Reading, Writing, and Me

Under the Influence  by Noelle Crooks Overview: Harper needs a job. In New York, she's lost every publishing job she's had through no real fault of her own, and she's only staying afloat through the generosity of her friend and roommate, Poppy, covering the bills. When Poppy finds an ad for an influencer looking for a visionary support strategist, she convinces Harper to apply. Against the odds, she gets the job and begrudgingly moves to Nashville to work for a mommy blogger turned mega influencer (and maybe cult leader), leaving behind everything she'd built in New York and her bookish hopes and dreams. And, wow, is Harper in for a rollercoaster. Overall: 4 Characters: 4 Here's the thing with this book as a whole. It didn't knock my socks off. All the characterization is a bit shallow, and there's nothing particularly beautiful or deeply inspirational/impressive here. But it is tons of fun, and Crooks does a good job of creating these larger than life perso...

Rouge  by Mona Awad Overview: Belle is obsessed with skincare, a trait inherited from childhood through beauty obsessed mother. Belle is living her own life back in Montreal when she gets a call that her mother has passed away in California. When Belle goes to settle her mother's estate, she starts putting together some of the weird signs she saw in her mother right before her death and ends up getting sucked into a terrifying, soul-sucking spa world that puts her own life at risk. Drawing on a ton of fairytale elements and blurring the lines between reality and the mystical, Mona Awad delivers another truly disorienting novel. Overall: 3 Characters: 3  I had a really hard time finding the depth in these characters that I'd hoped for. There's just not enough grounding to truly tap into anyone in this cast. Belle spends so much time brainwashed that we never get to find out who she is as a person or see her grow. We get flashes of her childhood and see that there's a lot...

The Getaway List  by Emma Lord Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an advanced copy of The Getaway List for review purposes. All thoughts are my own.  Overview: Tom and Riley were best friends from the time they were kids. Then Tom moved to New York City with his mom when they're young teens and everything changed. Suddenly, Riley didn't have her best friend anymore. As they miss each other's major life moments, they create The Getaway List of all the things they'll finally do when they get back together. The summer after high school graduation, with neither of them planning to attend college in the fall, Riley defies her mom's wishes to go to New York and reconnect with Tom. Reunited, they let the Getaway List fill the gaps that have emerged in their friendship since they last spoke. Overall: 4 Characters: 4 Riley is a hyper, adventurous, and outspoken, but she also has a shy side. She's grown up being extremely close to her mom, who is a single parent, b...