tayler's Updates en-US Thu, 24 Apr 2025 20:11:20 -0700 60 tayler's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg UserStatus1051795463 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 20:11:20 -0700 <![CDATA[ tayler is on page 40 of 176 of Big Fan ]]> Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff tayler is on page 40 of 176 of <a href="/book/show/211350358-big-fan">Big Fan</a>.
tayler wrote: this just got me hooked immediately ]]> ReadStatus9349378466 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 20:09:56 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler is currently reading 'Big Fan']]> /review/show/7516752592 Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff tayler is currently reading Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff
]]> Review7432507882 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 12:06:17 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler added 'Great Big Beautiful Life']]> /review/show/7432507882 Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry tayler gave 4 stars to Great Big Beautiful Life (Paperback) by Emily Henry
bookshelves: arcs
great bbl by miss emhen. i've got lots of thoughts on this one, so buckle in.

now, obviously, i loved reading this. her talent in writing is never a question for me, and truthfully, emily henry's worst book is someone else's best book. however, i do believe this book has been misgenred, which is only a failure to the story she's actually telling here. in its core, this is a family saga surrounding a hollywood heiress that's been in hiding for decades, margaret ives, with our main characters - alice and hayden - in competition over who gets to write her long awaited biography. in my opinion, this firmly belongs in the women's fiction genre. yes, there's romance, but there's romance in the way that there's a bit of romance in everything (think literary fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, etc). i think calling it a romance does it a disservice. i felt this way while reading happy place a bit, but i feel much stronger about it with this one. the romance maybe takes up about 20% of the book, and so if you're looking for a show-stopping romance, like many do when picking up her books, this might not be for you. additionally, they're on the same island together for about a month before falling in love with each other, which is quite different from her other romances - i personally am a slowburn girlie, so this wasn't my personal favorite, and i did feel it was a bit rushed at parts. i kept thinking, we barely know anything about this guy? but it did work for me by the end, as she's always prone to win me over.

what i loved best about this book: the way it roped me in and didn't let me go (and maybe still hasn't). my mind didn't stray from the story, from margaret ives, once while reading. i found myself sitting in my car at the grocery store just to squeeze in a few extra minutes of the audiobook, desperate to find out what happened next. you sort of always know from the get-go that something is afoot here, there's something alice doesn't know, and i think i enjoyed that. i was always eager to find out more. and although i sort of had a guess at the plot twist, it was still very well done. above all, though, there were lines that hit so deeply in me, i had to stop for a moment. when authors can pull such private and vulnerable thoughts, feelings, experiences that you think are surely only unique to you, then put them on page and make you feel seen? it's one of my favorite things about books. perhaps the reason i ever fell in love with reading to begin with. she did it the best in beach read (for me), then happy place, and now this one as well. it makes me connect with her as an author, and i adore her all the more for it. also, i'm sorry, but the summer setting in georgia on an island? i love. i love, i love, i love.

i think the reason for the four, potentially 4.5, star rating for me was the ending. i felt myself wanting just a little bit more. a little bit more of margaret, and her resolution with alice, and less of a rush. we built up to something for the entire book, and had the last 3% (?) to get a satisfying ending. that is to say: i didn't quite feel satisfied with it, which is important to me as a reader.

yes, as everyone else is saying, read this if you loved beach read and the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, etc. - but also read this if you're interested in reading about the difficult choices of women. the choices we make for love, the ones we love. the world we create for them. that is the point.

thank you so much librofm for the advanced listening copy! ]]> Rating850734730 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 12:00:40 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler liked a readstatus]]> /
tayler liked Tessa’s status update
Tessa Aldridge Tessa Aldridge started reading Destructively Mine
]]> Review7432507882 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 10:51:14 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler added 'Great Big Beautiful Life']]> /review/show/7432507882 Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry tayler gave 4 stars to Great Big Beautiful Life (Paperback) by Emily Henry
bookshelves: arcs
great bbl by miss emhen. i've got lots of thoughts on this one, so buckle in.

now, obviously, i loved reading this. her talent in writing is never a question for me, and truthfully, emily henry's worst book is someone else's best book. however, i do believe this book has been misgenred, which is only a failure to the story she's actually telling here. in its core, this is a family saga surrounding a hollywood heiress that's been in hiding for decades, margaret ives, with our main characters - alice and hayden - in competition over who gets to write her long awaited biography. in my opinion, this firmly belongs in the women's fiction genre. yes, there's romance, but there's romance in the way that there's a bit of romance in everything (think literary fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, etc). i think calling it a romance does it a disservice. i felt this way while reading happy place a bit, but i feel much stronger about it with this one. the romance maybe takes up about 20% of the book, and so if you're looking for a show-stopping romance, like many do when picking up her books, this might not be for you. additionally, they're on the same island together for about a month before falling in love with each other, which is quite different from her other romances - i personally am a slowburn girlie, so this wasn't my personal favorite, and i did feel it was a bit rushed at parts. i kept thinking, we barely know anything about this guy? but it did work for me by the end, as she's always prone to win me over.

what i loved best about this book: the way it roped me in and didn't let me go (and maybe still hasn't). my mind didn't stray from the story, from margaret ives, once while reading. i found myself sitting in my car at the grocery store just to squeeze in a few extra minutes of the audiobook, desperate to find out what happened next. you sort of always know from the get-go that something is afoot here, there's something alice doesn't know, and i think i enjoyed that. i was always eager to find out more. and although i sort of had a guess at the plot twist, it was still very well done. above all, though, there were lines that hit so deeply in me, i had to stop for a moment. when authors can pull such private and vulnerable thoughts, feelings, experiences that you think are surely only unique to you, then put them on page and make you feel seen? it's one of my favorite things about books. perhaps the reason i ever fell in love with reading to begin with. she did it the best in beach read (for me), then happy place, and now this one as well. it makes me connect with her as an author, and i adore her all the more for it. also, i'm sorry, but the summer setting in georgia on an island? i love. i love, i love, i love.

i think the reason for the four, potentially 4.5, star rating for me was the ending. i felt myself wanting just a little bit more. a little bit more of margaret, and her resolution with alice, and less of a rush. we built up to something for the entire book, and had the last 3% (?) to get a satisfying ending. that is to say: i didn't quite feel satisfied with it, which is important to me as a reader.

yes, as everyone else is saying, read this if you loved beach read and the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, etc. - but also read this if you're interested in reading about the difficult choices of women. the choices we make for love, the ones we love. the world we create for them. that is the point.

thank you so much librofm for the advanced listening copy! ]]> ReadStatus9344954780 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:28:46 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler wants to read 'Cold Mountain']]> /review/show/7513662300 Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier tayler wants to read Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
]]> Review7452386345 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:40:30 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler added 'The Conditions of Will']]> /review/show/7452386345 The Conditions of Will by Jessa Hastings tayler gave 4 stars to The Conditions of Will (Paperback) by Jessa Hastings
bookshelves: arcs
did i just get stabbed?

thank you bloom books for the arc + finished copy! review below.

let me start by saying that the magnolia parks universe is very likely my favorite series of all time, and something about jessa's writing just fucking works for me. it reels me in and doesn't let go, pulls on my heart and makes me sob. now, while i wasn't the biggest fan of 'never', i knew that i would at least have that in store for me - her writing - and i was right. there were lines in this that had my jaw dropped and on the verge of tears. the discussions of grief, trauma, siblinghood, and love (no matter how unconventional, which jessa seems to do best). she tends to throw in a mind altering sentence in the middle of an otherwise ordinary scene, about humanity, love, etc. and it always shocks me because i ask myself "where the hell did she pull that from and how was she in my brain?"
i feel i should mention that i wouldn't call this a romance book, despite the fact that it has romance in it. it's more than that. i think it's a character study of a largely problematic family in the throes of grief, with our main character, georgia, grieving her estranged father while she's home in the deep south. she also happens to fall in love with the one man she, probably, very much so, shouldn't fall in love with. the story was unique, and unlike any other i'd read, and for that reason alone, i enjoyed it immensely. also, at no point in time did i have any idea where the story was going, and i quite liked that, i think. it kept me on my toes and i had trouble putting it down, and that's one of my favorite qualities a book can have. i want a book where i pick it up and my phone ceases to exist, and she accomplished that with the conditions of will. (SPOILER) i would also be lying if i didn't admit that the magnolia parks characters mention didn't have me reeling and staring at a wall blankly for a few minutes. for that alone, i probably would've enjoyed this book (don't judge me), but nonetheless, i liked it all on its own. i don't think this book is for everybody, i suppose that could be said about all of her books, but it worked for me.

now onto my few, but worth mentioning, complaints. i didn't love the mention/opinion of american politics within the first ten pages, if i'm honest. i think stating the whole "both sides are bad" agenda in 2025 is a bit distasteful. while true that no side is even remotely perfect, there is absolutely one that is worse and incomparable, and that side is leading the country into fascism (takes breath), but moving on from that. i also think there were a bit too many comments about being gay and having gay characters? the representation is definitely refreshing compared to her other books, but i also think they should be able to exist without their sexuality being mentioned every page (i just found all the comments and mentions of it being excessive, without really serving a purpose. i think if you read it you'd get what i mean!) i think a character shouldn't revolve around their sexuality, otherwise it becomes a sort of token. but i don't think it was poorly done either! i will also admit i despise insta love, but i didn't absolutely hate it here. i think it worked for georgia and sam.

overall, this one had me hooked and enraptured until the end, and i'm excited to see what other standalones jessa has in the works! ]]> Review7436390970 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:40:04 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler added 'Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales']]> /review/show/7436390970 Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett tayler gave 5 stars to Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde, #3) by Heather Fawcett
bookshelves: arcs
thank you so much del rey for the arc + finished copy!

what a wonderful end to the most wonderful trilogy. if i have not said it enough - i adore these books, these characters and this world. and of course, this installment was no different. it included emily and wendell's both hilarious and lovely antics, the magical whimsy of the faerie world, the glorious and true lore of faeries (none of that alpha-masculine fae nonesense here, blessedly), and yet another adventure. these books are always so cozy while also maintaining a consistent plot, and managing to throw in a unique romance as well that always leaves you rooting for the main characters. there's no other book series or world that truly resembles this one, and that makes me love it all the more. i specifically loved the callbacks to previous books and the involvement of side characters in this one - especially shadow and poe, of course. i, wholeheartedly, was not expecting to tear up while reading this book, and yet! we learn new things every day, i suppose.

a fantastic finale that left me dying for more of this world that has faeries, academia, stunning prose, and most of all: magic. i will miss emily and wendell always. heather fawcett, more of this! i beg you! ]]> ReadStatus9343004022 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:39:32 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler finished reading 'Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales']]> /review/show/7436390970 Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett tayler finished reading Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
]]> Review5378127975 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:31:16 -0700 <![CDATA[tayler added 'Say You Swear']]> /review/show/5378127975 Say You Swear by Meagan Brandy tayler gave 2 stars to Say You Swear (Hardcover) by Meagan Brandy
2 stars earned by noah riley and noah riley alone ]]>