Such a feel good beachy story! This was a nice and easy read about a woman currently going through a divorce and her mischievously charming g★ 3 stars
Such a feel good beachy story! This was a nice and easy read about a woman currently going through a divorce and her mischievously charming grandmother traveling back home.
The story is written in a past and present timeline telling the story of Evelyn's first love as a young girl in the 1950's and Jenna's current struggle navigating her life as a single newly-divorced woman. Evelyn is an absolute force to be reckoned with, I LOVED her. Couldn't quite connect with Jenna but it was refreshing to see her come alive again and all the beach and boating scenes with Joe made this a great intro to summer read.
Surprisingly, the historical timeline held most of my attention throughout the book. Evelyn's story is certainly the strongest between the two, but both still had an overall theme of family and second-chances. The ending was heartwarming and bittersweet at the same time. I'm glad Evelyn and Tony got that happy ending they deserved. It was a right person, wrong time situation. ...more
Liked Tova and Marcellus, but could not tolerate Cameron.
Absolutely zero stars to that annoying man-child. Cameron is actually the biggest ★ 2.5 stars
Liked Tova and Marcellus, but could not tolerate Cameron.
Absolutely zero stars to that annoying man-child. Cameron is actually the biggest loser I've ever read about. This grown ass 30-year-old man needs to grow up and stop blaming the entire world for how shitty he's made his life into.
“Boohoo my mom left me with my cool aunt when I was 9 because she couldn't take care of me. Boohoo my girlfriend broke up with me for being a bum who can’t hold a job. Boohoo Ethan won’t give me a manager position because I don’t have any experience whatsoever and I insulted him and his job. Boohoo the girl I stood up is ghosting me after I told her teenage son I was standing her up. Boohoo some random rich guy isn’t my father and I can’t milk him for his money.”
Aside from Cameron, this book honestly just took too long for me to get into the story. I was frankly bored for the first 75% of the book and while the ending was heartwarming, I think I'm mostly just relieved it's finally over. I was really expecting this to have a lot more aquarium and marine animal screen time, but Marcellus's chapters were so incredibly short and had little to do with him being a charming octopus. It felt like Marcellus's was just there to advance the plot of Cameron and Tova, which I wasn't that interested in.
“Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But ocassionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.”
Oh my gosh I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I was going to. Reading this was like watching La La Land for the first time and it H★ 4.5 stars
Oh my gosh I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I was going to. Reading this was like watching La La Land for the first time and it HURT.
“It’s funny the decisions you make because you like someone, he says, and then your whole life is different. I think we’re at a weird age where life can change a lot from small decisions”
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The book goes through the very real and mundane lives of Connell and Marianne. There was something so nostalgic and painful to see the way Connell and Marianne came together and pulled apart over the course of their early adult lives. They would go out of their way to avoid developing a deeper connection with each other....more
This was so Hallmark Christmas movie coded with WAYYY too many conversations about Star Wars and Star Trek.
Not gonna lie, for the entHigh 2.75 stars.
This was so Hallmark Christmas movie coded with WAYYY too many conversations about Star Wars and Star Trek.
Not gonna lie, for the entire first half of the story, I completely forgot their first names because our MC's only ever referred to each other by Mr. Benz and Ms. Delaney - which I now know is because this book was inspired by Pride & Prejudice.
Basically, like all the best hallmark movies, Cara Delaney works in NYC for a management consulting firm and is tapped on a project to travel to Eldovia right before the holidays to help restructure Eldovia’s #1 manufacturing company, that makes luxury watches. She immediately clashes with the King's equerry Matteo Benz, who is devoted to his small country and big on tradition and fears Cara is going to recommend widespread layoffs that will hurt many people. And of course, as they work together throughout the Christmas season, they eventually realize they had each other all wrong and fall in love. Duh.
I'm a romance girly to my core, and while this was a solid book, there was a little too much business/investigation in the story. While I figured her work was going to be a part of the story, I wasn't expecting every meeting and interview to be in the book. This, as a result just made the relationship between Cara and Matteo develop wayy later into the book (I'm talking like 65% into the book) and by then I didn't buy into their relationship anymore. Too much business and not enough romance. ...more
Relatively good book about survival and family. The Great Alone follows a teenage Leni into her adult years and how she navigates a life trapped in heRelatively good book about survival and family. The Great Alone follows a teenage Leni into her adult years and how she navigates a life trapped in her parent’s toxic marriage.
The last like 8 chapters felt like everything was happening incredibly fast especially with the time jumps. Aside from that, I enjoyed it for the most part. It was also a bit more dramatic than I anticipated in the last couple of chapters with the back-to-back life-changing events. NOTE AND POSSIBLE SPOILER: topics include domestic abuse, murder, falling off a cliff, car crash, death, falling into icy river, brain damage, cancer, and probably a couple other that I left off. I genuinely felt like Leni and her mom really just couldn’t catch a single break.
I also felt that the entire conversation around ptsd in war veterans could’ve been handled a bit better in regards to Ernt and that one other dude. Or at least the lack of government support for recovered veterans could’ve been addressed more instead of outright making people with ptsd out to be violent monsters.
idk *shrug* it was still an enjoyable read - 3.25/5 stars...more
Madeline took out my heart and then gave it right back to me. I sobbed and wiped my tears and then sobbed again. The writing was absolutely b★ 5 stars
Madeline took out my heart and then gave it right back to me. I sobbed and wiped my tears and then sobbed again. The writing was absolutely beautiful, the prose absolutely incredible, I LOVED LOVED the way it was crafted. It was lyrical but simple and packed a powerful image.
“And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.”
This is a Greek Mythology retelling of the story of Achilles, the legendary Greek hero and his friend/lover Petroclus. It's an epic tale of love and war and pain. Achilles and Patroclus's relationship felt like a privilege to experience - the joy and heartbreak that comes with it.
“What has Hector done to me?”
WHAT HAS HECTOR DONE TO ME?!?! Are you kidding me? I could burst into tears again just by reading that. One my new all-time favorite reads....more
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