dennasus's reviews
707 reviews

You Belong with Me by Mhairi McFarlane

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

That was a lovely sequel to "Who's That Girl" with an interesting mixture of fairy-tale (regular civilian falling in love with a Hollywood star) and realistic version of what that life would / could be like. The media, the attention, the rumours, the (false) friends.... I get why the writer brought in Declan as sort of the alternative life Edie might want to lead, but I still wasn't such a big fan of that idea. All in all a lovely love story and yes, a bit of a fairy-tale in the end still. But that's fine. (21 August 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024]  

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I was a bit let down by this story to be honest. I enjoyed Lange's debut "We Are the Brennans" (which locations make sort of a cameo here, which was a nice wink) and there were parts in this one that I enjoyed as well. I liked Tara and Conor and Tara and her "gamer boy" bosses and some other stuff. Geraldine's tendency to avoid difficult things felt a bit too close to home for me, which isn't necessarily  a bad thing to take away from a novel. Some of the siblings dynamic I could relate to and most of them made sense knowing their backstory. All in all I still didn't really connect with either of the characters and I couldn't bring myself to care all that much. I guess that's why the truth about the crime Tara went to prison for caught me by surprise.

My big problem with the main plot tough was that Brian's behaviour was soooo unprofessional. From the start of the story. From way before the start of the story as it turned out later. So many no-gos. I guess that's also what kept me from being invested in their relationship.  (17 August 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024]

Tausend Zeilen Lüge: Das System Relotius und der deutsche Journalismus by Juan Moreno

informative fast-paced

A German book about the huge scandal at SPIEGEL magazine a few years ago, when it turned out that their star reporter had faked almost everyone of his stories. This is the report of the free lance journalist, who uncovered it and it was such a great read. (17 August 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This was a lovely sapphic love story of two teenage girls in Ireland. Some of the background story felt a bit too constructed, but all in all I enjoyed it. I definitely cried more than I expected. (13 August 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

Wahala by Nikki May

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

This did not go the way I expected it to and the final revelation of the plot sort of ruined it for me. I just thought it was unrealistic that someone is as sociopathic as this person. But maybe I'm naive. I sort of liked getting a glimpse in a different - from my own - culture of bi-racial (Nigerian / British) women. The lives as such was the same as many mid-30 women in London and I sort of enjoyed that, but the plot as such dragged on a bit. As mentioned above the end kind of mostly ruined it for me. Bummer. (10 August 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World by Elinor Cleghorn

informative slow-paced

This is such an important book and very informative for anyone interested in women's rights issues and also health and history. Sometimes it felt a bit too detailed and thus it took me a while to get through it, but maybe that's just me. (4 August 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024]

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

 I loved this much more than I expected. What a wonderful story of two young people who meet by chance (or fate) in NYC and fall in love on the day, when she (daughter of undocumented immigrants) is supposed to be deported. The story is told in short chapters, alternating from their different point of views and on occasion the side characters are taking over the narrators voice. It worked very well here and it helped to give the whole plot and story more colour. It also highlighted how much in our lives is determined by chance. Or is it fate after all? A great story and I'm happy to have ended the month on this one. (31 July 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

The Scent of Death by Simon Beckett

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

This story kept me hooked for the last few days, even though I realized I'm not as comfortable with grisly thriller plots as I used to be. Thus I'm not sure if I'll read the next one in this series. I thought the plot was well constructed and I had no idea who the killer was until it was revealed, which is always a good thing for a thriller plot. I also mostly enjoyed the variety of side characters and in some cases felt really bad about what happened to them. The subplot of someone from previous stories (still) want to kill Dr. Hunter felt a bit too far-fetched for me. (27 July 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

Cassandra in Reverse: If You Had a Power to Change the Past, Where Would You Start? by Holly Smale

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

I might add more elaborate thoughts to this in a while [scatterbrain that I am, probably not though]. I really enjoyed this one. I like the unique way of time-travelling and could relate to Cassie much more than I thought and more than I might like to admit in public. I sometimes feel like my personality includes various neurodivergent aspects, but I shy away from self-diagonsis. But the comforting routines, staying inside my comfort zone, feeling like I'm not sharing my authentic / real person self with the world, if that makes sense. I loved the (hidden) message in this plot and found it inspiring and encouraging: People in general are kind and lovely and not in general hostile or dismissive and it's worth the "risk" to be more open about stuff. And myself.

Ugh, I segue into self-therapy-talk, back to the book. I figured out the mystery of the letter writer about halfway through, I think and the final revelation about Cassandra's mum felt a bit too much and on the nose so to speak, but all in all I really, really enjoyed the being invited into this section of Cassandra's life. Let's end with positivity: The writing was great, the right variety of fun and emotions and I especially love the intro / finale about "what's the beginning of a story anyway".  (24 July 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

The Last Devil to Die: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by Richard Osman

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

Another enjoyable and this time also quite sad story from the Thursday Murder Club. The plot and how those seniors and the police act and react is quite unrealistic, I know, but that is sort of the fun of it. (15 July 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024]