Welcome to Litsy!

“The thinking that women of all shapes and sizes can be beautiful is still hugely problematic, because it is predicated on the idea that the most important thing a woman has to offer the world is her appearance. Men are raised to worry about their legacies, not their upper arm and thigh fat, stretch marks, crows-feet, saggy elbows, ugly armpits, thin eyelashes, and normal-smelling genitals.”

Just terrible. It had an interesting premise, but I must have had an early edition because there were so many typos and a letter from the publisher in it. Also, I would have bailed but like the subject matter it was hard to not find out what happened, so I thought I‘d switch to the audiobook which was an improvement...but the damage might‘ve been done for me.
I‘ll end up donating but this is what I initially thought to do.
#doublespin for June

Struggling with reading with this one but want to know what happens so seeing if switching up formats help. #doublespin

Of course after posting my bookspin I meet my friends who give me books for Christmas to add to my tbr. I‘m excited to have a fresh journal for 2021 🙈🤷🏼‍♀️📚

Another bail! One chapter in and Im zzzzzz

Book 131 of 2020
#audiobook #scribd

I have stopped reading a book less than five times in my life. I simply could not finish this book. The writing style is fine...but the story was like experiencing one of those reality housewife shows. 🤢

I started this book and was a little disappointed- it moved slow and rarely captured my attention. But for some reason, I kept reading, and boy am I glad I did. The plot twists kept coming, and on several occasions I gasped loudly because certain truthful items came to light. I think the conversation about society pitting women against each other is an important one to have, and this book demonstrates how even the “helpful” practices are harmful

This made for okay plane reading but I don‘t think it‘s really worth picking up, it didn‘t work for me. The cast of characters was too complicated, for one. I kept having to flip back and forth to figure out who people were early on and still never really managed to keep Lauren and Jen straight. But what really irked me was how the book ended for Stephanie. It felt like a bad stereotype.

Had to bail on this one...got to page 60-something and just had no motivation to open it anymore. It was like reading some annoying girls bitchy diary. I have yet to figure out why they continuously compare the author to Ruth Ware or Gillian Flynn because there is no comparison in my opinion 😒

I enjoyed this book for it's clever, punchy, sharp writing. It was thought provoking and delved into difficult women's issues. But there were times when I wanted to throw it across the room. The writing was so distracting and complicated to the point of confusion. The characters were horrible human beings and the entire plot summarized everything I dislike about reality TV: manipulative, hateful and hurtful. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #reviewathon #netgalley

Traveling home today. I haven‘t done any reading during this family vacation so I‘m more than happy to have the next 8 hours with this book. Another #netgalleyarc that I also have a print copy of - this one was a Goodreads giveaway win. ✈️📚 #reviewathon

Hmmmmm.

#2019Book55
If you want the scandal and backstabbing of reality television without having to actual watch those women scream at each other, check out this book!

Housewives meets the final girls. So amazing! Jessica knoll has been added to my list of, is she writes it, I‘ll buy it

I do not bail on books often but wow this book is just not something I could get into. I really tried but it felt like there wasn‘t really a plot going on, it was more just characters rambling about nonsense. I think that she was trying to have us get to know the characters but dang! I just couldn‘t stick with it anymore.

Okay you guys, I‘m not one to often not finish a book but dang this one is dragging! It has no plot so far! It‘s just rambling on and on and I really don‘t think I‘m going to be able to make it through! Did anyone actually like this book? Should I give up or keep going?

What are you all up to on this Friday night, Litsy fam?! A nice relaxing bath with a good thriller, my favorite summer bookmark, (it has a dolphin🐬 and mermaid 🧜‍♀️ charm ☺️) and a Lavender bath bomb sound pretty perfect to me! 📖 🍷 🛁 Happy Friday, friends!

Very twisty! You'd think this many characters who were lying/hiding things from each other would invest in lock screens for their phones, but plot contrivance pet peeves aside I enjoyed the ride on this one. There's not really anyone to like by the end so if you're not into that this isn't the book for you. I was happy to read a thriller that was actually focused on five women, with nary a sketchy boyfriend or abusive ex-husband in site.

A book about a reality show isn‘t really up my alley, but I was enjoying the cattiness until the book wrapped up.

I didn‘t love Luckiest Girl Alive, but I enjoy a book where I can shut my brain off for a bit, so I‘m giving this one a try. What are some of your favorite light reads?

“The very idea of motherhood feels like a hangman‘s noise around my neck.”

One of the most relatable quotes I ever came across.

Well, this is about a group of women on a reality show about young, successful, independent women. It takes place over a season of filming, and of course there is all manner of backstabbing and betrayal, but it just was the longest read ever. I should have bailed. It was way too convoluted, with a whole bunch of very unlikable characters. Yeah, not for me, I‘ll probably skip her next release.

Catching up on reviews today! Jessica Knoll just isn‘t the author for me. I had a really hard time with this one and an even harder time with her first novel. ⭐️⭐️ Full review here: https://bit.ly/2COXaHs

#popsugarreadingchallenge #abooktoldfrommultiplePOVs #netgalley

I really wanted to like this book but ultimately I thought it was NOT GOOD. this novel is based in some feminist concepts which really had potential. Unfortunately, it was just executed poorly. The plot is SLOW and it was super complicated to get all the characters organised in my head at the beginning, nothing really starts to unfold into 330 pages into a 370 page novel, and much of what comes before that is unnecessarily complex.

Summer read 👌🏻

Alternating cooking and reading tonight. I‘m prioritizing my reading (and thus, my self care) this year, so that means sneaking in books whenever I can. Reading matters to me and makes me a better, calmer person. So I get my pages in, while I‘m waiting for my jambalaya to boil or for my rice to cook or while I stir. More prioritizing what matters in 2019!

I‘m cranky as hell today and don‘t really want to go anywhere or do anything today. But there is cooking to be done before some food goes bad and my first small group meeting this afternoon. In protest, I am hiding in my reading nook as long as possible and praying everyone leaves me alone lol.

I‘ve had this on my TBR shelf for ages, so I‘m finally getting to it

Supplies for an all-nighter. 🥛🍪

Ok, so here‘s the ☕️— I adore this author. Her first book was easily my most fave thing I‘ve read in a long while, I was so excited for this one and it didn‘t disappoint. If you like backstabbing, suppppper unreliable narrators, and general caustic wit & sarcasm, Jessica Knoll has characters for you. Think Big Little Lies (a lot of ppl claim books are like this, I know but trust) set on a Housewives-Esque reality show. 💋☕️

*whistles* That last line. This book is a messy Mean Girls extravaganza, henny. Translation: it‘s getting good.

5 hours deep in #24b4Monday!

I realize Knoll‘s writing isn‘t everyone‘s cup of tea but her biting style of sarcastic characters is so funny to me. 💋

I wanted to read this book for such a long time and was highly disappointed. I tried to get half way through before I bailed but I have other books I rather be reading. The women were jerks and annoying. The cover is pretty though 🤷‍♀️

The rest of my book swaps have arrived... including the tagged book which I‘ve coveted since it was released! Thank you @EH2018 (& the three non-Litsy friends who traded for the others stacked)!! My #TBR just keeps getting bigger 😂🤷🏻‍♀️

This was a decent read/listen, but I think I was expecting a bit more. The hype was so intense lol If you like mystery thrillers you would probably enjoy this one.

This book has a lot of #truth in it. As a #childlessbychoice woman, I have had a lot of friends try to justify/validate their decision to have kids to me. I‘m all, “whatever, do your thing.” I have found there‘s very little validation for childless women, at least in the South.

This novel is a bit different than Knoll's debut, but still focuses on complex women having moments of being likable and unlikable moments. It is a psychological thriller and falls into the unreliable narrator because the characters are millennial women who are on a reality tv show that is suppose to show empowered women, but succumbs to typical reality tv drama with including finding out who killed one of the women vs how it‘s portrayed for tv.

This week's #libraryhaul. #bookhaul #tbr #weeklylibrarytrip

100 pages in and loving this book!

24 | #ABBAInAugust

I was a good #soldiers and got through this one, but it was awful. Horrible nasty characters that just left me 😤. A very hard pass from me.

It‘s a dangerous thing to conflate feminism with liking all women. It limits women to being one thing, likable, when feminism is about allowing women to be all shades of all things, even if that thing is a snake oil saleswoman.

Couldn‘t figure out what it was about.

It took me a minute to get into this book. I was kind of bored in the beginning, but the ending saved the book.

"It's dangerous at the top."

I know this has mixed reviews. I really liked it. It took awhile to get into, but once I was in I couldn‘t put it down. Sure the characters are really hateful, but that‘s the point. It‘s like a whole season of Real Housewives in one book. It‘s juicy. #reversereadathon @DeweysReadathon

Moved outside. It‘s a lovely day. And inside is too distracting. Maybe I‘ll finally get this one finished. #reversereadathon @DeweysReadathon