If you’re read any of Kristin Hannah’s books, you know to expect something heart-wrenching that produces waterworks. But beyond just being emotional, her works are deep looks at the world around us during varying eras of human history. The Nightingale follows sisters Vianne and Isabelle Rossignol and their activities throughout the Second World War. ToContinue reading “Review: The Nightingale”
Tag Archives: review
Review: The Midnight Library
I am absolutely flabbergasted that this book is so ubiquitous. What do you all see in it? The writing was so flat, the characters even flatter. And the plotting! ‘Round and ’round in circles we went and where did we end up in the end? Exactly where we started. So many reviews of this bookContinue reading “Review: The Midnight Library”
Review: An American Marriage
I guess I just totally missed the point of this book. Was it about the unfairness of being black in America? Was it about the pointlessness of the institution of marriage? Was it about faithfulness, what it means to have fidelity? Was it about friendship? Fatherhood? Ambition? All I can say with absolute certainty isContinue reading “Review: An American Marriage”
Review: West With Giraffes
I made a mistake. I read West With Giraffes far too fast. I practically devoured it as though I were starving. And I haven’t had a drought of good books lately – A Little Life, Shadows of Pecan Hollow, and My Monticello were all excellent reads. But there was something incredibly wholesome and renewing about this one. The animals had myContinue reading “Review: West With Giraffes”
Review: My Monticello
I’m usually not one for short story collections and anthologies, but oh my goodness did I adore My Monticello. A stunning collection of congruent commentaries on being black in Virginia, on the hypocrisy of white saviors, on the loaded history of Monticello and its original proprietor, My Monticello made a distinct impression on me. I loved the storyContinue reading “Review: My Monticello”
Review: The Once and Future Witches
This is one of those books I was so excited to read, à la The Lost Apothecary, and which let me down so hard. I did not enjoy this book whatsoever. From the writing to the thin, weak thing that serves as plot, I gritted and ground my teeth through this entire book. I understandContinue reading “Review: The Once and Future Witches”
Review: Shadows of Pecan Hollow
WARNING: Here there be spoilers Thank you to Net Galley, William Morrow, and Caroline Frost for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.—The minute I read the description of Shadows of Pecan Hollow I was interested. When I read reviews comparing it to Where the Crawdads Sing and Valentine, two of my favorite 2021 reads, I was on aContinue reading “Review: Shadows of Pecan Hollow”
Review: A Little Life
WARNING: Here there be spoilers — My god. What a story, what a telling. A Little Life follows four college friends and roommates – JB, Willem, Malcolm, and Jude – as they navigate their lives and relationships in New York City. The story centers on Jude St. Francis, whose tragic and mysterious past is unknownContinue reading “Review: A Little Life”
Review: Outlander
WARNING: Here there be spoilers Outlander was a book and a series I wanted desperately to avoid. Why, you might ask, would I want to pass up this super popular historical fiction series? I’m averse to the hyper-popular, having been let down by it so many times. But Outlander comes highly recommended by my dearContinue reading “Review: Outlander”
Review: We Are Not Like Them
This book was heartbreaking. It’s a wonderful concept for a novel, written by two friends, one white and one black. It’s told from the perspective of Riley and Jen, two lifelong friends whose lives have drifted in different directions. Riley is an ambitious black journalist in Philadelphia, and Jen is a white woman pregnant withContinue reading “Review: We Are Not Like Them”
Emjay Reads 