1. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Rating: ★★★☆☆
This book is a really important perspective on Rochester and the Madwoman in the Attic. The reason it isn't rated higher for me is because it was extremely hard to read. It is intentionally written in a stream of consciousness so the inner monologue jumps around a lot and is overall really messy. For me, it was really frustrating and impeded me from enjoying/appreciating the story as I think it deserved based on the premise.
2. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Rating: ★★★☆☆
This is really a feel-good story, super cute, and it deals with some really important issues especially about family relations, etc. The only thing holding it back from being four stars was how unbearably cliche and predictable every twist was. The only cheesy cliche I appreciated was the couple name at the end, that was actually super cute. But everything from the blind date app, to the parental connections, to the way Pepper finds out who Wolf is... it has been done sooooo many times.
3. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Rating: ★★★★☆
This is the version of history that I never got in my history classes, which were white-washed and watered down. I think it's an extremely important, if biased, perspective. It did inspire me to pick up another book on U.S. history, which is impressive.
4. All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grade
Rating: ★★★☆☆
This was a good fantasy book; I just didn't find it super memorable. The magic system is interesting, and I always love when protagonists find out that everything they've been told/taught is a lie to cover up dark secrets. So it's good, just not phenomenal, not amazing.
5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I really actually love the last chapter of this book, and how Jekyll talks so much about the dark and light side of human nature constantly warring for control. For me personally though, it is hard to find a classic that gets over 3 stars just because I feel like they are written more impersonally by virtue of the time. I didn't connect to the characters so I didn't feel much of anything while reading, but again that's just how classic tend to go for me.
6. Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
This book felt like a joke to me. The concept of the different fantasy worlds was really interesting, but I hated all the characters (except for maybe Kade and Jack), and nothing was plausible. I believe that, even in a fantasy novel, the story must be believable. The fact that Eleanor West has this school to help and reacclimate "wayward children" but she literally tells them to CLEAN UP DEAD BODIES? Using extremely sketchy acid techniques that these children are just allowed to keep in their rooms? To me, the premise of this story was reminiscent of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, with all several children that are from different backgrounds that are in a refuge for children overseen by a headmistress. But this story was so much worse in quality. Where Miss Peregrine is matronly yet stern and shows she really cares, Eleanor West is uninvolved to the point of neglect, and also she told the children to CLEAN UP DEAD BODIES because she just couldn't handle it? And then kept all this from the police? Girl bye.
7. Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
Rating: ★★★★★
This book hit all the right spots - it was intriguing, creepy, nasty, and empathy-inspiring all at the right moments. I liked how morally gray the characters are (mainly Rose Gold), and how they don't present the victim of the MBP as solely a victim but also as a person with her own story and strength and anger. I feel like this was a good balance between showing the MBP as it was happening, but then also directing the story to be focused on how Rose Gold was moving on with her life, and likewise how Patty was moving on with hers. Additionally, I thought the transitions between the present and the past were really well done, not at all choppy or strange. The present actually is two different presents; the chapters with Rose Gold's perspective take place while Patty is in jail as Rose Gold tries to cope and move on from her abuse, and the chapters with Patty's perspective take place right after Patty is released from prison. I felt that this made a lot of sense, and it helped to shed more light on both of the characters. It also added to the creepy atmosphere because both of the narrators were unreliable so you had to read things and constantly understand that they might not be the full truth, and just understand that by the ending you would get the full story. I don't really know why this average rating is so low, considering how many overwhelmingly positive reviews I've seen for this book. I know the average is an average for a reason, but I am honestly shocked that this book doesn't have over a 4.0 average rating on Goodreads.
8. Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson
Rating: ★★★☆☆
This one did not quite exceed by expectations. Check out my full review HERE.
9. The Hand On The Wall (Truly Devious #3) by Maureen Johnson
Rating: ★★★☆☆
This whole series has been good. Not a wild ride like some people say it is (this is my personal opinion, no hate), but still really enjoyable. One of the main things that just cannot allow me to rate this higher than three stars is the characters. Specifically Stevie and David. Stevie was alright, not extremely compelling and annoying at times. DAVID THOUGH. I hated him. In a way that I don't think was intended by the author. I hated him in all the books, and I never ever ever thought that his romance with Stevie made any sense at all. It completely taints my overall view on the series. If David had just disappeared after the second book, liked he faked, it would have been so much better. Although I will admit, the thing with taking down Senator King was pretty cool.
10. House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: ★★★★☆
This one was a WOW. It both did and did not exceed my expectations. Find out why HERE.
11. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Rating: ★★★★☆
This is the first of Oscar Wilde that I have read, and it definitely lives up to the hype! This book is just as dark as it is whimsical, in a strange oxymoronic way. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Lord Henry is one of the most interesting characters from Victorian literature that I have ever read.
12. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I always knew I was going to read this book, since it is part of my 100 Greatest Books Reading Challenge, and just a classic. Honestly though, I didn't know what to expect going into it. I've never seen the movie, but I will probably watch it now that I've read the book. To me, the book was good but underwhelming. I understand that it was a pioneer in a lot of the tropes here, so the cliches weren't cliche at the time, but I just felt sort of meh about everything. The last chapter (which is like 30% of the book) is by far the saving grace of the book. I just wish that the 1940's story went deeper and we got to know the characters and their relationship better, which totally could have been done because as it was the book was only 200 pages.
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