natreadthat's reviews
388 reviews

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

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emotional lighthearted reflective fast-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

There are only two rules in Aunt Annalea’s apartment: 
  1. Never wear your shoes inside
  2. Never fall in love with anyone in the apartment

Her aunt always said, in that conspiratorial way of hers, that the apartment was magical. On a day when Clementine is wading through the grief of her aunt’s passing, she’s transported back in time, seven years to be exact, to find a strange, handsome man in her apartment—turns out Annalea wasn’t lying. 
And guess what happens next? Yep, Clementine falls in love. 

The premise of this book had all the right things: a magical apartment, time traveling element, growing romance between the main characters, and characters with internal struggles. And yet, I still didn’t love it. It’s not that it was bad, it was more that I didn’t have time to fall for the characters before they were falling for each other. A fast burn can work, sure, but this one felt predictably forced solely to fit the plot. Plus, I wish I hadn’t been able to guess every twist. What I did enjoy was the peek into the publishing and restaurant industries, the aunt-niece bond, and how haunting grief can be. 
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All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

First book of 2024! ❤️‍🔥

This quick, six-hour audiobook had me going back and forth between “this feels too woo-woo for me” and “wow, that was really profound”. 

bell hooks is best known for her writings on race, feminism, and class, focusing on the exploration of the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender. All About Love, unsurprisingly, focuses on love, our misguided expectations of it, and how flawed our understanding of it can be. 

I’m not a self-help book girl most of the time, so I struggled through parts of this. It’s broken down into thirteen chapters ranging from values, romance, spirituality, community, loss, and commitment among a few others. The community chapter resonated with me the most and I think everyone should read it. Other chapters lost my interest pretty quickly either because they weren’t personally applicable to me or felt too subjective. That being said, I appreciate how open hooks is about love and her thoughts on how it can change the world. We need something to do just that and loving one another more freely, especially those from outside our circles, certainly can help. 

If you’re an introspective person who wants to better understand love and improve your relationships (and don’t mind self-help vibes), you’ll likely enjoy this one.
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The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

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slow-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? No

4.5

June Farrow has grown up in the shadow of her mother’s descent into madness and eventual disappearance. After her grandmother finally succumbs to the same sickness, June is determined to put an end to the centuries-long curse that plagues the Farrow women. 
 
This one kind of blew my mind a bit. It started off as a slow burn (and I mean slooooow), but once the plot picked up I couldn’t put it down. At points, I was so engulfed in the story that I felt like I was uncovering June’s family secrets right alongside her. I love when a book has me thinking I’ve figured it all out and then slaps me in the face with a plot twist. Talk about chef’s kiss. I really enjoyed this one! 
 
For those of you that like magical realism, family drama, and time traveling tales, this one is for you! 
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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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challenging dark mysterious 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

 Last book of 2023! ✨ 
 
When Alex wakes up from a coma, she’s given what some would consider a second chance at life: admittance to Yale. 
 
This dark academia novel is one of the few fantasies I’ve read recently that didn’t center around romance, which was refreshing. The slow reveal of clues as Alex tries to find her footing at Yale, understand her role as Dante over eight notorious secret societies, and come to terms with seeing Grays was addicting. Even though it started off a bit slow, Ninth House ended up being one of those books where you have to know what happens next. So if you’re interested in dark magic, monsters, and mystery in modern day, you’ll want to read this one. 
 
Be forewarned, there are a few graphic scenes I could have lived without (rape, assault, torture, etc.), so please check the TWs prior to reading. 
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Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense

5.0

 
This memoir was gut-wrenching. It was hard to enjoy such a difficult read. But who am I to judge someone’s lived experiences with stars on bookstagram? Going forward, five stars for memoirs! 
 
I grew up watching Friends. To this day it’s still a comfort show. This book showcases the man behind our beloved Chandler Bing, and the demons he faced for nearly his entire life. It’s a raw, vulnerable reflection of who Matthew Perry was as a person, his accomplishments on and off the screen, the horrors of addiction, and his hopes and dreams.  
 
Like many others, I had no idea how much suffering Perry was hiding. While expertly detailing the constant back-and-forth of a mind plagued with addiction, he also layered in humor to soften the blow. I can’t say I’m surprised about laughing along the way. Could his humor BE any darker? The true heart of this book is looking past the bitterness (“assholery” as he calls it), and seeing him for who he is: someone who went through hell and was willing to share the tale. 🕊️ 
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Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

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emotional mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

 My book club chose this book for some ~spooky-mystery~ vibes for Halloween (yes, I read it way late 😅). 
 
This wasn’t my favorite. While the writing was good, the plot dragged at a much slower pace than I’m used to in a murder-mystery. I expected much more murder—especially since it was mentioned in the title—than family drama. 
 
While I did enjoy the relationships between the three generations of grandmother, mother, and daughter, I really just wanted more of the murder-mystery part at the forefront. This probably would have been more enjoyable as an audiobook. 
All that being said, I’d try this author again someday. 
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Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

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adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-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

4.25

I’m so glad I read Fourth Wing recently because damn there’s a lot going on. What a whirlwind, I can see why this was the most anticipated book of the year. 

So let’s get into it: despite the plot being slower and parts feeling almost too repetitive, I was entirely engrossed until the end. That “I need to know what happens next” feeling kept me totally glued to the book. Violet and Xaden’s chemistry continued to burn, I love them even though I sometimes want to smack them. The dragons were still deliciously sarcastic with a heavy dose of angst. And the plot was hit with problems, twist, flips, and turns from the left and right. I have some serious theories for book three (if you’ve read it, let’s discuss?!). And UGH, after that total cliffhanger of an ending, I’m distraught at how long we’ll be waiting for the next book.
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The Bride of Lycaster by Perci Jay

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

3.5

I’ve always loved supporting local authors, so it was especially fun to meet Perci at a library masquerade ball with my book club girlies. ✨

Serafina has been convincing the heir of Lycaster to fall in love with her for seven years. When bride selection night finally comes, she is delighted to be the coveted first choice. Yet, everything she’s worked for is instantly swept away when her beloved heir is revealed to not be her groom. To her horror, she’s doomed to be the bride of the notorious half-giant. 

If you’re looking for Beauty and the Beast vibes, arranged marriages, court politics, and a cliff-hanger ending, this book is for you. It kept me interested enough to finish in two days, but it did feel a touch too young adult for my preference. That being said, I could tell that Perci put her heart and soul into this fantastical novel. 
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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

I finally read it! Was it overhyped? Maybe. Did I text all of my friends who read it, listen to two podcasts on theories almost immediately after finishing, and preorder the next book? Yes. 
 
I’ve mentioned before that my love for reading started with the Eragon series. So it was almost a guarantee that I would love this book for the dragons. Well here I am loving it for the bonds with said dragons, the magical-military school, smoldering sexual tension, representation that didn’t feel forced, detailed world building, and the twists and turns along the way. Plus, it definitely straddled the line between young adult and new adult, which made the characters more relatable. 
 
Here’s to binging the sequel! 
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A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 Ove, pronounced ooh-va, is the only honest man on his block. Or, as his neighbors might see him, Ove is a crotchety old man who is very, very, very by the book. 
 
All Ove wants is for people to follow the rules, things to stay in their places, and to bask in the warmth of his wife again. But the nitwits in his neighborhood have other plans. 
 
This is the wholesome story about a cantankerous old man that, deep down, wants to help people. And along the way, he just might start to enjoy the company of those that have nosed their way into his life. 
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