sarahkorn's reviews
192 reviews

I see how this book is very polarizing. The dialogue takes some getting used to and you can't count on a happily ever after. Erena is the classic manic pixie dream girl character but instead of being grating I thought her and Young were perfectly matched with their quirked up little brains. This book is creative and entertaining in a beatnik sort of way. This is definitely not like any other book and it's worth keeping an open mind.

Picked up on the loose Beauty & the Beast retelling right away. So cute. Loved the slow burn romance, yummy food descriptions, and the tiniest bit of heat. I will definitely read more from Jasmine Guillory in the future!

Cute, poignant, quick read. I don't always love magical realism but I enjoyed this.

I appreciate the Jewish & chronic illness representation, but sadly that's where it ends with me.

No chemistry, no spice, the stakes were pretty low and there were a lot of overreactions/miscommunications/this character couldn't really be so dense, could they? moments. I found Jacob's gifts in the second half to be patronizing, and the obsession with a brief childhood romance to be unrealistic. Probably would have DNF-ed if it wasn't a quick read and I was trying to get to my reading goal for the year.

There's a lot to digest in this book (in a good way) so I'll need to let it percolate some before I write a real review. Thoroughly moved.

The one thing I will say I think the authors note at the front of the book did too much stylistic prefacing. This was always a no-no in every creative writing workshop I've taken, no disclaimers. I'll be honest when Chen wrote that the reader may find the name changes and narrative timekeeping confusing I was a little nervous, but ultimately I found it to be a remarkable and coherent debut.

HUGE TRIGGER WARNINGS for (repeated) sexual abuse/assault and domestic violence, among other things

5⭐ for me. I really admire Jodi Picoult's impeccable research and willingness to tackle intense subjects head on, while still telling a good story. Even the stuff that irked me, like Melina for much of the story, had a really specific narrative purpose. Emilia's story was remarkably tragic the whole way through. This book is pretty long and maybe could have been edited down some, but it was always going to be a slow burn, so I'm not that mad about it.

Feminist English Lit majors and fans of Pip Williams -- especially The Dictionary of Lost Words -- would really enjoy this.

A little cheesy, which I expected, but still cute.

"This is how it happens. She just lets people around her do what they want. She doesn't call them on their shit. She pretends like she has no needs, like it's just fine to walk into her room when she was in the middle of trying to have an orgasm."

I wish I could give this more than five stars. Frequently laugh out loud funny (truly, I was cackling in parts) yet very poignant. Covers themes of friendship, forgiveness, happiness, and finding your own way. While it had it's sad moments (TW: suicidal ideation, pet death, infertility, death of parents) it was overall a really fun read and would be perfect for a book club.

I found maybe half of the essays strangely written/edited, tied up too neatly or providing no new perspectives on anger. Could just be that short form essay writing is not every contributor's strength. It had a strong start and sort of lost its way in the middle. In spite of that, I still found this plenty engaging and appreciated the subject matter.