Book Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne ★★★

August 9, 2020 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“Love and hate are visceral. Your stomach twists at the thought of that person. The heart in your chest beats heavy and bright, nearly visible through your flesh and clothes. Your appetite and sleep are shredded. Every interaction spikes your blood with a dangerous kind of adrenaline, and you’re on the brink of fight or flight. Your body is barely under your control. You’re consumed, and it scares you.”

This one was pretty good. Cute, surprisingly touching in certain areas, and funny. Overall, it was solid and I enjoyed it. However, for some reason I just didn’t connect with the romance all that much. I liked the characters well enough and really felt for them during some scenes, but I just never 100% committed to them. Three stars.

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Book Review: Montana 1948 by Larry Watson ★★★

March 9, 2020March 9, 2020 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“That’s not the way it works. You know that. Sins—crimes—are not supposed to go unpunished.”

I’m really glad I finally read this book! You know when a cover just sticks out to you and you can’t seem to help but get drawn to a book, because of it? That was Montana 1948 for me. I saw it so many times at thrift stores and finally picked it up, because I just love that cover! I am very happy I got to it quickly after that and I enjoyed the story. I ended up giving it 3 stars.

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Book Review: Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff ★★★

February 17, 2020 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“My father used to say the art of telling a good story lies in knowing when to stop. Keep talking long enough, you’ll find there’s no such thing as a happy ending.”

Welp. I tried the second book in hopes that it would be amazing and that this series would become a new favorite of mine. Instead, it was a run of the mill middle book, entertaining enough, but kind of boring. A bit of filler. I found this one even less compelling than the first novel, unfortunately 😭. 3 stars.

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Book Review: The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski ★★★

February 8, 2020February 9, 2020 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“I started to turn from the poems, then paused before a page almost entirely white, with only a few bare black words.

Gold-sandaled dawn

Fell like a thief

Upon me

I wondered what kind of night was so precious that when morning came it felt as if you had been robbed, as if what you wanted most had been cut from you like a bloody tithe.

I had never had a night worth stealing.”

My first Goodreads giveaway win!! Heck yeah! I was so super excited for this book when I first heard about it, because the author’s Winner’s Trilogy is one of my all-time favorite YA fantasy series. When I won an ARC of The Midnight Lie, I was ecstatic! I knew I had to read it right away. This one comes out in March.

While I did really enjoy this story, it’s LGBTQ+ romance, and the author’s writing, there were a few things that I felt were just a bit lacking. Overall, a very nice start to a new duology and I gave it 3 stars.

*Some spoilers at the end of the review*

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Book Review: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah ★★★

January 21, 2020 / crmullen / 1 Comment

“She was crying for it all at last–for the pain and loss and fear and anger, for the war and what it had done to her and to all of them, for the knowledge of evil she could never shake, for the horror of where she’d been and what she’d done to survive.”

Hmm I liked this book. I liked it, but it certainly wasn’t the best thing I have ever read and it didn’t really meet my expectations – expectations that were heightened because of all of the hype surrounding it. Overall, I would give the book 3 stars.

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Book Review: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn ★★★

January 17, 2020January 17, 2020 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“I’m a self-didact. (Not a dirty word, look it up.) I read constantly. I think. But I lack formal education. So I’m left with the feeling that I’m smarter than everyone around me but that if I ever got around really smart people—people who went to universities and drank wine and spoke Latin—that they’d be bored as hell by me. It’s a lonely way to go through life.”

This was an okay little novella. I picked it up on a whim and I really enjoyed the beginning, but the end fell kind of flat for me.

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Book Review: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker ★★★

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“Nobody looks him in the face now, it’s as if his grief frightens them. What are they afraid of? That one day they’ll have to endure pain like this? Or that they never will, that they’re incapable of it, because grief’s only ever as deep as the love it’s replaced.”

I am not sure how I feel about this book, to be honest. I was really excited about it, when I first heard of it. I have loved the character of Briseis for years and enjoyed her complicated dynamic with Achilles (from what I have encountered in both the Iliad and various adaptations/retellings). So this book instantly caught my eye. On the one hand, it was very interesting and beautifully written. But on the other hand….I don’t know. It felt like something was missing.

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Book Review: Crown of Feathers by Nicki PauPreto ★★★

October 23, 2019 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“In Pyra, death was celebrated as much as life. Only through endings could there be beginnings. That was the lesson of the phoenix, and it was the lesson of my life as well.”

Oof this book was slow going. It was actually a 2/2.5 read for me up until the ending brought it to a 3. It was strange really, because it had an interesting concept and the author could write. She clearly put a lot of time, effort, and research into this book. But my god, it was a slog for the first 300 pages.

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Book Review: The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman ★★★

October 16, 2019October 15, 2019 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“Yet what I had learned is that love is a leap of faith. A leap that not only takes you towards the person you love, but also towards the truth of yourself. Whom you love and how you love them will tell you more about yourself than anything else in this world.”

Alright, so the conclusion of the Lady Helen series! I’m glad I read this series so quickly; it was very fun and enjoyable. It was light and did not take much of an investment, honestly, which is absolutely what I look for sometimes. This final book in the trilogy was good, but a little disappointing as a finale: 3 stars.

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Book Review: The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman ★★★

September 19, 2019October 15, 2019 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“Her brother had not yet learned that, in the end, nothing ever stayed the same. Least of all people.”

I liked this one quite a bit! It did have a slower start; it wasn’t boring, but it did take its time to set up the story and establish the characters. It read pretty much like a classic YA Fantasy story, definitely good and I am looking forward to the next installment! It was a solid 3 stars for me, perfectly decent, but nothing spectacular.

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