natreadthat's reviews
383 reviews

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 This is the first book I haven’t been able to put down in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
 
Sometimes you want a little bit of fun with your murder-mysteries and this was just that. Lucy, our snarky narrator, begrudgingly walks us through a true-crime podcaster digging through the past to figure out who killed her best friend Savvy. Apparently, it doesn’t look great when you’re found wandering down the street with a huge welt on your head and your best friend’s blood on your dress. 
 
Full of twists, turns, and a murderous little voice whispering in her head, this novel keeps you guessing right to the very end. 
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The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E.M. Anderson

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

If you’re looking for a cozy fantasy, this is it.  
Edna is 83 and living in an unbearable retirement home when the Council of Wizard names her as the Chose One. The Chosen One, typically reserved for spry, young magic wielders, is destined to stop the evil sorcerer waging war on the nation. 
 
It took me awhile to get into this book. I think the charm of an elderly woman poking fun at the Chosen One trope ™️ and taking on a warlord is a fun idea, but the writing felt too juvenile to me. It was based on characters and their relationships rather than action and plot, which is good if that’s what you’re expecting. I was expecting a bit more dragon action. Alas, it was a light-ish read with occasional action and depth. 
 
Chosen family, doing your best, figuring life out, and trying to save the world while you’re at it—that’s the gist of this read. 
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Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 This might be one of the strangest books I’ve ever read. 
 
Adina is born tiny, jaundiced, and presumably human. As she grows up, Adina realizes her differences from other humans and recognizes the inner callings of a distant planet. A trash-picked fax machine allows her to communicate with her alien relatives, opening the floodgates on what it’s like to bop around planet Earth. 
 
Adina’s life is shared in faxes, noting everything and nothing at the same time—wonder, joy, destruction, sadness, heartache, comfort. How does one make sense of what it means to be human? 
 
The novel is a look at human complexity, coming of age, otherness. It’s a fictitious but very real study of belonging, loneliness, and being different. I’d say it falls closer to literary fiction than sci-fi, so if you’re looking for an alien-related story this may not be for you. 
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By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 
Separated by centuries but tied by blood and a love of words, Melina Green and Emilia Bassano are both playwrights. In the 1500s, Emilia will do whatever is necessary to provide for her family and get her writing out there, including ghostwriting for William Shakespeare. In present day, Melina will do anything to get her play produced, including using her best friend. Will she take it too far? 
 
The very real Emilia Bassano is thought to be the true author of some Shakespeare’s work. The message that women and people of color are often overlooked in favor white men—shall I list of examples?—is still, unfortunately, relevant today. Picoult’s version of Emilia begs us to examine gender inequality, feminism, and societal expectations. It is timely, as all of her books tend to be. 
 
I’m not a huge fan of Shakespeare. I just can’t get into Elizabethan era poetry—it feels too much like English homework. That being said, I had the opportunity to see Jodi discuss this book and I wanted to read it with that fresh in mind. Hearing her talk about the works that inspired her, the research that went into writing it, and how dear this book is to her heart made it all the more enjoyable. While I found both character’s stories captivating, I wonder if I would have enjoyed it less if I had not audiobooked it. Parts dragged and I found myself zoning out. If this were ~100 pages less, I think I could have loved it. 
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Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

What was meant to be a fun, unserious rom-com turned out to be a fun, unserious rom-com. audiobooked this one, which made listening to a cynical audiobook narrator all the more fun—plus, Whelan’s narration of the characters was quite enjoyable! I love when an author narrates their own work. 
 
After an accident that forced Sewanee to stop acting, she did the next best thing: audiobook narration. What she didn’t love was narrating romance, because Happily Ever After™️ doesn’t actually exist. But when the circumstances are right, aka she’s the only one a late author requests (and the check is big enough), she dips her toes back into the genre. And from there, it’s history. 
 
This book has witty writing, quirky humor, a sexy Irishman, a great dip recipe, and lovable side stories. What more can you ask for in a rom-com? 
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The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Ohhh how I absolutely adored this book! It’s my first five star, non-memoir read of the year if that says anything. 

Five people basically kidnapped from different eras, questionable bridges (aka babysitters), sketchy government shenanigans, time travel, witty banter, slow-burn romance??? Wow, what a backdrop to the marvelous characters that make up this book. The dynamic between the two main characters was just delightful, and don’t even get me started on the secondary characters. I love them all! 

Normally I’m not a sci-fi girlie, but this swallowed me whole. I’m still thinking about it days later to the point where I beg of you, read this book and then immediately let me know if you loved it as much as I did.
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How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

How to Do Nothing is a philosophical look at how corporations rely on our willingness to pay attention to what they tell us to pay attention to, otherwise known as the attention economy. 
 
While I did not particularly love this book, the discussion I had with my book club and changes I’ve made so far are telling of the book’s influence. I found How to Do Nothing to be a passionate information dump of why we should pay attention (ba-dum-tiss) to where we’re lending our attention. Should it be on the phone in our hands, constantly indulging in the algorithm? Or, should it instead be on what’s happening in the real world, our lives, and with our family and friends? 
 
I personally took away that to “do nothing” in the context of this book, is a form of protest against the belief that productivity needs to be constant at the expense of our well-being, the growth of our communities, and the destruction of our environment, all while making corporations rich. 
 
I already knew how easy it is to get lost endlessly scrolling for hours on this little app, but I needed a kick-in-the-ass wake up call. There’s a lot going on in the real world (duh) but distraction and FOMO are real. This was a reminder of how important it is to disconnect from my phone and acknowledge and critique what's most important to give my attention to. Thus, I am trying (key-word ‘trying’) to re-engage with the world in thoughtful ways. If you don’t see me online as much, imagine that I’m frolicking in fields, spending time with friends, taking down the patriarchy bit by bit, and burying my nose in new books.
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A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

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dark emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 
A historical, Korean whodunit, complete with a mysterious serial killer, a brimming coup, and some romance of course. 
 
Iseul will do anything to stop the ruthless King Yeonsan, who has kidnapped thousands of women for his own pleasure, including Iseul’s sister. On her journey through the forbidden territory into the capital, Iseul crosses paths with Prince Daehyun, the bastard little brother of the tyrant king, who numbingly despises his brother. Together, will they be successful in overthrowing the crown? 
 
Hur masterfully wove fiction into the true historical events of the dark, 1500s Joseon era. Slow burn romance, questionable characters at every turn, a serial killer on the loose, the fatherly-figure found in an investigator, a cold and calculated prince. I loved how the author explains what really happened in the author’s note, but I loved the storytelling even more. 
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Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

“Sometimes I don’t think we know what we’re made of until the worst moment possible happens. Then we must decide who we truly are and what is most important to us. I think we’re often surprised by what we become.”

The duology of Iris and Roman, their enchanted love, and the war between magical gods continues on. In this second installment, we learn more about Dacre and Enva, the relentless gods the war started between. Their backstories unfold as it weaves itself into Roman and Iris’s tender, yet excruciating love story. 

I didn’t enjoy Ruthless Vows as much as Divine Rivals, but it still gave me action, romantasy, war, world/backstory building, and complex characters. Rebecca’s writing was beautiful throughout this duology and that was enough for me to love it.
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Good Material by Dolly Alderton

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challenging emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I didn’t love this one. I can’t decide if it was the incredibly self-loathing main character (which reminds me that I rarely read MMCs) or the plot never really going anywhere. I do know that if I wasn’t stuck on an airplane while reading it, I probably would’ve DNF’d. 

Andy just got dumped by the love of his life. As we go along for the ride through the stages of grief, we are eye witnesses to the hot mess of his life. 

What I liked: the emphasis on masculinity in today’s society, the redeeming ex-girlfriend’s POV, how realistic the break up woes were, Andy’s mom, and Andy’s personal trainer
What I didn’t like: how drawn out the story was, the whining and lack of main character development, and not being able to relate to Andy 

Alderton did a great job of portraying how much break ups suck. Perhaps I needed to be in a different mindset to enjoy it more.
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