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eviecheesepuff's reviews
104 reviews
Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
β¨πΉπππ βπΌπππΌπβ¨
I was not ready for the wild ride this book had in store for me. I thought I was in for a cute little rom com about two people scared of commitment. And itβs that, but the romance is really an afterthought. The plot focuses more than anything on female friendships and women supporting and watching out for each other. I absolutely loved how the abuse was depicted in this book. Most of it was βharmlessβ and very subtle to the bystander. I did not care too much for the main character, she was a bit boring to be honest, so the side characters are really what makes this book brilliant.
ππΌπππβπ ππΌπΈββπΌπ»
β’ Abuse is abuse. It can be physical, it can be emotional, it can be intense or subtle. The most important (and sometimes hardest) part is to identify itβs happening and SEEK HELP. A friend, a family member, the policeβ¦stay safe out there.
β’ Try to balance your relationships in a way that you do not loose your friends in order to keep your partner or vice versa. All of your chosen people are part of who you are.
Donβt pressure anyone into an answer theyβre not ready to give! May it be a marriage proposal or choosing an ice cream flavor! Patience people! Some of us need time to figure ourselves out.
If anyone knows the IG handle of the narrator Heather Long, please let me know so I can tag her. I couldn't find her socials, but she is a fantastic narrator β€οΈ
ππ π₯ππ€
βοΈ I canβt believe I am liking this book more for the friendships than the romance. Who even is she? We donβt know her!
βοΈ I want to visit London so badly omfg.
They both have superhero names omg!
βοΈ Harriet Hatley and Cal Clarke, I love!
βοΈ Simon really said girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep. Hate him.
I was not ready for the wild ride this book had in store for me. I thought I was in for a cute little rom com about two people scared of commitment. And itβs that, but the romance is really an afterthought. The plot focuses more than anything on female friendships and women supporting and watching out for each other. I absolutely loved how the abuse was depicted in this book. Most of it was βharmlessβ and very subtle to the bystander. I did not care too much for the main character, she was a bit boring to be honest, so the side characters are really what makes this book brilliant.
ππΌπππβπ ππΌπΈββπΌπ»
β’ Abuse is abuse. It can be physical, it can be emotional, it can be intense or subtle. The most important (and sometimes hardest) part is to identify itβs happening and SEEK HELP. A friend, a family member, the policeβ¦stay safe out there.
β’ Try to balance your relationships in a way that you do not loose your friends in order to keep your partner or vice versa. All of your chosen people are part of who you are.
Donβt pressure anyone into an answer theyβre not ready to give! May it be a marriage proposal or choosing an ice cream flavor! Patience people! Some of us need time to figure ourselves out.
If anyone knows the IG handle of the narrator Heather Long, please let me know so I can tag her. I couldn't find her socials, but she is a fantastic narrator β€οΈ
ππ π₯ππ€
βοΈ I canβt believe I am liking this book more for the friendships than the romance. Who even is she? We donβt know her!
βοΈ I want to visit London so badly omfg.
They both have superhero names omg!
βοΈ Harriet Hatley and Cal Clarke, I love!
βοΈ Simon really said girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep. Hate him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Medical trauma and Death of parent
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
I have been putting Alice in Wonderland off since I was a child. I never liked the movie as much as my friends did, it always creeped me out. Then my literature teacher in high school did not help. She though Lewis Carroll was an absolute creep and spent a whole class telling us how much of a perv he was. I looked into it and decided that there's not enough info to actually deem him a perv or not, however I will say that the Victorians had some weird and perturbing pastimes when it came to children omg.
Anyways, I am almost half the way through the story and all that has happened so far is this little girl drinks something, shrinks and cries. So then she eats something, grows in size and cries some more. She also says things that to me do not sound like a child speaking. The best way I can explain it is comparing this book to any of Roald Dahl's. When I read Matilda or The Witches the kids in those stories came across like...well kids. Alice on the other hand is all over the place and her thoughts in my opinion are too mature for a kid at points but then somehow she is extremely dumb the next sentence?
And it's kind of odd tbh. Like my dude Lewis had no f*cking clue how kids rationalize things. I was not enjoying it at all...so I stopped. I hope all of my book besties who love Alice In Wonderland don't hate me, believe me when I say that I am heartbroken. I really wanted to like this book :(
Anyways, I am almost half the way through the story and all that has happened so far is this little girl drinks something, shrinks and cries. So then she eats something, grows in size and cries some more. She also says things that to me do not sound like a child speaking. The best way I can explain it is comparing this book to any of Roald Dahl's. When I read Matilda or The Witches the kids in those stories came across like...well kids. Alice on the other hand is all over the place and her thoughts in my opinion are too mature for a kid at points but then somehow she is extremely dumb the next sentence?
And it's kind of odd tbh. Like my dude Lewis had no f*cking clue how kids rationalize things. I was not enjoying it at all...so I stopped. I hope all of my book besties who love Alice In Wonderland don't hate me, believe me when I say that I am heartbroken. I really wanted to like this book :(
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I wanted to give Ali Hazelwood a second chance, as I rated #tlh 3 stars.
Turns out they are really not that different from each other, imo you could pretty much exchange any characters and have a very similar book. Different science fields? Yes Same personalities and physical descriptions? Yes.
Things I absolutely love:
- extremely cute banter and very sweet and sensitive male characters (hard to find and lovely to see!)
- representation of women in stem and specially bringing awareness to the difficulties women face in an academic environment β€οΈ we need more of this for sure!
- very supportive and diverse secondary characters that I always adore and want to know more of (you can ways expect a queer romance subplot...I wonder if she plans to eventually make a queer couple the mcs?)
Things I... struggle with:
- miscommunication trope: AH herself has explained how she loves this trope. I can't fault someone for writing what they want to read but at the same time I personally just can't fully enjoy a book where a very simple honest conversation would solve every single plot point of the conflict π this is why my favorite book by her is def "Under One Roof" because it's not so much miscommunication but prejudice.
- size: oh. my. god. The amount of times her books reference how big the MMC is and how tiny the FMC is ridiculous. If you've already told me the size of the characters I don't need a thousand reminders of it. I got it. Thanks. On top of that, I think the big problem for me it's not the size perse or even the lack of body inclusivity... but the way she emphasizes and describes it. I'm a midsize gal and to be perfectly honest, her books kind of make me feel bad about myself. That's more of my problem than hers, but I wanted to mention it in case anyone else (man or woman) who doesn't fit the "beauty standards" and struggles with feeling this way is considering reading her books...be aware β€οΈ and remember that you are beautiful and worthy regardless of size. Be kind to yourself.
Turns out they are really not that different from each other, imo you could pretty much exchange any characters and have a very similar book. Different science fields? Yes Same personalities and physical descriptions? Yes.
Things I absolutely love:
- extremely cute banter and very sweet and sensitive male characters (hard to find and lovely to see!)
- representation of women in stem and specially bringing awareness to the difficulties women face in an academic environment β€οΈ we need more of this for sure!
- very supportive and diverse secondary characters that I always adore and want to know more of (you can ways expect a queer romance subplot...I wonder if she plans to eventually make a queer couple the mcs?)
Things I... struggle with:
- miscommunication trope: AH herself has explained how she loves this trope. I can't fault someone for writing what they want to read but at the same time I personally just can't fully enjoy a book where a very simple honest conversation would solve every single plot point of the conflict π this is why my favorite book by her is def "Under One Roof" because it's not so much miscommunication but prejudice.
- size: oh. my. god. The amount of times her books reference how big the MMC is and how tiny the FMC is ridiculous. If you've already told me the size of the characters I don't need a thousand reminders of it. I got it. Thanks. On top of that, I think the big problem for me it's not the size perse or even the lack of body inclusivity... but the way she emphasizes and describes it. I'm a midsize gal and to be perfectly honest, her books kind of make me feel bad about myself. That's more of my problem than hers, but I wanted to mention it in case anyone else (man or woman) who doesn't fit the "beauty standards" and struggles with feeling this way is considering reading her books...be aware β€οΈ and remember that you are beautiful and worthy regardless of size. Be kind to yourself.
Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I wanted to give Ali Hazelwood a second chance, as I rated #tlh 3 stars. So I read her other books.
Turns out they are really not that different from each other, imo you could pretty much exchange any characters and have a very similar book. So instead of an individual review, I came up with a pros/cons lists of my opinions on AH's writing π
Things I absolutely love:
- extremely cute banter and very sweet and sensitive male characters (hard to find and lovely to see!)
- representation of women in stem and specially bringing awareness to the difficulties women face in an academic environment β€οΈ we need more of this for sure!
- very supportive and diverse secondary characters that I always adore and want to know more of (you can ways expect a queer romance subplot...I wonder if she plans to eventually make a queer couple the mcs?)
- miscommunication trope: AH herself has explained how she loves this trope. I can't fault someone for writing what they want to read but at the same time I personally just can't fully enjoy a book where a very simple honest conversation would solve every single plot point of the conflict π this is def my favorite book by her because it's not so much miscommunication but prejudice.
Turns out they are really not that different from each other, imo you could pretty much exchange any characters and have a very similar book. So instead of an individual review, I came up with a pros/cons lists of my opinions on AH's writing π
Things I absolutely love:
- extremely cute banter and very sweet and sensitive male characters (hard to find and lovely to see!)
- representation of women in stem and specially bringing awareness to the difficulties women face in an academic environment β€οΈ we need more of this for sure!
- very supportive and diverse secondary characters that I always adore and want to know more of (you can ways expect a queer romance subplot...I wonder if she plans to eventually make a queer couple the mcs?)
- miscommunication trope: AH herself has explained how she loves this trope. I can't fault someone for writing what they want to read but at the same time I personally just can't fully enjoy a book where a very simple honest conversation would solve every single plot point of the conflict π this is def my favorite book by her because it's not so much miscommunication but prejudice.
Anna K by Jenny Lee
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
π°πππ πΊπππππππ + π΄πππππππ + πΆπππππ πΆπππ = π°πππ πΊ πππ πΈ ππ ππππππ πππ ππ!
β¨πΉπππ βπΌπππΌπβ¨
I read Anna Karenina for the first time about a year ago. Even though the story was really good (Levin stand over here), the social commentary between and outside the lines was too dense for me. I also kind of hated the entirety of Anna's plotline.
This retelling however managed to really grasp my attention and I found myself caring for the characters a lot more.
My favorites were definitely Lolly and Stephen β€οΈ their character development was gorgeous π₯°
To be honest the characters were a bit too young imo, I think the book would have made more sense if they were in their 20's . There is so much happening, drugs, sex, death... definitely check the trigger warnings before reading!!!
ππΌπππβπ ππΌπΈββπΌπ»
βͺοΈHonesty is the way through. It might not be easy and you may break some hearts but if you're honest about your intentions and feelings you will always be on the right path.
βͺοΈRespecting boundaries and other people's limits. Specially when it comes to a relationship. If Stephen can learn to do it, so can you!
ππ π₯ππ€
- I usually hate when a character cheats and I tend to be very against forgiveness, however this book was the exception to that rule. I very much enjoyed seeing Lolly and Stephen work through his betrayal and learning to care for each other deeply.
β¨πΉπππ βπΌπππΌπβ¨
I read Anna Karenina for the first time about a year ago. Even though the story was really good (Levin stand over here), the social commentary between and outside the lines was too dense for me. I also kind of hated the entirety of Anna's plotline.
This retelling however managed to really grasp my attention and I found myself caring for the characters a lot more.
My favorites were definitely Lolly and Stephen β€οΈ their character development was gorgeous π₯°
To be honest the characters were a bit too young imo, I think the book would have made more sense if they were in their 20's . There is so much happening, drugs, sex, death... definitely check the trigger warnings before reading!!!
ππΌπππβπ ππΌπΈββπΌπ»
βͺοΈHonesty is the way through. It might not be easy and you may break some hearts but if you're honest about your intentions and feelings you will always be on the right path.
βͺοΈRespecting boundaries and other people's limits. Specially when it comes to a relationship. If Stephen can learn to do it, so can you!
ππ π₯ππ€
- I usually hate when a character cheats and I tend to be very against forgiveness, however this book was the exception to that rule. I very much enjoyed seeing Lolly and Stephen work through his betrayal and learning to care for each other deeply.
Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
β¨Hi! Meet the first book that made me cry in 2023β¨
πΉπππ βπΌπππΌπ
I usually hate when the conflict comes from someone just lying because obviously them getting caught is what the story centers around...however! this book is definitely the exception to that rule. I totally understand why Mika lied her ass off and the story centers around healing and forgiveness in the aftermath of her lies . Also, her character development π was amazing π
I adored this book. It was my first Emiko Jean read ever and I was not disappointed.
I love reading about disfuncional family dynamics, maybe it's because I can relate...maybe it's because the copious amounts of drama is quite entertaining...idk. whatever it was, this book was wonderful β€οΈ
ππΌπππβπ ππΌπΈββπΌπ»
βͺοΈIt's never too late to heal a relationship with a family member, as long as both parties are willing to forgive and improve.
βͺοΈYour past experiences and trauma do not define your worth or who you are as a person (say it louder for the people in the back!)
βͺοΈLosing a parent/loved one is extremely hard. It might take a while to overcome the grief, but it's important to remember that those who left us would want to see our smile again β€οΈ
πΉπππ βπΌπππΌπ
I usually hate when the conflict comes from someone just lying because obviously them getting caught is what the story centers around...however! this book is definitely the exception to that rule. I totally understand why Mika lied her ass off and the story centers around healing and forgiveness in the aftermath of her lies . Also, her character development π was amazing π
I adored this book. It was my first Emiko Jean read ever and I was not disappointed.
I love reading about disfuncional family dynamics, maybe it's because I can relate...maybe it's because the copious amounts of drama is quite entertaining...idk. whatever it was, this book was wonderful β€οΈ
ππΌπππβπ ππΌπΈββπΌπ»
βͺοΈIt's never too late to heal a relationship with a family member, as long as both parties are willing to forgive and improve.
βͺοΈYour past experiences and trauma do not define your worth or who you are as a person (say it louder for the people in the back!)
βͺοΈLosing a parent/loved one is extremely hard. It might take a while to overcome the grief, but it's important to remember that those who left us would want to see our smile again β€οΈ