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swampwitchintraining's reviews
252 reviews
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
5.0
I really loved this book. It is a beautifully written story of love, loss, greed, family dysfunction and forgiveness. Lovely from the first sentence to the last.
Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship and Murder by Amy Butcher
1.0
I’ll start with the good thing: the writing isn’t bad.
Literally everything else about this book is terrible. I feel like this author exploited the death of a child and the ruin of two families because she had couldn’t come up with anything else to write about.
I picked this book up because I am a criminal defense attorney. I am always interested in books that help to shed light on the humanity of those who have committed crimes. Instead what I got was 200 pages of self-righteous drivel in which the author seeks to focus NOT on the people and families who were destroyed, but on the way it made HER feel.
Self-indulgence at its worst. My biggest regret is that I kept reading it. I thought she might have a point somewhere in there. She did not.
Literally everything else about this book is terrible. I feel like this author exploited the death of a child and the ruin of two families because she had couldn’t come up with anything else to write about.
I picked this book up because I am a criminal defense attorney. I am always interested in books that help to shed light on the humanity of those who have committed crimes. Instead what I got was 200 pages of self-righteous drivel in which the author seeks to focus NOT on the people and families who were destroyed, but on the way it made HER feel.
Self-indulgence at its worst. My biggest regret is that I kept reading it. I thought she might have a point somewhere in there. She did not.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5.0
What a wonderful book! I thought it would be entertaining but I didn’t expect to be moved by it. The character of Evelyn is so beautifully written, so complex and flawed and vibrant and real, that I kept finding myself wanting to look her up on IMDB.
A truly beautiful story about what it means to be your true self and what it means to deny that. I loved it!
A truly beautiful story about what it means to be your true self and what it means to deny that. I loved it!
Lone Star Christmas by Delores Fossen
2.0
I’m dumber for having read this. But not wholly unsatisfied.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
3.0
This book was a mixed bag for me. It started slow and I almost quit it at least twice. In the end, the story was good and well written and I’m glad I stuck it out.
Once upon a time I dreamed of being a naturalist and even have a degree in zoology. I grew up on the coast of NC. I had some real problems with the geographical aspects of this book. Given that the marsh was just as much a character as Kya or Tate, I would have expected the author to take greater care to get it right. This probably isn’t a problem for most readers, just a pet peeve of mine (I’m looking at you Nicholas Sparks). Coastal NC is so unique, so full of life and beauty and vibrancy, I hate to see it captured incorrectly.
Once upon a time I dreamed of being a naturalist and even have a degree in zoology. I grew up on the coast of NC. I had some real problems with the geographical aspects of this book. Given that the marsh was just as much a character as Kya or Tate, I would have expected the author to take greater care to get it right. This probably isn’t a problem for most readers, just a pet peeve of mine (I’m looking at you Nicholas Sparks). Coastal NC is so unique, so full of life and beauty and vibrancy, I hate to see it captured incorrectly.