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mweis's reviews
1249 reviews
The Broposal by Sonora Reyes
4.0
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I saw Sonora Reyes and then marriage of convenience between two lifelong best friends who accidentally fall in love along the way, and I knew I had to read this book. Yes, this has rom-com elements, but it also deals with some really tough topics. Han is undocumented and I think Reyes does an incredible job of highlighting just how much the panic and anxiety around being undocumented seeps into every aspect of his life. I also loved Kenny. He’s a hot mess and also incredibly anxious and so afraid being alone that he stays in an abusive relationship, and I appreciated how Reyes highlights just how easy it can be to fall into relationships like that. Despite all of the heavy topics, this book still feels fun and light and happy.
I have some critiques. I think the pacing felt a little choppy and the ex-girlfriend was a little cartoonish. But I still flew through this book and found myself staying up way too late one night to finish it, and I will continue to read everything Sonora Reyes writes.
I saw Sonora Reyes and then marriage of convenience between two lifelong best friends who accidentally fall in love along the way, and I knew I had to read this book. Yes, this has rom-com elements, but it also deals with some really tough topics. Han is undocumented and I think Reyes does an incredible job of highlighting just how much the panic and anxiety around being undocumented seeps into every aspect of his life. I also loved Kenny. He’s a hot mess and also incredibly anxious and so afraid being alone that he stays in an abusive relationship, and I appreciated how Reyes highlights just how easy it can be to fall into relationships like that. Despite all of the heavy topics, this book still feels fun and light and happy.
I have some critiques. I think the pacing felt a little choppy and the ex-girlfriend was a little cartoonish. But I still flew through this book and found myself staying up way too late one night to finish it, and I will continue to read everything Sonora Reyes writes.
The In-Between: Intimate and Candid Moments of Broadway Stars by Jenny Anderson
5.0
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I’ve follow Jenny Anderson on Instagram for quite some time so I was really excited to see that she was releasing a book of her photography. This contains a selection of her iconic photos and I think we’ll be a must buy for any Broadway fan.
I love the way she captures emotion in her photographs. Even through the screen of the eARC you could feel the life in each image and I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy for myself.
I’ve follow Jenny Anderson on Instagram for quite some time so I was really excited to see that she was releasing a book of her photography. This contains a selection of her iconic photos and I think we’ll be a must buy for any Broadway fan.
I love the way she captures emotion in her photographs. Even through the screen of the eARC you could feel the life in each image and I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy for myself.
The Legacy of Arniston House by T.L. Huchu
3.5
*I received an audio review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Until now, every book in the series that has been better and better for me until I’m really disappointed that I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. I think this does ann interesting job of showing the scope of the larger conflict that the series has been building up to and we also see Ropa face consequences for choices she made in the last book and we see her learn more about her family in an interesting way. Unfortunately, I don’t think I liked the way that the personal journey and the political conflict blended in this one.
The stakes have been escalated, but the plot felt like it dragged. Maybe it’s because there’s less of a central mystery in this one? I’m not sure but I still really enjoy the series and I think it’s doing a lot of fun things, and I wish more people would pick it up. And I’m still very much looking forward to the fifth book which will presumably wrap up the series. I’m absolutely planning a reread of the whole series before that last book comes out.
As I’ve probably said before I think part of why I’ve seen people bounce off this series is the writing style, which uses a lot of sling, but stylistically for me it gives so much more life to Ropa. I highly recommend the audiobooks read by Kimberly Mandindo.
Until now, every book in the series that has been better and better for me until I’m really disappointed that I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. I think this does ann interesting job of showing the scope of the larger conflict that the series has been building up to and we also see Ropa face consequences for choices she made in the last book and we see her learn more about her family in an interesting way. Unfortunately, I don’t think I liked the way that the personal journey and the political conflict blended in this one.
The stakes have been escalated, but the plot felt like it dragged. Maybe it’s because there’s less of a central mystery in this one? I’m not sure but I still really enjoy the series and I think it’s doing a lot of fun things, and I wish more people would pick it up. And I’m still very much looking forward to the fifth book which will presumably wrap up the series. I’m absolutely planning a reread of the whole series before that last book comes out.
As I’ve probably said before I think part of why I’ve seen people bounce off this series is the writing style, which uses a lot of sling, but stylistically for me it gives so much more life to Ropa. I highly recommend the audiobooks read by Kimberly Mandindo.
Metal from Heaven by August Clarke
2.5
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I’d previously read The Scapegracers and well I hadn’t loved the execution and I really liked the idea so when I saw Clarke was publishing a lesbian revenge story featuring a chronically, ill, main character and dystopian workers’ revolution, I was intrigued. I absolutely adore industrial fantasies and this cover is incredible so I went in with pretty high hopes. And I left with very mixed feelings.
This is not an easy book. It’s ambitious and visceral and thematically so rich. But the writing is a choice. We’re pretty much solely in the head of Marney Honeycutt, who is chronically ill from exposure to an element that her and her entire family spent their lives mining. So the writing becomes almost fever dream like and there’s these lush descriptions that make you feel like you’re also getting ill from exposure to this element. Clark doesn’t hold your hand at all, except they kind of do because there are these info dumps on the world that never fully came together for me. And then because we’re in Marney’s head there’s this distance to the rest of the story that had me struggling to wanna pick it up if I wasn’t actively reading it.
I feel like I haven’t really had many positive things to say and that’s not true. Well, this book didn’t fully come together for me. I do think it’s something that’s gonna stick with me for a while, and I applaud Clarke’s ambition. This truly feels like a book he needed to write and I hope that it gets the audience it deserves, though I fear that in an era of cozy fantasy and romantasy it’s going to fall under the radar. I think this is going to be divisive because of the writing and I think if you pick it up, you’ll know within a few pages if it’s a book for you or not.
I’d previously read The Scapegracers and well I hadn’t loved the execution and I really liked the idea so when I saw Clarke was publishing a lesbian revenge story featuring a chronically, ill, main character and dystopian workers’ revolution, I was intrigued. I absolutely adore industrial fantasies and this cover is incredible so I went in with pretty high hopes. And I left with very mixed feelings.
This is not an easy book. It’s ambitious and visceral and thematically so rich. But the writing is a choice. We’re pretty much solely in the head of Marney Honeycutt, who is chronically ill from exposure to an element that her and her entire family spent their lives mining. So the writing becomes almost fever dream like and there’s these lush descriptions that make you feel like you’re also getting ill from exposure to this element. Clark doesn’t hold your hand at all, except they kind of do because there are these info dumps on the world that never fully came together for me. And then because we’re in Marney’s head there’s this distance to the rest of the story that had me struggling to wanna pick it up if I wasn’t actively reading it.
I feel like I haven’t really had many positive things to say and that’s not true. Well, this book didn’t fully come together for me. I do think it’s something that’s gonna stick with me for a while, and I applaud Clarke’s ambition. This truly feels like a book he needed to write and I hope that it gets the audience it deserves, though I fear that in an era of cozy fantasy and romantasy it’s going to fall under the radar. I think this is going to be divisive because of the writing and I think if you pick it up, you’ll know within a few pages if it’s a book for you or not.