dennasus's reviews
707 reviews

Thees Uhlmann über Die Toten Hosen by Thees Uhlmann

reflective medium-paced

[Audiobook] One of my favourite German singer/songwriters reads his book about the most successful German punkband Die Toten Hosen. Very entertaining, very relatable and beautifully written. (13 July 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

reflective

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

I sort of enjoyed the actual writing in this book and to be fair it's the only thing that kept me reading till the end. There wasn't much of a plot and even though I don't mind a story which tells only snap-shots in lives of some people, at least make these snapshots interesting. For me this dragged and meandered on and on. (8 July 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024] 

No Time Like The Past by Jodi Taylor

adventurous medium-paced

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

Another entertaining story from St. Mary's. There is always so much going and again they are a whirl-wind through history, that I sometimes wish they'd slow down a bit. I mean they do in the plot, but it's not noticeable in the storytelling as such. I just sometimes feel like I'm loosing track of who's where/when and what's happening to whom and all. But maybe that's just me. (30 June 2024)

[I stopped rating books in May 2024] 

The Wake-Up Call by Beth O'Leary

slow-paced

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

I enjoyed previous works from Beth O'Leary, but this just didn't quite land with me. The writing was fine and the plot idea has such okay for me. I liked the competition angle and miscommunication as a trope often enough works for me, but at least halfway through the story I wanted to knock some sense into the female lead and force her to address what upset her last Christmas. Ugh! The actual reason for the not / wrongly delivered reason was so lame IMHO. All in all... just no cup of tea sadly.   (22 June 2024)

[I stopped rating books in May 2024]   

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

emotional inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

If I still rated books, this would have gotten 5 stars. Such a lovely story about real people and their lives, misfortunes and mistakes but also their joys and achievements. It's also about books and why we love and need them. Sooooo good.  (18 June 2024)

[I stopped rating books in May 2024] 

American Panda by Gloria Chao

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

For some reason this book wasn't for me. I found the writing a bit boring, didn't find it in me to care all that much about the main character and all in all neither the plot. (15 June 2024)

[I stopped rating books in May 2024]

The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris

slow-paced

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

The summary mentioned "skillfully weaving these two stories" and I found that misleading, because it wasn't really two stories, was it? I don't know. I kind of enjoyed the story, but it was such a slow burn and sadly enough I didn't manage to care about neither the main nor some of the side characters all that much. The end comes with a few surprises at least, but by that time I had already almost lost interest. (11 June 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024]

The Lighthouse Library by Rachael Lucas

lighthearted slow-paced

I enjoyed most of the previous Applemore books, but didn't know this would be a standalone in the series. It was nice enough, no to me tried to hard to be educational about environment and poverty and all that stuff. It would have needed more substance for me to have any impact, to me this felt a bit performative. (4 June 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024]

The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

I guess after how much I enjoyed "The Guncle" a sequel had a lot to live up to. For me this story sadly didn't deliver as much as I had hoped. Parts of it felt too much like a travel advert for Europe, parts were just a bit silly. I didn't understand either why Greg and Livia had to marry right now and neither why Patrick had ended things with Emory. I tore through it on a weekend, but if I'm honest a lot of that had to do with me wanting to get it over with. (2 June 2024)

[I stopped rating books in May 2024]

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

emotional funny sad 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 came across this one through a recommendation (on Instagram?) for the sequel and of course I thought I should start with this (first) one. I didn't read the summary too carefully or I would have clocked that tragedy equals tears. Lots of tears on my part. OMG. Maybe it was a book I needed right now. It's not just sad though, far from it, it's also very funny and warm and life-affirming. Definitely one of my favourite reads this year so far. (1 June 2024)

[I've stopped rating books in May 2024]