A tentative thumbs up. I don‘t think Brontë would approve. The characters are very different from their models, but some of the story elements align. Once divorced from the source material in my mind, I was able to enjoy this book a lot more.

Possibly the most fun yet!! I love Robin‘s development in this book.

This was very different than the first, but that as interesting. The author has a way of making a whole host of characters individual and enjoyable each in their own way.

This was so much fun! I really enjoy these characters.

Informative, interesting, and compassionate.

This series is a lot of fun!

Just okay.

Beautifully written and an engaging story, though not unlike several stories with similar themes and plots. I wish there had been more historical detain, but I truly enjoyed the love letter to NYC!

Callahan missed so many opportunities to start a discussion about police response, psychology, intra-agency relationships, etc., but decided on just a straight retelling of facts and relating of interviews. Not horrible, just not great.

I enjoyed reading the beginnings of this story from Hawke‘s perspective, though there were some romantic elements that were a little disappointing. Poppy‘s perspective is definitely better, but I flew through this book and would read more from this perspective.

I wasn‘t bought into the mystery and didn‘t really love the two main characters, but the fantasy setting was lovely and I enjoyed spending time in this world that Ross created.

Definitely a hefty and dense read, but it was illuminating, intriguing, horrifying, and well worth the time and effort spent keeping the timeline and active figures straight. I don‘t know why I expected there to be so much more behind these beliefs, these people, and their hatred, but Wright deftly pulls back the veil to reveal that they are just men, weak men.

In keeping with my Russian corruption year of reading, I had to read about the Litvinenko affair. The pettiness of the rationale behind his murder, the lack of care of innocent lives, and the brazenness of the whole incident by Russia and Putin is horrifying to read about. Harding‘s brave and well researched book is an important read.

Though Tillman‘s story is important and the ways in which ineptitude and ignorance played into his death was lamentable, this was just not a the well crafted book Krakauer is capable of. Too slow and way too much sports- talk.

Beautiful and sweet, full of action, adventure, and romance. What‘s not to like? Though the setting is very fanciful, the characters are real and dynamic. I look forward to reading the next in the series.

A little gem of a book. I love Clarke‘s imagination and cozy world building. I don‘t know how much I liked the mystery, but I loved the setting and the MC.

An unbelievable and terrifying account of the tragedy in K2. I really appreciated Pemba‘s perspective. The authors revisit the issue of how stress and altitude affect memory and decision-making.

Orlean‘s writing style has never been my favorite but this is such a good story, it overwhelmed the negative.

This book brought me back to the anxiety of early pandemic life, and I couldn‘t feel more sympathetic towards the passengers and workers on cruise ships at the time, but I think this book missed some opportunities to delve deeper into human psyche, political reactions to the virus, etc.

Ah! Back to the charm of the first few books. It‘s hard to believe that this whole story happened and Hudson barely refers to it the rest of the series, but it was a charming book and helped me remember why I enjoyed this series. I appreciated the simplicity of the plot compared to the later installments

I‘m sorry to say that this book didn‘t hook me the way I expected it to. I can appreciate how well it is written and the potential impact it would have for young readers, but I kept getting shared by the “issues.” Maybe you should read it when you‘re young?

An important book. I don‘t know how I feel about the ending, but I think the rest of it is aptly constructed and targeted to spark important conversations in today‘s youth.

A slow start if you‘ve read “Red Notice,” as the first few chapters just rehash it, but then it really picks up! Browder‘s story is unbelievable- I find myself becoming paranoid right along with him (his paranoia is justifies, mine is not). Everyone should be reading his books and following his story!

Boring and too long. I enjoyed the first in the series, but almost couldn‘t get through this one.

I really didn‘t expect to like this book as much as I did! True, it was serious and pretty heavy- handed, but the characters leapt off the page. They were vivid and sympathetic- this really is essential reading for teens.

This book shies away from engaging in any real discussion about race, but plays with themes of racism and segregation throughout. I love the fairytale quality of Maniac‘s story, and some of the characters are lovely, but I just couldn‘t invest fully.

This had some major problems, but it‘s a good introduction for kids. Innocence and heartache permeate every sentence, which is jarring but also a perfect tone for this story.

The story was good, the romance was not.

I could not put this book down and had nightmares after Putin and Russia after reading this book before bed! My heart breaks for Sergei‘s family. Though I feel that Browder whitewashed his own success a bit, I admire his doggedness, empathy, and bravery. He may not be the most eloquent writer, but this is a story that needed to be told. I can‘t wait to read the next one!

I find Nesta really hard to like, though I enjoyed the “Valkyrie” friendship group. I just can‘t quite forgive her for her treatment of Feyre. I enjoyed being back in this world, though, and I appreciated the scope of the book.

This book was so much fun! I‘m a sucker for a ship‘s tale and the mystery and treachery was a lot of fun. There was a current of high tension running throughout this book, which kept the tone consistent and the story moving. I look forward to the next one.

Absolutely riveting! The gentleman inhabitants of Colditz seemed to approach their captivity with a similar attitude as they had towards their boarding school life: they formed cliques, upheld rank, hazed newbies, and made it their priority to undermine their jailers. The stakes were high, as was the misery, but the level or focus and ingenuity they demonstrated trying to escape is unbelievable. Macintyre knows how to bring history to life.

I liked this trilogy a lot more than the dark artifacts trilogy. That being said, I felt a little let down by this book. I enjoyed spending time with these characters, but I found myself wishing I could follow Tess and Will along instead of Daisy and James.

Better than the first, but not as good as the second in the series. I enjoyed the romance, but much of the plot seemed to be traveling compulsively around, miscommunication, and prophecy.

Though very slow at the start, this book picked up in pace and action and delivered on its promises. The amount of detail that Thomson was able to include- and the amount of research it must‘ve taken to verify- is astounding! Though he stretched the story a bit thin trying to follow so many different historical figures, he nevertheless immerses his reader in the merry lives of these pirates.

I liked this was better than the first, but not as much as I enjoyed the first 3 Blood and Ash books. I‘m not a big fan of the false love- impediment, but the action was good.

Such a touching and human true crime book. Miles approaches all parties with the same level of sympathy and empathy, while also examining the dangers of bias and presumption in our judicial system. She also shines a light on the problems of underfunding our nation‘s park system.

This one has been my least favorite of Foley‘s books to date. Something was just missing and the story‘s scope didn‘t seem to fit. I was just left feeling apathetic for the majority of it, though it picked up in the second half.

Though this book is over 15 years old now, and much of the information contained is either out of date or has been so widely discussed as to make it well known, it still remains relevant, in its way. You can still learn that analyzing statistics comes down to asking the right questions.

An absolutely fascinating and well told journey of self discovery. This book was definitely dated, and there were things about Dominick that were hard to forgive, but they added to the characters complexity. I looked forward to picking up this book everyday and, though really it felt like a reading a big therapy session, I would definitely read more by this author.

A hesitant pick for me. There were elements of this story I really liked- the setting, the wife and family, the multiple timelines- and these elements saved the reading experience for me. The thing holding me back from loving it was the main character! I found him to be frustrating and stereotypical. I think I would‘ve liked this book even more if his wife or stepson had been the main character.

I thoroughly researched and fascinating examination of Chinese/ US immigration. With an analytical, yet sympathetic approach, Keefe uses the tragedy of the Golden Venture to examine the complexities of US immigration policies and the shady characters who exploit them. Keefe has a talent for making the most complex situations and ideas understandable.

A tentative “pick” for me. While I thought this was imaginative and original, I just didn‘t love it as much as I expected too. I wasn‘t necessarily put off by all the violence, but it seemed that that bad guys always died and the good guys miraculously and mysteriously survived. I know it‘s a YA book, but based on the gore and violence, I expected more consequences to the characters‘ actions, I guess.

Though I ultimately enjoyed this book, I didn‘t find it as memorable as the first. Things seemed rushed and I didn‘t always follow the logic of the problems/ solutions/ explanations. However, the characters were sweet, as was the story.

This didn‘t live up to the premise for me. I didn‘t really believe Hannah as a bodyguard. Jack was, frankly, not a very interesting or developed romantic lead. Maybe my hopes were too high. I didn‘t hate it- maybe it would‘ve helped if it had been longer?

Just wasn‘t my cup of tea- a little too saccharine. I would‘ve been interested in hearing more of the autobiographical details of Morrie‘s life.

Important reading but not Wilkerson‘s best writing. She makes some assumptive leaps occasionally that bring the reader up short, and tries to push her thesis into places that it really doesn‘t fit, but as for eye opening and important content, it‘s worth reading.

I‘m absolutely unbelievable story. There is such much hate and anger and yet also forgiveness and compassions driving this book. This was an easy, immersive read, and Hillenbrand did a good job making each person memorable and distinctive, so it was easy for the reader to track them.

It‘s been a while since I read such immersive and realistic historical fiction. The underlying tension inherent in the story- it‘s foregone conclusion- was enough to propel the story forward. I liked that the author focused on Booth siblings other than John. The difference between the women‘s lives and concerns and the men‘s was an interesting theme throughout. I always enjoy Karen Joy Fowler‘s writing.

Each essay was more enthralling than the last! I couldn‘t wait to pick up this book each time I put it down. Keefe has a way of making fact more awful, more beautiful, and more interesting than fiction. After hearing he narrated the audiobook, I‘m tempted to go for round 2.