Oh hell in Bookish

It’s been a long time since I wrote in this book. When last I wrote (in June), I’d just completed my Goodreads challenge of reading 20 books this year. Now I’m at 37 books for the year, so that’s 17 books I still have to review here. I mean I don’t have to, but I’d like to catch up. Let’s see what I can remember about some of these books…

1) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
(3 out of 5 stars)
~I remember having a hard time getting into this book and almost quitting. I was told it was very sexy, had steamy romance scenes, and I didn’t find that to be the case. Which doesn’t make or break a book, but it was a let down on my side. This woman (Claire? I dunno, it’s been a long time since I read it lol) finds some fuckin time travel hidey hole and goes back in time to like 1400’s Scotland or some shit. And there she falls in love with Jamie, even though she’s married back in the real world and they get. it. on and she fucks up a lot and he always has to rescue her and meh. It was a well written novel and yes, some of it was really gripping, but in the end it was mostly very predictable and the “cliffhanger” at the end was 1000% predictable and angered me so I wasn’t even interested in continuing the series. Would I watch the television series? Maybe. But it’s not something I’m dying to see, ya know? So.... probably wouldn’t recommend it as a must read for people who haven’t seen the show or are new to the series. NEXT!

2) The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
(3 out of 5 stars)
~Identical twin sisters take very different paths through adolescence/adulthood. One stays in the small Black community she was raised in, and the other spreads her wings in the world (though under false pretenses). Will she get caught up in her lies? Will she and her sister ever talk or see each other again? Will their family secrets ever be told?
This was an interesting novel and it touched on several difficult topics such as colorism, racism, and gender identity/LGBTQ+ issues. It was a well-paced book and I didn’t want to put it down. I just felt like all the stories being told were just kind of unfinished? Like I wanted to dig in deeper to some of the side stories and follow those narratives, but it never materialized. It was a decent read, I’d probably recommend it to others.

3) The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
(3 out of 5 stars)
~The four Gold children secretly visit a fortune teller who is able to tell them the day they each will die. The rest of the book follows the four siblings into adulthood and we see whether the fortune teller is right and how her prophecies effect each child as they grow up.
I feel like this novel started off really strong. The first sibling’s story (Simon) was compelling and I couldn’t read it fast enough. It almost had me in tears. His sister Klara’s story was not as thrilling for me and left me with a lot of questions. Then came Daniel’s story, which turned into too much of a psychological thriller for me (which wasn’t that thrilling, but it felt out of place in the novel). And lastly, Varya’s story was just.... too unbelievable, too much. I found myself rolling my eyes between pages.
I think the concept of the book was very interesting and I did like the variety of each sibling’s story. They all chose different paths and I think the diversity of their choices keep the storyline interesting. But as the novel played out, it just became more farfetched and unbelievable. Would I recommend this book to other readers? Ehhh I guess. It’s different, I’ll give it that. But it’s not earth shattering.

Ok, that’s enough for tonight!