Manuscript Musing

 SPOILERS BE HERE I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it fell flat for me. I 100% believe part of that was due to me listening to it rather than reading it—I drifted in and out and couldn't keep the characters straight, specifically Izzy and Lexie; something about their names is too similar. I think the plot was interesting, but actions were random and didn't make sense. Why did Mia keep Pearl? I never felt like that decision was fully explored—she just up and left. And why did Izzy (...not Lexie, right?) set fires in the house? That seemed like such an extreme response to the things that happened. The characters were not fleshed out enough. I also felt like I was being led a little too much to sympathize with certain characters and dislike others.  I said the plot was interesting; it was also clunky. It jumped around from one thing to another so sporadically that it felt like a different book at times. It could have been handled a lot more smoothly by cutting some of the ...

SPOILERS BE HERE I was wandering around my new library when I saw this on a shelf and grabbed it on a whim because I love Amy Tan. Sadly, it wasn't my favorite, although I did enjoy it quite a bit. It was overly long, although thinking back on it now, I'm not really sure what could be cut. I suppose just some of the details? There were a lot of them but they helped make the book so rich. I think my main issue with the book was I went in blind. I didn't expect there to be graphic details of a child being forced into the sex trade, so that was pretty shocking and might have deterred me from reading the book. I enjoyed the other parts, but the sex scenes were fairly horrifying to me. And silly me read that part of the book on a plane, so I felt very uncomfortable.  I read this a while ago so can't really remember names, but the main character (Violet?) had such a heartbreaking story. To finally find love and escape from her situation only to have her husband die, child tak...

 SPOILERS BE HERE Trash. This book was trash. I had no idea what it was about beyond it probably being a sequel to Ready Player One , which I really enjoyed. But this was just a rehash of Ready Player One , and done really badly. Wade was awful. The relationships were awful. The story was awful. That Prince segment was sooooooooooo overly long. It would have been much better if we could have followed a different set of characters on the quest (those five who called themselves something I can't remember). Or if it had just been about how the winners were using their money to try to help the world. Or a prequel. Anything but what it was.  That's it. That's the review. It doesn't deserve anything else. Parts were fine but overall it was just plain bad. Completed: 7 March 2021 Rating: 1/5 Recommend: Absolutely not

 SPOILERS BE HERE I've been remiss about writing reviews lately. A new puppy, super busy time at work, company—I'm about three or four books behind, and they may not all get done! This book was cute. There really isn't a better word to describe it. Everything was predictable—of course Emmie's landlord left her the house. Of course she ended up with the brother (whose name is escaping me, but I want to call him Emmett. I know that's not right). Of course he came back just in time for the meteor shower. Of course Lucas kissed her and someone saw them. Of course her dad wasn't some French rock star. But it was charming enough that it worked. I can't describe why I liked it so much, but it was just a comforting read. Sometimes it's nice knowing what's going to happen. The two things I didn't like were the France aspect and her sexual assault. There just seemed to be no rhyme or reason to have Lucas in France. They could have easily been as distanced ...