en-US Sat, 12 Apr 2025 13:32:06 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7479123102 Sat, 12 Apr 2025 13:32:06 -0700 /review/show/7479123102 Sydney gave 3 stars to Normal People (ebook) by Sally Rooney
bookshelves: 1contemporary, 1literary, audiobook
I wanted my first Sally Rooney to be the one that had the best chance of success, so I chose this one. It’s polarizing, but mostly people seem to love it, and it’s her most popular.

How do I feel about it? Hmm� I don’t know. I think my expectations were not accurate.

I like the writing, and the characters are decently interesting. I just felt weird while reading it. I think I would have enjoyed it more in my early 20s. It’s depressing, but it straddled the line even in that way. It never spent enough time in one moment for me. Like the part in Sweden (Switzerland? I can’t remember) was disturbing, but then it was just over and I was left feeling like I’d missed something.

Also, what an anticlimactic and mid-depressing ending. I hate it.

I have a hold at my library for Intermezzo, and I think that one might be a better fit for me since a bff recently loved it. ]]> Review7471227488 Wed, 09 Apr 2025 11:36:39 -0700 /review/show/7471227488 Sydney marked as dnf-can-t-finish The Seven Year Slip (Paperback) by Ashley Poston
bookshelves: 1romance, dnf, dnf-can-t-finish
DNF at 15%. So boring. I really wanted to love this. ]]> Review7471037900 Wed, 09 Apr 2025 11:36:02 -0700 /review/show/7471037900 Sydney gave 3 stars to The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
bookshelves: 1dystopian, audiobook, 1ya
3.5 stars. I definitely would’ve liked it more if I hadn’t seen the movie.

I recently listened to this audiobook on a long trip, and it was a really well done production. I think the movie is really spot on though, so the whole time I’d felt like I was reading it for the second time. Peeta was slightly more likable in the book than the movie, but the other differences aren’t really worth noting. ]]> Review7447231554 Sun, 30 Mar 2025 10:56:22 -0700 /review/show/7447231554 Sydney gave 4 stars to Of Mice and Men (Paperback) by John Steinbeck
bookshelves: 1classics, 1literary, audiobook, novella-or-novelette, sadness, disability-rep
Today is my birthday and all I wanted was to read a quick classic while eating chocolates my mom got me from France. Relaxing and feeling fancy.

I know most people read this in middle school or high school but my schools didn’t teach it. I’m actually happy I didn’t have to read it back then because Where the Red Fern Grows destroyed me in 6th grade, and this would’ve probably been just as bad for me.

Both dog parts were upsetting. I just wasn’t expecting something that. And the casual racism of the time was rough, but I was expecting it. But in general, I really enjoyed the experience of reading this one. George and Lenny 😭 ]]> Review7439767217 Sun, 30 Mar 2025 05:04:00 -0700 /review/show/7439767217 Sydney gave 4 stars to Bury Your Gays (Hardcover) by Chuck Tingle
bookshelves: 1horror, audiobook, lgbtq-characters, 1sci-fi
For a while the pace was way too slow for my liking. Honestly I was planning to rate this 3 stars until the horror aspect kicked in. Then it got good fast. The airplane scene in particular really set off my own phobias. I was reading that part in the dark right before bed as my partner paced in the shadows to get the baby to sleep, looking tall and like he was floating on the ground. It was so fucking creepy, the timing. Then I remained creeped out and even got really scared once I switched to audio to listen in bed for a little. In the dark. The only one awake.

So yeah, I loved it. This book is smart, scary, and fun. Once it ramped up the action and fear factor, it kept me interested to the end.

It’s also an important book. Turn on the tv and you’ll probably see a show or movie that has taken advantage of the queer community (and any non-white communities) with stereotypes and surface level shit. Gives ammo to hateful people who love calling everything “woke� when Hollywood keeps making terrible things with diversity stamps. (This is also obviously happening in publishing, and lots of other places, but this book deals with Hollywood).

Kinda wish this book was real just for the ending. ]]> Review7440771220 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:16:09 -0700 /review/show/7440771220 Sydney gave 4 stars to Twisted Pretty Things (Shadows of London, #1) by Ariana Nash
bookshelves: 1urban-fantasy, free, hate-to-love, lgbtq-characters, magic-system, not-american, self-pub-or-indie, smut
Very fun. Love the world and magic. ]]> Review5849519080 Wed, 26 Mar 2025 09:40:27 -0700 /review/show/5849519080 Sydney gave 2 stars to Belladonna (Belladonna, #1) by Adalyn Grace
bookshelves: owned-unread, 1fantasy, 1historical-fiction, 1ya, frustrating
2.5 stars. Boring and overhyped. I’d heard so many good things about this series, and now that the final book is out I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

- It took a long time for me to be interested in the story at all. I was pretty bored from the start and it never really got going.
- The “twists� were obvious to me.
- I hated that Death knew her when she was a baby. I don’t understand how that’s romantic.
- Lots of convenient things. Spirit L can’t speak, the bushes weren’t just burned or torn out, other things that are spoilers.
- Also, why wouldn’t the cover showcase her unique eyes instead of her lips?

It's well written though, so I was going to round up to 3 stars, but I was sooooo ready for this book to be over. I have no desire to continue the series. ]]> Review7430541190 Mon, 24 Mar 2025 09:10:20 -0700 /review/show/7430541190 Sydney gave 4 stars to Malibu Rising (Hardcover) by Taylor Jenkins Reid
bookshelves: 1historical-fiction, audiobook, lgbtq-characters
3.5 stars. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I did tear up at the end, so there’s that. It’s a compelling family drama, but also a bit monotonous and super depressing, and I felt like it was much longer than it was. But it was also really good and not at all something I’d usually enjoy reading.

Also, I don’t understand why people hated Carrie Soto so much after reading this. Like I get what she did was wrong, but of all the people to hate in this book, Carrie Soto isn’t the one I’d pick.

My rating mostly comes down to my comparison of this to Evelyn Hugo, which I liked a little more. ]]> Review7425686986 Sat, 22 Mar 2025 17:59:00 -0700 /review/show/7425686986 Sydney gave 4 stars to Becoming a Vincent (The Wild Ones, #1) by C.M. Owens
bookshelves: 1romance, comfort-reads, questionable-content, self-pub-or-indie, smut, standalone
3.5 stars. Don’t love the writing, really do love the setting and story. I don’t have anything super coherent to say so I’m going to organize my random thoughts by bullets. I’ll save the good stuff for last.

- The writing style is immature and quirky, and there were times, especially at the start of the book, where I could barely stomach it.
- There’s a good bit of questionable/problematic stuff.
- CM Owens/Kristy Cunning loves her OM/OW drama, so if that bothers you, skip this. I don’t mind it. Feels nostalgic to me, as messed up as that is.
- I really don’t like when brothers get protective or weird about guys touching or dating their sisters. There’s more than one scene about them discussing their sister’s virginity (she’s not a virgin), including a time they call it cherry-popping. Hated it.
- A squirrel gets killed by a dog :(
- But damn did I love the beard storyline. Most of the men in this town didn’t shave their faces at all for nine years. Not even trimming! Such a great lead in for a barrage of Cinderella stories in this series when the women get to see the faces of these men for the first time in so long.
- I love the whole Wild Ones and four corners thing. So so much. It’s like Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, but less sad.

I will definitely continue this series, but I’m really sad we will never have books for Deacon or the Vincent brothers. ]]> Review7420137108 Fri, 21 Mar 2025 14:03:29 -0700 /review/show/7420137108 Sydney gave 4 stars to Hungerstone (Hardcover) by Kat Dunn
bookshelves: 1historical-fiction, 1horror, 1horror-fantasy, sapphic
Sapphic horror is always solid. This one is a slow-paced historical fiction retelling of Carmilla. I’ve read a few books like this—Nightbitch comes to mind� but this one is more satisfying.

The last half was so good. It got better and better. ]]>