Minimire's Bookish Thoughts

[minimire]

well as what the title says,
i'll be sharing my thoughts on books that i have read and are currently reading

feel free to comment down your own thoughts on any of the books you may have read as well

[minimire]

current reads:
1) Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

So I'm a little over a hundred pages in and things are just starting to happen. Not exciting things, but things like the setting of the story from when the synopsis took place. So the book's definitely going a little slower than I would like, given the premise, especially for a 300 page book. The book also alternates certain chapters between Jack (love interest) and Hazel (protagonist) but so far I feel like Jack's chapters are really just filler chapters. They don't really add much and slows the pace of the story down even more.

2) Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Okay so this book, I'm 80 pages in and I think I bought this book mainly for the cover. It's a beautiful cover, but it's a tragically hard book to read so far. The premise, well it's nothing special. It gives me a bit of Scythe (which I dnf-ed) and Stalking Jack the Ripper vibes. The writing is, well not the easiest to read. The author tends to be extremely repetitive and it gets so annoying. The worldbuilding is a little confusing too, and there seems to be bits of lazy writing here and there. Overall this reads like a second draft. Not sure how far I'll go with this book but I'm still going for now.

3) Tudor: The Family Story by Leanda de Lisle

A non-fiction book to fuel my historic soul. Non-fiction can be harder for me to read at times, especially when the material is s heavy, but I'm 2/3 of the way through and I don't really know what to say...this is my first historical non-fiction read but I do like the way the author narrates the story and leads from one figure to the next. I do roughly know what happens in the Tudor history but it's still interesting to see her take on the other lives during this era that are often overlooked.

[minimire]

finished:
1) Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz (2/5 stars)

so i talked about this book a lot on discord and goodreads so i'll just keep it short here. overall i just think this book was a disappointment. i don't understand why it's so hyped (well then again i don't understand why certain books on tiktok and instagram are so hyped). the book has no plot. nothing was really happening for the 300 pages. it was marketed as a mystery and romance. well the romance didn't start until 60% into the book and it felt very insta-lovey. there was no build up, no chemistry between the characters. it just felt very forced. the mystery was non-existent save for a few passing comments here and there. there is a plot twist that you could see coming from a mile away, and it was resolved so frustratingly quick, within just half a page of the book. literally, two paragraphs. the first 90% of the book was dedicated to nothing while the remaining 10% was dedicated to the mystery and solving it at the end. so yes, the book was slow at the beginning and very rushed at the end.

current reads:
1) Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

I reached the halfway mark of this book and at this point i'm just here for the ridiculousness of it all. not sure if i can make it through or i'll dnf it but we'll see. the characters in this book are way too comical in how they act in the sense that they're so unrealistic. they deal with grief by partying a few days after a dearly loved one was k*illed. yes, that's how they deal, then they tell the readers that they're all unable to cope. doesn't seem to match what they're doing at the party though. a bit of spoilers but i just had to let this out. the mc sleeps with her boyfriend's best friend one day after he was k*illed. yup. and we're supposed to feel sorry and root for this girl?

2) Cress by Marissa Meyer

this is a re-read for me and one i'm excited to get to! cress and throne were my favourite characters but scarlet and wolf have definitely grown on me, i'm just less than 10% into this book, started it last night, so there's nothing much i can say for now other than that i just love being back in this world and reconnecting with the characters.

[minimire]

finished:
1) Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh (2/5 stars)

i was not expecting much from this book, as some of you guys would know if you guys read my update previously haha. i was actually surprised i managed to finish and not dnf it. after letting this book sit for almost a week, i forgot most of the details because that was just how forgettable it was. but overall i just stand by what i said with the characters, they are flat, two dimensional, unrealistic and the main character especially is inconsistent in her personality. i swear she has like split personality or something because one moment she's okay the next she's starting a random argument lol. i don't even remember much of the plot gosh but there was a plot twist that we all saw from a mile away. the worldbuilding is lacking, so many things just happen for a reason in the world without much of an explanation and that's lazy writing to me.

current reads:
1) Cress by Marissa Meyer

I'm getting through this book slower than I would like but I'm around the 65% mark of it already? There's nothing much for me to say, so far all the characters are okay, the pacing is fine, I'm just getting through this one slower. I do like the different pov's I feel the author did that well. other than that, yeah nothing much to say really.

2) Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I'm starting this one today. First time reading it and finally jumping on board this long awaited train. I realised it's another sci-fi book like Cress so once I'm done with Cress I might find a more fantasy book to read lol.

[minimire]

finished:
1) If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio (3/5 stars)

I honestly felt that this book was not worth the hype. I read it mainly for the dark academia vibe but I felt that was only delivered during the first 1/3 of the book. After around the 50% mark, the book just went downhill for me. The characters and the group dynamics who at first felt so rich, fell flat in the second half of the book. Many of the characters' motives weren't clear and they way they just acted was off and inconsistent. I didn't pick this up as a murder mystery so the very predictable plot did not bother me much. The pacing was inconsistent and it was pretty rushed towards the ending as well and the writing was pretty to easy to get through for the first half but seriously dragged in the second half. This book in general should have just been a lot more lgbt.

2) Cress by Marissa Meyer (3/5 stars)

Finished Cress and I think this book could have been a lot shorter. I don't remember much of what happened already but I felt that for such a tight timeline (a week to pull off their plan), the pacing could have been a lot faster and we would have felt that urgency more. I have not much else to say for this book other than there should have been more Cress and Throne moments. But I do like how the author gave almost equal amounts of screen time to all the different characters, though personally I would have liked it more if this was more focused on Cress, like how Scarlet was more focused on, well Scarlet.

current reads:
1) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

One of my first classic reads and I must say, I am enjoying the writing style so far. Definitely very different from all the books I've read in the past but surprisingly easy to get through. The author does paint a pretty vivid picture of life in 18th century Paris without being too descriptive which makes for a good and fast read. Certain quotes have also got me thinking about life now compared to then, even though this is still a fictional story.

2) Portrait of a Theif by Grace D. L.

Picked this book up the moment I saw art history major lol. Well the book started out strong but the thing with her writing style is that she tries to be flowery, cryptic, flowy, and mysterious all at the same time but it's not really working out. It's coming off choppy instead. And there are five different pov's and so far I think I would have much preferred if the book was told from just one or two because I'm only enjoying two out of the five pov's so far. I so like the little sprinkle of chinese words here and there (as a chinese myself) and the all chinese-american cast. But I just wish there's a bit more. So far I can tell this will be a very character driven story which I have no issues with, but the thing that's putting me off is how some of the pov's are very repetitive. two pov's (Irene and Lily - that you can't tell their personalities apart other than the name heading for each chapter) constantly talk about how china should feel like home to them but doesn't because they grew up in america all their lives. like telling this to us once or twice and we get it, we don't need to hear these long repetitive monologues everytime it's their pov chapter.

[minimire]

finished:
1) Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. L. (2.5 stars)

This book will be very forgettable to me, which is a pity since the premise was pretty interesting and i liked how the author heavily referenced the very real spree of chinese art heists throughout europe. but the characters fell flat, out of five different pov's, i only mildly enjoyed two. and they were all written in a similar tone and style so there was really no difference between each pov's and their characteristics were not that distinctive too. they were all dealing with diaspora but their accounts were so similar and there was no diversity in the sense of their experiences and thoughts on it. the writing style was what ultimately threw me off. it was so choppy and repetitive to the point it became painfully distracting. the author just kept recycling the same old paragraphs of internal monologue and the internal conflict of each character did not even really get resolved at the end so that was unsatisfying. the dialogues were also unnatural and the pacing felt very slow then rushed at the end. overall, i picked up this book mainly because i was sold at "art history major" so the unrealistic nature of the heists did not really bother me, neither was the fact that the book is not that action-paced.

current reads:
1) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

50% through this book and still enjoying it so far. It really gets my mind thinking, how everyone who encounters our main protagonist meets an end not too kind, but then again they have all been pretty selfish, just looking out for themselves and willing to exploit others for their own gains. So can we really feel sorry for them? But at the end of the day, is it really human nature? To feel sorry for others who may not have been the best people, or that people are just selfish in nature?

2) Cheddar Off Dead by Julia Buckley

I'm five chapters in and I picked this up because I really wanted a cozy murder mystery plus food. And the first few chapters delivered. I really like the snippets of info on different cheeses too, it's really atmospheric so far. However, the moment the guy got killed (not a spoiler since it's on the synopsis) the protagonist - who's name I'm quite iffy about - acted really unrealistically. Saw a dead body for the first time and isn't really that traumatized, in fact, she's acting like all this is more of an inconvenience for her. What? That's super suspicious, also how she kept asking the detective why they're in her shop and kept repeating that the guy was killed outside her shop. If I was the detective she's be my number one suspect.

[minimire]

finished:
1) Cheddar Off Dead by Julia Buckley (3/5 stars)

Well this book started off infuriating. The main character was so annoying at the start! She acted all self-centered, like a dead body in a town that never had any murders before was just an inconvenience to her new cheese shop. everybody's reaction to the dead body was very unrealistic for that matter. we're told a few times this town was very safe, so if a dead body turns up (and the victim was obviously murdered), then shouldn't the residents be more cautious and suspicious of everyone? yet everyone's just continuing their normal lives like nothing has happened. and willa - our protagonist - tries to play detective in the most unrealistic and annoying way. can she just let the real detective do his job? the other characters are meh, everyone's pretty two dimensional, the writing is meh. but i did like the way everyone was introduced. even though there was a pretty big cast, it was easy to remember who's who. the second half of the book i sort of flew through. the ending was meh, nothing too predictable but nothing surprising as well.

current reads:
1) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

80% through. The writing is...I wouldn't say very heavy. But it's definitely taking me longer than usual to get through a book of this size. The constant listing that the author writes is off-putting. I would say the writing is okay to get through, but it just seems very dry at times. Maybe the book could have been a bit shorter. I do wish more things are happening. More than once my eyes have closed while reading the book.

2) Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Just started this and I'm at chapter three now. I'm not too sure how I feel about this book just yet. The writing is definitely heavy as well and I would say not as easy to get through compared to Perfume. I do like the way we're introduced to the different characters in the protagonist's life so far, and the information on his backstory. It does paint quite a picture. Definitely not what I was expecting so we'll see what else I think as we delve further.

[minimire]

finished:
1) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind (2.5/5 stars)

I'm still thinking if I should give this book a 2.5 or 3 stars to be honest. This as one of my first few classic reads and it was not what I expected. The writing was in a way easy to read, yet heavy at the same time. I do think it could be a tad shorter as there were instances, more than once, my eyes literally closed while reading the book. The author also tended to list things over and over and that really did bore me. Grenouille as a character is very...odd and weird, in fact I wouldn't even call him a human being! The premise of the story seemed interesting, but for a book about a serial killer, there was surprisingly very little action. The ending was pretty disappointing and not at all satisfying. I just thought that given all the author focused on at the start of the book, more attention and time would be given to the murders and the capture of the murderer, instead, it all just played out in the last 50 or so pages.

[minimire]

current read:
1) Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Not much progress made with this book unfortunately. The writing is pretty heavy and me having to translate french phrases as they converse just slows me down. I still plan on finishing this book but I might not be able to finish it by the end of the month. I can see certain themes and I'm interested to see how David, our protagonist deals with his sexuality throughout the book.

2) Gone For Gouda by Korina Moss

This is the second book in the Cheddar Off Dead series and Willa the protagonist was quite insufferable in the beginning, as usual, sae as in book one. However, as the story progressed, she is getting more tolerable. At least she's not trying to play detective again and is letting them do their own job. And I like how she comes by new information this time more naturally, through conversations she has with the other townsfolk. It's just more believable this way at least. Though the characters are still pretty two dimensional, at least the writing is easy to get through.

[minimire]

finished:
1) My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (3/5 stars)

It was a very quick read with very short chapters so I definitely enjoyed that. However, I do wish that there was more action. Some chapters read like filter chapters and for a book with such a synopsis, I do wish there was a lot more happening. The writing style was not very great too, it created sort of a barrier between me and the characters and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. The characters were also very one-dimensional. We don't get to delve into their thoughts or feelings too much, everything is very surface level making it hard to connect with the main character. I wouldn't say this book is a thriller. there was nothing dark or disturbing or thrilling while reading it. everything was pretty straightforward and after finishing it I felt nothing. I felt as emotionless as the mc was most of the time throughout her narration.

2) Gone for Gouda (Cheese Shop Mystery #2) by Korina Moss (3/5 stars)

Definitely enjoyed the second book more than the first. The protagonist is a lot less annoying and more tolerable, though sometimes she's still pretty annoying, defying basic common sense orders from a real detective. Some of the conversations felt forced and stiff but that's just like 10% of the time. The side characters I wouldn't say are very fleshed out, but they aren't forgettable too. And this time I did not predict the ending so it was a more fun read in general than the first. Might start the third book in the series tomorrow.