Pls give me your book hot takes. Not abt reading habits or genre stuff. Tell me about a book, plot point, or character that didn’t land for you the way it did for everyone else, and then one you loved that others didn’t.

I’ll go first 😶

Didn’t land for me: Pachinko. I admired the ambition of exploring identity, family trauma, and the impact of colonialism. But it didn’t maintain/develop its emotional core well for me. All the really high emotion moments were off screen, a choice that at first didn’t take much enjoyment away but as time jumps increased it did. I felt yanked across a timeline, instead of feeling like it was unfolding. A lot of character and plot development felt like it was left on the table. I also felt like I was missing historical and cultural context the book didn’t fill in, which is a valid choice, just one that made it harder for me to connect. I respect what it was trying to do; it just didn’t land for me.

My unexpected love: I LOVEDThe Guest by Emma Cline. I read it twice back-to-back. I related to Alex’s resentment toward wealthy, privileged people. It reminded me of people I knew when I lived in the NYC area. Her self-sabotage made sense to me, and I loved the prose and her story as she unravels. It ended up being one of my favorite reads.

Your turn ❤️

I think my expectations were higher than what I'm getting so far...

”It’s not broken, thankfully, but fractured.”

That’s like saying, ”it’s not broken but broken.”

I’ve had to pause about half way through. This sequel feels directionless and poorly thought out. The first book moved so fast it was easy to ignore the sloppiness. This one is… well, I’m struggling.

Also, I feel so bad for Callie Hart that this book went out without it final edits. I would be so embarrassed and pissed!