eviecheesepuff's reviews
104 reviews

 "It is a truth universally acknowledged that the potential of a story is equivalent to the execution of its ending."

I was so excited about this book. It takes place in the 1800 and we follow Vicky, who is a Jane Austen fangirl 😃

Her older sister Althea (coolest name ever btw) is trapped in an abusive marriage and in order to separate from her husband without loosing their family state, Vicky needs to now marry.

The writing was really true to the time period and the historical research was very well done.

I was really liking it up until ¾ of the way in.

There are A LOT of Jane Austen references and at first it’s really cute and quirky but at some point it just got too much for me.

This was a physical read and usually I always make notes and highlight passages but with this book, nothing stood out to me. Nothing wrong with that, just unusual..

My last criticism of the book has to do with SPOILERS, so if you plan to read it, STOP HERE 🖐️🚫

To me it was pretty obvious that Vicky was going to end up with Tom. As the novel progressed, in my head, I paired Carmichael and Althea as the secondary couple. They are about the same age, spend a lot of time together in the background while accompanying Vicky and I just felt like it would have been a very cute and organic way to end things. Carmichael (25) is the only man in the novel who made his fortune instead of being born into it. The ending slightly hints his pairing with Susie (16),who happens to be the only other character that is not fully born into the gentry. I get that those age differences were not a big deal then, but it still felt a bit classist and forced imo. Just to be clear, I don’t mind big age gaps… as long as the younger person is old enough to not be considered a child.

Overall this was a very cute and entertaining read, it just fell a bit flat for me!

𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕤

✏️ I was not aware of the whole marriage/ divorce situation in the time period. It was super interesting and I love that the author inserted real life examples of this on the narration!

✏️ There is a horse called Horatio in this book. Literally the cutest name a horse could have! 

 Speechless, is the word I would use to describe how I felt after finishing this book. I am not sure how to even write this review but I will give it my best try.

I don't usually read memoirs or autobiographies. I have never been interested in them. I read to evade reality and I mostly like my stories fluffy and/or fantastical.

I watched ICarly and Victorious here and there. I thought they were funny, so I knew who @jennettemccurdy was but I wasn't a hardcore fan.

Now, the title is what really got me. Because I have a really complicated relationship with my mom too and that title might seem harsh but it rang extremely true to me. My mom is not dead, but I got as far away from her as soon as I could...so yeah... I decided to read this book.

Now, I was not expecting to be hit so hard by Jennette's story. She has a way with words. The audiobook narrated by her I'm sure helped convey the emotion, but she undeniably did an amazing job telling us everything she went through. Her honesty throughout really made the whole thing heartbreakingly sad. And somehow when the book finished, I felt hopeful. For her, for me and for everyone who has ever dealt with any kind of abuse. The fight to overcome it is real and not easy.

I'm glad people like Jennette have the courage and the kindness to share their stories. Sometimes knowing you're not alone in a horrendous situation is all you need to take the first step towards boundaries and recovery.

I can not wait for her to come out with more writing. It seems to me like that is what she's meant to do.

I will be watching out for anything she puts out and wishing her the best from the bottom of my heart.

Please read this book. It's utterly brilliant. 

 ✨ second first Impressions ✨ was, ironically, a book I was not very sure about! The Hating Game was not my cup of tea and I was a bit unsure when my Libby hold came through a couple weeks ago!

However, I adored this book. I love it when we get a slight enemy to lovers but both main characters are literal sunshine ❤️ Ruthie and Teddy were literal cuteness overload while reading oh my gosh.

Could this be the book that just pulled me out of my slump?

I think it might be, thank you Sally!

LESSONS LEARNED:

- Do not let other people's idea of you alter who you really are. Specially if they are family. They might hold on to the idea of someone who you are no longer ❤️

- Loving someone fully is scary, but not having anyone to share cheese with is scarier.

notes

✏️ I freaking love thrift stores man.

✏️ Teddy is actually a teddy bear. Omg. 😂

✏️ Are we SURE they're sisters? 👀
 

 ✨this book✨ okay, first things first, I absolutely loved the narration. Our main character is an Irish woman who we never learn the name of, very in the fashion of Rebecca. I love that for some reason. I know this person so well, yet I don't know her name.

The amount of trauma our MC has is MASSIVE, and somehow Hazel Hayes manages to write such a relatable character.

The MC's bff Maya is literally my favorite and I love to see a bisexual mc who has a female best friend and at no point does that relationship turn sexual. I am obsessed!

I wouldn't call this a love story. Is more like a self discovery of oneself journey.

LESSONS LEARNED:

- A relationship might not work out in the end but that doesn't mean you should forget or ignore all the good parts. Pain is a side effect of love.

- Therapy is always a good idea. For everyone. Regardless of the amount of trauma you've endured. We all have some.

- 3rd slide. Literally every word on the page regarding children and wanting to become a parent.

- There's no such thing as a perfect mom/dad. They are also human. However, that doesn't mean you have to tolerate abuse from them. Stay safe out there.

notes
- I love Hazel Hayes, the prologue and acknowledgements are somehow some of my favorite parts of this book.

-I AM NOT A BANANA

-I have my Lena, I just need to find my Maya. 

Oh lord. The book put me in the biggest reading slump I've had in a while. 
I had to DNF. I don't like to rate the books I DNF because it seems unfair.
But I'll tell you what didn't work for me! 
I originally bought this book  for all the wrong reasons! it was 2$ and the cover is absolutely gorgeous!
To be fair, I enjoyed the author's previous book (Emergency Contact) but I would not have bought this book if it wasn't because it was so cheap and pretty :( 
Once I started reading, it seemed to me that the narrative was very disjointed, like the author didn't know where she was going with her own story. 
On top of that, the characters came through as very self aware and edgy (in a bad way). 
After the second conversation the MC had with his mom I stopped reading. 
Sadly, not for me :( 

 This morning (after deciding to DNF the book I was reading 😢) I went to my nearest little free library and swapped it with a short book called This Side of Married by Rachel Pastan.

Turns out "This Side Of Married" is a very strange retelling of pride and prejudice in present day with several twists. 👁️👄👁️ It was okay. There was this one quote towards the end that I really liked:

"Sometimes I think he wants to take scissors and snip himself out of the fabric of life altogether."

14 year old Evie would have that quote all over her bedroom wall 👀

I didn't really learn anything or have too many thoughts on it, but sometimes books don't need to be groundbreaking. Sometimes all you need is a nice little story and a memorable quote ❤️
 

I binged the whole series during November. All three books are pretty great! 

They follow the men in a Vietnamese-American family (two brothers and a cousin) as they fall in love. The thing that makes the story so special is that all books feature a main character within the autism spectrum.

As someone with no personal experience regarding autism, I can't say for certain how accurate the representation in these books is, however the fact that these series is the first time I've run into it definitely means that we need more out there!!

I absolutely loved the first and last book in the series. The second book did not grasp me the same way for some reason, but it was still a fun and super sweet read 🥺

𝕃𝔼𝕊𝕊𝕆ℕ𝕊 𝕃𝔼𝔸ℝℕ𝔼𝔻

🔹BE KIND. To yourself, to others, to your family. If I learned anything from these series is that you never know what someone is going through inside their head, so if you can make someone's day better or easier by being kind, please please do!

🔹Do not feel obligated to put up with people who do not care about you or appreciate you. You deserve love and respect no matter what.

𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕤

- the spicy scenes in these books! Omg! 🥵
- Asian representation on point!! We stand!
- I love when the audiobooks are double casted 😍
- why have I not read this books sooner!!?
- the family drama is real 👏 and accurate too 😢

 Oops we did it again! Lovely Elena @bookselenareads and I embarked on our second buddy read of the month. Partially motivated by the upcoming movie adaptation but mostly because reading with Elena is always tons of fun ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Go check her page if you haven't yet!!!! 🥰

Okay! So this book seemed super promising: grieving Lila moves to England for the summer to get over her grandma's death and there she bakes her tears away, makes new friends and meets Orion (softest boy in the universe)

However, most of the things this book hinted at didn't really happen.

At first it seemed like we were gonna get an enemy to lovers trope but...that lasted maybe one chapter? 😂 Followed by a very long and dragged out "will they, won't they" that lasted forever tbh. These characters were 18 but they were behaving more like 14-15. So much so that when they went to a pub, it seemed out of place 😂

The narration was kinda repetitive at times and Elena brought to my attention how some parts of this book (regarding a character who does volunteer work during the summer) were portrayed in a stereotypical and offensive way. So definitely keep that in mind!

Also (another very well made point by Elena) Lila's luck/privilege is out of the charts and it never gets addressed in the book (as a Hispanic woman myself, I would have liked to see her struggle some more...maybe some discrimination upon arriving to a mostly white city? Or just struggling to use foreign ingredients while cooking? Idk!! something!! ) I feel like Orion was the only one with actual problems.

Overall it was a cute book that deals with heavy themes like grief and loss but at the end of the day it will make you want to move to an English village and eat Cuban food all day ☺️

LESSONS LEARNED

- Always listen to your abuela.

- I am 100% susceptible to a cute boy using the word "love" at the end of a sentence. Specially if he has a British accent.

- ¡Ponte un suéter que te vas a resfriar!

- Arroz con pollo can fix anything ☺️

Notes

Really looking forward to watch the movie and see how they bring it to life!!! 😊

I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more from Flora's point of view 👀