Hello, friends! I hope you’re all doing well and staying healthy. I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much on here. I haven’t been in the mood to write full-length reviews. The books I’ve been reading lately haven’t been that great. I have one on here that is a four-star rating, and the rest of them are three and under. I haven’t been finishing as many books as I would like to, but I think I’m just not reading books that excite me.
Let’s start with the DNF, and work our way up from there–end on a positive note.
Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas.
DNF
First of all, I tried my hardest with this one. I read roughly 80 pages with my own eyes, and I tried to listening to it the rest of the way, but I made to page 133 and gave up. It wasn’t keeping me interested, and I didn’t care about anything that was going on. I don’t know if it’s this book, or if I’m just not in the romance mood. I want to move on from this one and maybe give Douglas another try in the distant future. I read Birthday Girl last year, I believe, and I loved it. I’m hoping this one just wasn’t for me and that’s all. I hope you all won’t take it personally.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Oh boy. Where do I start? Do I start with the obnoxious characters or the boring storytelling? I almost put this one down as well, but I thought that the ending might have something more to offer. Nope. I don’t think this could have ended in a more anticlimactic way. Hal (Harriet) was stupid enough to go for something that she didn’t originally think was hers. There are also better jobs to work than tarot card readings. It wasn’t believable. That’s all I really have to say about this one. Moving right along.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Was this a generous rating? Probably. There is so much that happens in this book, some of it being completely weird, that I almost couldn’t keep up. There were parts that kept me interested enough to give this three stars. The writing style also saved it. I understand that it’s based on Erdrich’s grandfather, and that’s not what I’m basing this review on. It seems he lived an interesting life, and that’s where I’ll stop. This was long and boring, but I could see how a lot of readers would like it. There is some wisdom thrown around in the 450 pages. Nothing that really stuck with me, though. If you want to give it a try, then I support your decision.
The Last Affair by Margot Hunt
I’m not sure why I awarded this one a three-star rating. It’s probably more of a two star, but it kept me entertained… I guess. It’s very predictable, and all the characters are horrible people. The writing isn’t special, and I knew who did what as soon as the character was introduced. I think this would be perfect for someone starting out in the thriller genre. It isn’t the worst thriller out there.
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian
Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Listen, I’m not going to sit here and say that this isn’t a weird ass book. I also didn’t expect this to involve rats—2020 is the year of the rat—and a pandemic, but here we are. The characters are very distinguishable, but they do fall a little flat. There are not a lot of character arcs happening. I thought it was such a fun adventure that I’ve never read about. Bohjalian is out here doing some weird stuff, but I’m not here to judge. I’m just here to read the “weird stuff.” If you’re into rats and pandemics, then drag this one off of your shelves and break it open. You heard it here first, folks.
I hope this wasn’t too sad of a post. I’ve been in a very honest mood lately. I want to be more critical of my books. I want my reviews and ratings to represent who I am as a reader. I know that some of these might your favorite books, and I’m not saying they can’t be. These didn’t really work for me, and that’s okay too. I’m planning on taking my time with my reviews from here on out. I always feel like I need to rush through them so I can get a blog post up. I want to love my content, and that’s what I’m deciding to do.
If you enjoyed this, then give it a like and follow my blog. Be respectful and happy reading!
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