Tag: monthly reads

April Reads text on top of a background of books

April Reads

laurenkortbeinLeave a comment

Here are ratings of all the books I read in April:

The Very Nice Box – Laura Blackett & Eve Gleichman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had a hard time rating this because this book was very slow, but I surprisingly enjoyed it! I think there was supposed to be a deeper meaning behind everything, but the overall story was easy to follow and fun to read. This is a good palette cleanser after a few intense books!

The Housemaid’s Secret – Freida McFadden

⭐️⭐️

I desperately wanted this book to be as good as the first one, which made me have high expectations. This book felt rushed, completely unbelievable, and disjointed. I didn’t connect with the characters at all because they didn’t feel fully thought out. The ending was terrible and felt like a “oh crap this is due tomorrow” style of writing. The redeeming quality is it was a fast and easy read.

Violet is Nowhere – Faith Gardner

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book had a great hook from the beginning, but felt repetitive for the majority of it. The twist at the end was certainly unexpected, but too sci-fi to be shocking.

Things We Never Got Over – Lucy Score

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What an incredible book!! This was such a great combination of romance, thriller, and general fiction. I wasn’t able to connect with Knox as much as I wanted to, but I loved Naomi and Waylay’s characters!! The close-knit community was so heartwarming, and I absolutely loved all the side characters! I’m so glad there are more in this series!!

Lab Rats – Dan Lyons

⭐️⭐️⭐️

There were some interesting parts about Silicon Valley companies and how they’re trying to “reinvent work”, and stories about companies trying to change that. But overall it was a bit long, there were a ton of repeating stories.

Things We Hide From the Light – Lucy Score

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Almost exactly the same plot as the first one, just with the brother instead. But still a fun read and very well written!!

The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 rounded up to a 4. I wanted to be so impressed by this book, but I think my expectations were just too high 😂 it was an enjoyable read and I liked the characters, but I missed out on a big twist at the end.

In the Lives of Puppets – TJ Klune

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another absolutely incredible book from TJ Klune!! I was immediately laughing at all the unintentionally funny things the characters would say, and was hooked right away. The characters are so well written and loveable! The story was gripping and I loved all the creative locations they went to!! I cried and laughed out loud multiple times, and want to do it all over again!!

March Reads

laurenkortbeinLeave a comment

Here are ratings of all the books I read in March:

Luckiest Girl Alive – Jessica Knoll

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I watched the movie first, which is always the wrong way to do it! It was a good book overall, but there were some scenes that felt rushed and not fully thought out.

I’ll Stop the World – Lauren Thoman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An absolutely INCREDIBLE read!!! I was hooked from the very beginning, and loved the plot and characters. The ending was so heartwarming!

People We Meet on Vacation – Emily Henry

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a great romance read! I got really attached to the main characters, although at times the male lead felt a little flat. I totally related with the main character feeling detached from her job-not everything you enjoy needs to be monetized!

The It Girl – Ruth Ware

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved that the chapters were broken into “before” and “after”, it made it a fun story to follow! The characters were fun, and I really related to the main character and her struggle with imposter syndrome.

You – Caroline Kepnes

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was so wildly unhinged in the most entertaining way! I didn’t want to put it down, it was such a rollercoaster seeing what Joe was going to do and justify next.

The Villa – Rachel Hawkins

⭐️⭐️⭐️

A super quick and easy read, which meant that it didn’t have a ton of depth. The characters felt flat and while there were a lot of twists, none were surprising. Overall just a “meh” book.

The Writing Retreat – Julia Bartz

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absolutely incredible thriller! I was hooked from the first chapter and couldn’t put it down! The characters were so well written, and I was so suspicious of each one of them. I didn’t love the “book within a book” that Alex was writing, it seemed to take away from what was happening.

Spare – Prince Harry

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I can’t figure out exactly what about this book made me feel it was just “meh”. This book is divided into three sections: his past, his military experience, and time with Meghan/current. The first section about his past and his mom were interesting, but seemed like he was making a lot of excuses for poor behavior. The military section wasn’t interesting at all to me, and wasn’t written well either. The current section certainly made me feel badly for Meghan’s experience, but I didn’t feel he fully communicated what was happening.

Mad Honey – Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved this book and didn’t want to put it down! The twists were unexpected in a fantastic way, the characters were extremely well-written and easy to fall in love with. The very end was a little disappointing, but doesn’t take away from the overall story.

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I think my expectations for this book were too high, because while I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it. I wanted so much more of the octopus, I felt like that storyline was second in this book. I really disliked Cameron’s character, he seemed pointless and incredibly annoying. Overall it was a cute story, but just fell a little flat for me.