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snowbenton's reviews
3423 reviews
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Not the worst thriller I've read, but that isn't saying much for a genre wildly oversaturated with books where the author had an inkling of an idea for a plot twist, and then wrote a book around it without properly fleshing it out.
I was mostly going along for the ride until the husband tried to claim that he didn't realize he was fucking his wife's friend and not his wife because he has face blindness. There is no universe in which you can't tell by conversation, body type, mannerisms, and smell that you're with the wrong partner unless you are totally whacked out on drugs. It's like saying blind people can't be guilty of cheating because how could they ever know who they are with. It's insane.
I did really like that you find out that he was the one who actually killed his mom. All of the characters were unhinged so I didn't really care who ended up with who, which made this more relaxing than it was probably intended to be.
2.0
I was mostly going along for the ride until the husband tried to claim that he didn't realize he was fucking his wife's friend and not his wife because he has face blindness. There is no universe in which you can't tell by conversation, body type, mannerisms, and smell that you're with the wrong partner unless you are totally whacked out on drugs. It's like saying blind people can't be guilty of cheating because how could they ever know who they are with. It's insane.
I did really like that you find out that he was the one who actually killed his mom. All of the characters were unhinged so I didn't really care who ended up with who, which made this more relaxing than it was probably intended to be.
Fellowship of the Stars: Nine Science Fiction Stories by Pamela Sargent, Fritz Leiber, George Alec Effinger, Mildred Downey Broxon, Frederik Pohl, Alan Brennert, Terry Carr, John Brunner, Ursula K. Le Guin, Alan Dean Foster
1.0
I didn't like even one of the stories.
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
2.0
I gave it an extra star because it was genuinely very stressful and I was racing to get to the end. But while the ending was satisfying, I didn't enjoy the journey there. Too many dumb mistakes and stupid plotlines. To me the mark of a good thriller is that you can read it again and be impressed by the subtle clues--this is not one of those books.
The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan
3.0
I liked the audiobook narrator's Irish accent and the bit of Irish history in the reveal. I did, however, get so angry at the husband for not listening to her that I was shouting at my phone. So don't read this if that kind of thing makes you as crazy as it does me. But overall a good story and decent conclusion.
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
I only made it 36 pages. I read some reviews to see if it gets better, only to learn it gets even worse.
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4.0
It's amazing how Ingalls Wilder really makes you feel like you are there and makes you care for everyone in town. If nothing else, reading these books has made me feel so insanely grateful for my life, and I like to think I have been complaining less but you'd have to ask my friends if that's actually true.
I told a coworker that I was reading these and he commented that they are libertarian propaganda, and I died laughing because he is completely right.
I told a coworker that I was reading these and he commented that they are libertarian propaganda, and I died laughing because he is completely right.
Never Lie by Freida McFadden
1.0
I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be a thriller, but the only way I was able to finish it was by treating it as a comedy. This was truly so bad I found myself laughing at loud. If you can make it to the end, rest assured that the twist will send you right back to the beginning of the book -- where, suddenly, the introductory chapters make absolutely zero sense. I'm genuinely amazed this was published. If you just can't finish it, spoilers here : The clues lead you to believe the the evil EJ on Adrienne's tapes is Tricia's husband, but that's just a red herring (which is a decent one, credit where credit is due) only for you to find out that Tricia is the Patricia on the tapes who killed her fiance and best friends--and she is also the murderer of Adrienne. Adrienne herself killed EJ. Then you find out that Ethan actually is a bad guy too: he killed his mom for her money. So together they murder Adrienne's innocent boyfriend Luke, buy the house, and raise their children there.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
This should have been fun, but it just wasn't. I liked that Jane was a terrible person because it made sense for her to act the way she did, and I liked that Eddie also seemed terrible, because it made sense that Jane believed he killed his wife even as the reader knows she's locked up.
But then to find out that he didn't kill Blanche and it was actually B who did it fucks it all up. That should have been a great twist, but now I'm just sitting here wondering what kind of person could go from loving his wife, to locking her up because she's a murderer, then, instead of doing something normal like calling the cops, he starts fucking his dogwalker and then puts her in his will? While still fucking his actual wife even though he knows she's a murderer two times over? None of it worked for me.
1.0
But then to find out that he didn't kill Blanche and it was actually B who did it fucks it all up. That should have been a great twist, but now I'm just sitting here wondering what kind of person could go from loving his wife, to locking her up because she's a murderer, then, instead of doing something normal like calling the cops, he starts fucking his dogwalker and then puts her in his will? While still fucking his actual wife even though he knows she's a murderer two times over? None of it worked for me.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
Most of this book was a slog. The final sprint really did pack a punch and I loved that friendship was the ribbon that pulled the whole story together. But there was way too much info-dumping to make it actually fun to read.
Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
5.0
Naturalism and atheism and a memoir and a discussion of the meaning (or lack thereof) of life? You could not keep me away from this book! I really liked the audio. Miller does a beautiful job of interspersing information from her own life to add value and depth while discussing the history of taxonomy in general and David Starr Jordan in specific. (Also, I'm definitely on team murder for this one.)