mmccombs's reviews
717 reviews

It was quick, it was mostly fun, and it was twisty! I can’t say I cared for any of these characters and the Taylor Swift references got old pretty quick (comparing her to Sylvia Plath made me lol), but this was the kind of silly concept that keeps me hooked. I thought the twists were wild and the ending didn’t like totally make sense to me, but I’d recommend for a quick and tense thriller.

Surreal and interesting, I loved how this blurred reality to explore themes around womanhood in Japan (but also just in a working, capitalist context). The translation seemed to be done well, and I enjoyed thinking about how pregnancy (real or not!) changes how others see you and how you see yourself. It was short and impactful, would recommend for a quick and thought provoking read.

This was a tedious, confusing, overly long book and I will be reading the next one for sure. My main complaints are as follows:

And the reason I’ll read the next book?

This could be a much shorter book (and a much shorter series) with probably the same impact, but hey, I am into it and will continue to upset myself as I read this series.

Just an incredibly impressive debut! This had everything I love in historical fiction: it was well researched; the main character was compelling; the setting felt lived in; and the plot was, if a bit predictable, very satisfying. This book felt perfectly mirrored to our moment in time, where panic leads to fear and then to hate, which made something that occurred so long ago feel urgent. I could tell that personal impacts and emotion from COVID directly informed the weight and devastation of the plague described in these pages. The only reason I am not giving this a perfect 5 stars is because I found the characterization of Margot (and most of the side characters tbh) to be lacking. But really, I was absolutely swept away by this read and hope we see more from DeLozier!

Fully atmospheric and absolutely the perfect read as an arctic blast creeps into my city. The world building was lush and engaging, from the first chapter I was immediately transfixed and knew I would love it. The audio narration was also excellent (though I've got to admit that I often got lost about who was who because recognizing spoken Russian names is not exactly my strong suit). It was the perfect balance of historical fiction and magical realism and folklore, the interplay between "old" Russia and its pagan spirits vs the new wave of Christianity was especially interesting. I didn't know this was a trilogy so now I'm excited to have more of this world to read!

Okay, I get the Brandon Sanderson hype! I initially tried to enter the Sanderson universe with The Way of Kings a few years ago but wasn’t in the right mood, so I’m very glad that a bookclub forced me to start with this one instead. Truly captivating fantasy, I was pretty much hooked from the beginning and didn’t find myself bogged down with confusing lore. The magic structure was unique and so thoroughly imagined, I appreciated that the magic informed the world building and vice versa. Each element felt like it fit together, which made the characters and plot shine. I wouldn’t say this was a heist as the description of this book suggests, but the crew element of the story still scratched that itch. And I do think that some of the writing was a bit juvenile, a few sections of explaining allomancy felt a bit out of place (though they were helpful!). I’m pretty surprised by how much I liked this and am very excited to get to the rest of the series!

The writing was absolutely beautiful and evoked such a strong sense of place, but I ended it wanting a bit more. I enjoyed the themes and ideas it tackled, like trying to reconstruct/find your mother when she has been unknowable and how Mexican and Indian history echo each other. But it was one of those where when it ended I was just kind of like, well okay?? It was very solid and incredibly quick to read, so I’d recommend it even if I wish it was maybe a bit longer.

I really enjoyed the first chapter and the epilogue and that was pretty much it, unfortunately. This book was cozy and I did appreciate the sense of community it established by the end. But I didn’t really care for any of these characters and felt kind of confused about some of the plot points this took. It kind of reminded me of a Fredrik Backman book, where multiple characters with their own issues touch and intersect, which as a general vibe I enjoyed but can’t say the details worked for me. And the narration really didn’t help, the voices he used were over the top (and one character voice actively grossed me out), so I never felt like the writing itself was very good either, though it could just boil down to the audio experience. Unsure if I’d recommend this, but can appreciate the sense of place and character this had.

To come to any conclusion other than that capitalism needs to end immediately is just… kind of silly. But I still think the argument Desmond lays out so clearly is worth reading and stewing on. It put a lot of observations in writing that I have not been able to articulate, and I loved that I could see pretty much anyone reading this book and coming out of it having learned something, it was so approachable. I do think he makes some solid suggestions but like geeze, there is no “compassionate” capitalism, especially not in the US, that will end exploitation, racism, and scarcity mindsets, his conclusions just don’t seem to go far enough. I really enjoyed reading this and felt incredibly engaged, I’d recommend this to everyone!

A gayer take on The Holiday? Yeah of course I’m into it! While I don’t leave this wowed or with a new holiday romance favorite, it was solid, cute, and well plotted. I appreciated that there wasn’t forced conflict/breakups, they were just adults who needed a change and started falling in love with new people. There was not much depth, the book pretty much throws you into the main characters swapping houses without much background, and the romances were pretty surface level, though still cute. The writing was just okay, though maybe the narration was a bit lackluster and didn’t do it justice. I’d say this is a romance where Christmas happens in the background, so if you’re looking for something very holiday-y, this might not be exactly what you’re looking for. All in all I’m glad I read this one but don’t imagine it will stick with me.