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VioletPeanut

I read a little bit of everything. I love analysis. I was the kid in school who loved when the teacher assigned a book report.

1917 points

0% overlap
Level 5
Epic Sci-Fi and Fantasy Series
Iconic Series
My Taste
The Princess Bride
Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Reading...
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
48%

VioletPeanut made progress on...

21h
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin

48%
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VioletPeanut started reading...

1d
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin

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VioletPeanut finished a book

3d
Atmosphere

Atmosphere

Taylor Jenkins Reid

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4d
  • Atmosphere
    dorouu
    Edited
    Thoughts from 5%
    spoilers

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    29
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  • VioletPeanut started reading...

    4d
    Atmosphere

    Atmosphere

    Taylor Jenkins Reid

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    VioletPeanut left a rating...

    5d
  • Chain-Gang All-Stars
    VioletPeanut
    Jul 06, 2026
    Chain-Gang All-Stars
    4.0
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:
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  • VioletPeanut wrote a review...

    5d
  • The Widow
    VioletPeanut
    Jul 05, 2026
    The Widow
    2.0
    Enjoyment: 1.5Quality: 1.0Characters: 2.0Plot: 1.5

    I wanted to love this book, especially since I've been a huge fan of Grisham’s past novels, but this one just fell short for me. The biggest issue is definitely the pacing. The first half is an absolute crawl where almost nothing happens, and it feels like we spend forever listening to Simon complain about his failing marriage, his debts, and his gambling habits. The core theme of temptation is a great setup. An exhausted, broke lawyer sees a wealthy widow as his ticket to easy money, but the book takes way too long to get going. We get stuck reading about their repetitive lunch dates for half the novel when it easily could have been edited down.

    On the other hand, the climax feels incredibly rushed. The courtroom scenes lack any real drama and end up being pretty boring, which is a letdown for a legal thriller. When the book finally scrambles to solve the mystery, the resolution completely breaks the rules of fair play. The real culprit comes totally out of left field and is someone who hadn't even been on the radar as a possibility. With zero clues or foreshadowing leading up to it, the final twist just feels thrown at the reader at the last second.

    I did like that the story included a prominent red herring to throw us off the track, but the execution was way too heavy-handed. The natural suspicion surrounding this character was already enough to create a solid distraction, so adding extra, soap-opera-level subplots just felt forced and unnecessary. Ultimately, Simon makes for an interesting character study, and watching his own greed backfire on him is a cool psychological concept. But as a thriller, the combination of a bloated beginning and a rule-breaking ending really ruined what could have been a great book.

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    6d
  • The Widow
    Thoughts from 32% (page 128)

    So far this is very disappointing. Nothing is happening. There are hints that things are not what they seem with Eleanor, but things really need to get moving here.

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  • VioletPeanut finished a book

    1w
    Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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    Post from the Chain-Gang All-Stars forum

    1w
  • Chain-Gang All-Stars
    Thoughts from 75%
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    6
    comments 1
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    1w
  • Chain-Gang All-Stars
    Thoughts from 9%: 1033 Program Footnote
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    15
    comments 1
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    1w
  • Chain-Gang All-Stars
    Thoughts from 6%
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    4
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  • VioletPeanut made progress on...

    1w
    Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

    6%
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    Post from the Chain-Gang All-Stars forum

    1w
  • Chain-Gang All-Stars
    The Freeing of Melancholia Bishop
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    7
    comments 1
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  • VioletPeanut started reading...

    1w
    Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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