also means possibly losing a part of her heritage.
Zauner's mother showed her love through food, specifically by making her daughter's favorite Korean food. This was also Zauner's main connection to her Korean side of the family and this important aspect of her life is a thread that weaves throughout the book. Through the memories and the sickness and the heartache and the musings there is Korean food. I've never heard of or had any of this cuisine but the way this book describes it made me want to.
Zauner shows her journey and her therapy of forging new ways to connect with her mother's heritage, mostly by learning how to make the dishes that her mother always made. By going through this process, Zauner begins to recapture parts of herself and to find success in other parts of her life.
Overall a well written book that's sad and reflective on the Korean-American experience, the relationship between a mother and a daughter, and the loss of a parent.
Zauner's mother showed her love through food, specifically by making her daughter's favorite Korean food. This was also Zauner's main connection to her Korean side of the family and this important aspect of her life is a thread that weaves throughout the book. Through the memories and the sickness and the heartache and the musings there is Korean food. I've never heard of or had any of this cuisine but the way this book describes it made me want to.
Zauner shows her journey and her therapy of forging new ways to connect with her mother's heritage, mostly by learning how to make the dishes that her mother always made. By going through this process, Zauner begins to recapture parts of herself and to find success in other parts of her life.
Overall a well written book that's sad and reflective on the Korean-American experience, the relationship between a mother and a daughter, and the loss of a parent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a beautifully written book that was heartbreaking in some moments, hard to read in others, and poignant throughout.
I was under the impression that this was nonfiction but it's actually fiction. I read it as more of a lyric essay with some parts prose, other parts poetry, and parts that still feel very true even after knowing some parts are fictional. All of these parts were connected through a process that seemed to appear on paper even when I know that the words only sound the way they do through a lot of editing.
This is essentially an exploration of identity, of an intense parent-child relationship, of the opioid epidemic through the eyes of someone who's friends keep dying, and of an ever present grief caused by trauma from wars of multiple varieties. Ocean Vuong does these explorations well by reflecting in a way that feels true.
The reason why this book falls just short of a 4 for me is hard to explain except it's probably mostly because of the end. The very end started to feel... looser to me than the rest of the book. The connections not as clear to me, the meaning of the table metaphor (was it a metaphor?) just out of reach, and the ending lines not clicking with me. This might've just been me - maybe if I read this again down the line I'd understand that part better. There were also parts of this that were hard to read. This isn't necessarily what made it not a 4 stars or above because these parts felt necessary, no matter how painful or cringe worthy. It's just worth noting to check triggers if you need to.
Overall this was a well written book that wants to make you think about important aspects of the American experience that many hate to acknowledge exists and Vuong succeeds in this mission.
I was under the impression that this was nonfiction but it's actually fiction. I read it as more of a lyric essay with some parts prose, other parts poetry, and parts that still feel very true even after knowing some parts are fictional. All of these parts were connected through a process that seemed to appear on paper even when I know that the words only sound the way they do through a lot of editing.
This is essentially an exploration of identity, of an intense parent-child relationship, of the opioid epidemic through the eyes of someone who's friends keep dying, and of an ever present grief caused by trauma from wars of multiple varieties. Ocean Vuong does these explorations well by reflecting in a way that feels true.
The reason why this book falls just short of a 4 for me is hard to explain except it's probably mostly because of the end. The very end started to feel... looser to me than the rest of the book. The connections not as clear to me, the meaning of the table metaphor (was it a metaphor?) just out of reach, and the ending lines not clicking with me. This might've just been me - maybe if I read this again down the line I'd understand that part better. There were also parts of this that were hard to read. This isn't necessarily what made it not a 4 stars or above because these parts felt necessary, no matter how painful or cringe worthy. It's just worth noting to check triggers if you need to.
Overall this was a well written book that wants to make you think about important aspects of the American experience that many hate to acknowledge exists and Vuong succeeds in this mission.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Body shaming and Emotional abuse
The Snow Queen by
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
1. The description for this book is incorrect.
2. It was super quick and super lame.
2. It was super quick and super lame.
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was probably the best book that I have read by John Grisham. It was fast paced and light hearted but it was also just. Okay. It was an okay story that was at times funny and just right for Christmas time. Other than that I have to say - the movie, Christmas with the Kranks, is much better. This isn't because the movie is completely different from the book either, in fact the movie actually stays so true to the source material that I recognized certain quotes. Does the movie rearrange, add, and delete certain parts? Of course it does. But mostly what the movie does better is make the characters in the book likeable. Because in the book Luther is not likeable at all and many of the side characters I didn't care about. Maybe it didn't help that I was imagining the actors in the movie while reading and finding the book characters lacking compared to Dan Akroyd and Tim Allen... But I doubt it. So suffice it to say, even though I liked this book much more than any of this author's books - me and John Grisham are still not friends.
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This one was just a fun time. I love a good faerie story.
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book was good but also hard to read at times. The book alternates between two storylines and perspectives - Evelyn, a spy during WWI, and Charlie, an unwed pregnant 19 year old searching for her cousin in a France that's still recovering two years after WWII. Evelyn's storyline was harder to get through compared to Charlie's. This is mostly because you know the entire time that things are going to end badly due to not only it being WWI (a time that's hard to read about period) but also through Charlie's perspective. This kind of anticipation bordered on dread at times - so yes at times it was hard to read.
Charlie's storyline was better despite some parts not making sense for her character and once she stopped being all "I'm not like other girls" every few paragraphs. I did really like Finn, the Scottsman with a record and WWII trauma, though (this comes as a surprise to no one).
Overall this book was a good one. I liked that the author used a lot from actual history - including characters and quotes. That made the book pretty interesting and grounded in reality - something a lot of historical fiction cannot claim.
Charlie's storyline was better despite some parts not making sense for her character and once she stopped being all "I'm not like other girls" every few paragraphs. I did really like Finn, the Scottsman with a record and WWII trauma, though (this comes as a surprise to no one).
Overall this book was a good one. I liked that the author used a lot from actual history - including characters and quotes. That made the book pretty interesting and grounded in reality - something a lot of historical fiction cannot claim.
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was an intriguing one. I was kept interested despite the slow pace and enjoyed it more once the two storylines began to connect and I had fun finding those connections.
I liked the exploration of memory and how memory keeps the remembered "alive" in a sense. It's very much like Norse mythology in a way - how you can never truly die until there's no one left to remember you and your deeds.
What made this book hard to read, however, was "The Blinks." The Blinks is the extremely deadly and contagious virus that spreads worldwide, killing the majority if not all of the population. Now, this book was written in 2006 when there hadn't been a global pandemic in quite some time. I read it in 2024 and I have lived through a global pandemic. While this was obviously an extreme case of a pandemic that was out of control, very much unlike COVID, it was still hard to read at times and a bit triggering if I'm going to be honest. So that's something to keep in mind.
While this book was well written, had meaningful moments, and kept me interesting despite certain parts of disjointedness - it still didn't quite make 4 stars for me. Why? Because it depended on the ending and the ending was dumb. I'm sure there's people who loved the ending but I do not. It felt like the author had written himself in a corner that he couldn't get out of when he ended this book. It was abrupt and felt pointless even knowing that this was more of an exploration of the theme of memory sort of book and not a plot based book. The ending doesn't fit with the rest of the book and therefore the book falls short of a 4 star rating from me. 3.75/5 stars
I liked the exploration of memory and how memory keeps the remembered "alive" in a sense. It's very much like Norse mythology in a way - how you can never truly die until there's no one left to remember you and your deeds.
What made this book hard to read, however, was "The Blinks." The Blinks is the extremely deadly and contagious virus that spreads worldwide, killing the majority if not all of the population. Now, this book was written in 2006 when there hadn't been a global pandemic in quite some time. I read it in 2024 and I have lived through a global pandemic. While this was obviously an extreme case of a pandemic that was out of control, very much unlike COVID, it was still hard to read at times and a bit triggering if I'm going to be honest. So that's something to keep in mind.
While this book was well written, had meaningful moments, and kept me interesting despite certain parts of disjointedness - it still didn't quite make 4 stars for me. Why? Because it depended on the ending and the ending was dumb. I'm sure there's people who loved the ending but I do not. It felt like the author had written himself in a corner that he couldn't get out of when he ended this book. It was abrupt and felt pointless even knowing that this was more of an exploration of the theme of memory sort of book and not a plot based book. The ending doesn't fit with the rest of the book and therefore the book falls short of a 4 star rating from me. 3.75/5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic