"I’m adrift and the anchor is my motherfucking keystone of a heart."
TW: gore, blood, grief
I’ll say it once and then I’m never gonna say it again: this"I’m adrift and the anchor is my motherfucking keystone of a heart."
TW: gore, blood, grief
I’ll say it once and then I’m never gonna say it again: this cover is a disgrace.
Now that I’ve dealt with the elephant in the room, I can start my very silly Rather Random Review™️
And it’s gonna be a difficult one because I am very biased. My love for Ronan Lynch interferes with my actual thoughts regarding this second installment. It’s difficult to be objective and neutral but I will try.
I already was not a fan of Call Down the Hawk, so to say that I did not have high expectations for Mister Impossible is to say the least. I mean... have you seen the title? ☠️
However, I am a fan of Ronan Lynch. And so, here I am.
So, first thing to say is, in case you haven't figured it out: Ronan Lynch is my fave. And the Lynch family needs to be protected at all costs. Nonetheless, I have to tell the truth, in this book Ronan was whiny and very narrow-minded – which then translated into very annoying actions and an even more annoying general persona – and I really wanted to punch some sense into him. Declan and Matthew’s actions and chapters were very repetitive and underwhelming. And I was massive disappointed by it.
And that specifically because all the other characters were okay at best, completely useless at worst. They were dry and boring and added absolutely nothing to the story. All the characters (nobody was spared) were completely lack-luster.
What drove me up the wall was also the fact that the book was narrated through different perspectives but all the voices sounded the same ...more
"There’s a reason I know this city’s full of lonely people. I’m one of them."
TW: death, grief, depression
My one and only regret was reading this book."There’s a reason I know this city’s full of lonely people. I’m one of them."
TW: death, grief, depression
My one and only regret was reading this book.
This Rather Random Review™️, as you can already gather, is going to be a unpleasant one, but I felt so disappointed I can’t control myself.
So, The Collected Regrets of Clover is a story about death. It’s the story of Clover, who is a death doula, and her quiet, lonely world. It’s a world full of grief and confessions, pieces of advice and regrets left by the dying… and very little else. Clover is a bit of a loner, who would rather blend in the background than do anything that could catch anyone’s attention.
The synopsis of this book really caught my attention but unfortunately the book did not deliver at all, for as much as I am concerned. And that was for different reasons.
The one glaring problem was that the story was painfully cliché. The first 20% of the book was somewhat interesting, but the rest was so incredibly uninspiring and, quite honestly, banale. The Collected Regrets of Clover followed an annoyingly predictable plot and needless to say, I was not a fan.
Another aspect that bothered me was how poor the characterization was. Clover was the only one who actually had a personality and was close to being three dimensional. All the other characters were present simply to push the story and Clover forward and were as deep as a puddle. They served one purpose and one purpose only (allow the main character to grow) and it was rather disappointing to read and witness.
Moreover, two another aspects that confused me and made for a lackluster reading experience were the inconsistency regarding one character’s beliefs ((view spoiler)[ Claudia, Sebastian’s grandmother, once mentioned that, unwillingly, she resented her son because she had to stop working, but she expressed her desire to have a kid twice throughout the book. So… make it make sense, please? If Claudia wanted a kid, and knew that having a kid was going to put a stop to her career, why is she resenting her son…? Maybe I’m just too much of a silly goose to understand (hide spoiler)]) and the insta-love present in the story.
The Collected Regrets of Clover was, all in all, a disappointment. The writing style was fine (nothing special, tbh), but the plot itself was formulaic, and thus incredibly boring and predictable, and the characters massively lacked depth.
"I was still here, still living. But was I just existing out of habit?"...more
"Life was fragile and fleeting and one had to be cautious, sure, but I would risk death if it meant I could sleep all day and become a whole new perso"Life was fragile and fleeting and one had to be cautious, sure, but I would risk death if it meant I could sleep all day and become a whole new person."
TW: depression, death, drug abuse, mentions of suicide, fat-phobia, fat-shaming, eating disorder, bulimia, alcohol abuse
"How do you know which choices matter, and which ones are just dumb?"
This, to tell you the unfiltered truth, was more tedious than anticipated.
I was e"How do you know which choices matter, and which ones are just dumb?"
This, to tell you the unfiltered truth, was more tedious than anticipated.
I was expecting something a bit more deep and a bit more thrilling. Instead, This Time Tomorrow, for as much as I am concerned, was a lacklustre and underwhelming novel.
The characters were dull, the plot got boring quite quickly, the pace was a touch too slow for my liking and the writing style was nothing special.
In my opinion! Let us all remember that this is my silly opinion and this Rather Random Review™️ is, indeed, written by an illiterate rat. And I am sure you normally would not trust an illiterate rat ...more
"The women. They’re the only thing that will save you in the end."
TW: grief, depression, anxiety, infertility, death
DNF @48%
I am sorry but this is a D"The women. They’re the only thing that will save you in the end."
TW: grief, depression, anxiety, infertility, death
DNF @48%
I am sorry but this is a DNF for me.
For as much as I appreciated the importance given to female friendship and feminism, independence and the struggles of living and figuring out who you are, what you love, what you dream of… I was bored out of my mind, mate! This was so unbearably boring I cannot even believe I managed to read half of this novel.
The main struggles portrayed in this novel where motherhood and juggling motherhood and a career (hence the tile "Expectation" – what you'd expect from motherhood). Indeed, even though it was a very feminist read, I was completely baffled by the fact that a woman’s worth was based purely on wether or not she had a baby. It felt as if the author didn’t even phantom the possibility for a woman to be okay without having a kid. And I understand that this was the whole plot of the book: three women fighting against society (and themselves) to figure out their desires, wishes and fears about their lives and also, if not mainly, about motherhood. But still. Big yikes.
The more I continued reading the story, the more I was disconnected, bored and dragged in the gutter by the heaviness and pretentiousness of the book. Sorry, I am an uncultured rat, after all. What did you expect? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
”They still have time to become who they are going to be.”...more
"I had bragged without shame about my skills in every wine store in the city. I had wanted everyone to know that I was the finest thief since mortal m"I had bragged without shame about my skills in every wine store in the city. I had wanted everyone to know that I was the finest thief since mortal men were made, and I must have come close to accomplishing the goal."