Magicalrealism

Jolynne

Water Moon: A Novel | Samantha Sotto Yambao

pick

This was a pleasant fantasy. The world building was fun and imaginative. I even made it through the romance.

6 likes

HeyT

The House of the Spirits | Isabel Allende

HAPPY #BOOKSPIN DAY to all who celebrate!
I'm not too sure how I feel about this draw tbh. The tagged is my BookSpin and The Book Eaters is my Double. I just don't know if I'm in the headspace for historical family drama even if there is a bit of fantasy mixed in.

12 likes

JenP

Water Moon: A Novel | Samantha Sotto Yambao

pick

Im giving this a pick although not normally the sort of book I read. I very much needed a light read and this was a cotton candy sort of read that required minimal thought or emotional energy. It‘s fluff and cutesy and the writing is okay but it certainly transported me to a fun adventure and was a distraction from life and the darker books I‘ve been reading.

slategreyskies I love the cover! #covercrush 🤍 20h

JenP @slategreyskies I bought it for the cover. Also inside you get instructions on how to fold it into a boat 20h

slategreyskies That‘s so cool! A definite winner! 🛶 📚😎 20h

23 likes3 comments

humouress

The Husbands | Holly Gramazio

The premise is that Lauren is single but coming home from her best friend's hen night (a little worse for wear) she finds a strange man in her flat. Turns out he's her husband; but when he goes into the attic, a different husband comes down, and Lauren's world is a bit different (paint, carpets, books).
Ridiculous premise but has me laughing.

Read this one (I'm not even halfway yet)

humouress If she doesn't like him, she sends the newest husband into the attic and tries out the next one. It also affects those close to her (though they don't know it) like the time her sister hadn't had kids. Problem solved; change husbands. 2d

humouress Ch 30: With a late-February husband she finds crocuses coming up in her garden, and she relaxes her search for a while, resting in a world where someone bothered to plant bulbs in autumn. Over the course of a week the flowers crest the dirt and start to open. They‘re wonderful. But the husband himself is not to her taste; she moves on when the crocuses start to fade and she finds that nobody has planted daffodils for March. 24h

humouress Ch 2: He sounds very industrious. She doesn‘t have a vegetable patch, but perhaps he‘s brought it with him.

‘That‘d be great,‘ he says. ‘Just gimme a sec. The attic light was out when I was up there yesterday, let me change it while I remember.‘
‘Yeah,‘ she says, ‘okay.‘ She heads into the kitchen while he stays on the landing and pulls the ladder down – hears him jerk it to one side at the place where it always catches, like he‘s lived here for⬇ (edited) 23h

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humouress ⬇ years. In the fridge, she is confronted by three different milks in a row: oat, cashew, dairy. God, and what if he drinks it black? He‘s an architect, after all. She‘ll just have to ask, and if he thinks it‘s weird then so be it. Maybe it‘ll be a way into a conversation that she still doesn‘t know how to start. ‘Do you want milk?‘ she calls out, stepping back on to the landing with the blue mug in her hands. 23h

humouress ⬇ ‘What?‘ says an entirely different man, climbing down the ladder from the attic.

Ch 3: She looks at the dark square. ‘Up there. Is Mich– was there anyone in the attic?‘
‘Like a squirrel? Mice? I don‘t think so. Do you want me to check?‘ He stands, one hand on the ladder, teetering between irritation and concern. The mug is still warm in her hands.
‘Yes,‘ she says.
‘Are you sure you‘re okay?‘
‘Yes. Yes, if you could check, please.‘ (edited) 23h

humouress ⬇The husband tightens his shapely lips and climbs partway back up the ladder, and then continues, up, up, all the way in, his bare feet (uncalloused, perfectly formed) disappearing before her eyes. There‘s a moment of movement and brightness above her, like a flash of sunlight through train windows, and a sharp crackle.
A moment later a blue furry slipper emerges from the trapdoor. And another.
Huh. (edited) 23h

5 likes6 comments

TracyReadsBooks

The Antidote | Karen Russell

so-so

I didn‘t love it…which honestly, comes as a surprise because everything else I‘ve read by Russell I really enjoyed. It has the right ingredients—interesting setting (Dust Bowl), a witch, a sentient scarecrow, a mystery, but…BUT, it‘s ponderous & slow moving, told in multiple POVs which aren‘t all that distinctive, & somehow (impossibly) devoid of emotional depth. I really should have cared about these characters & I just didn‘t. Just a so-so read.

19 likes

monalyisha

The Unmaking of June Farrow | Adrienne Young

so-so

Quite possibly the most three-star book I‘ve ever read. 😅

Too many small details, which I normally don‘t mind, but it doesn‘t feel like they add anything (e.g. “I dropped the keys into the bowl on the table”; “I slid the bin from the shelf and lowered it to the ground”; “I pulled onto the shoulder…sliding the gear into park”; “I opened the door, getting out of the truck”, “I reached out…I pushed it open…My eyes widened,” etc).👇🏻

monalyisha 1/5: It could be the first person, present tense POV that doesn‘t work for me. At times, Young‘s writing style feels almost akin to a step-by-step instruction manual. I understand the choice. Each small action makes June feel real; it‘s basically a granularly-written, authorial mindfulness practice — an attempt to ground June in the moment, *whenever* that moment is. Still, it‘s grating. 3d

monalyisha 2/5: And…I‘m not fully convinced it‘s a stylistic choice and not just how Young always writes. It‘s fitting that what doesn‘t work for June is timing & tense; that‘s exactly what doesn‘t work for me about the whole novel. 3d

monalyisha 3/5: At the same time, if we‘re talking about living two lives, June‘s seems like one I *could* live. 3d

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monalyisha 4/5: Her blonde hair (check), her green dress (check), the abalone shell that holds her rings (consistent with my aesthetic sensibilities); her farm (a buried wish, to lead a simpler and more rural existence — one that our capitalist society and financial reality will never let me lead); her child (a sweet choice I did not make but conceivably could have) — not to mention her hunky Irish husband (yes, please). (edited) 3d

monalyisha 5/5: So, I can‘t hate the book entirely. There‘s a lot to feel sentimental and tender about. 3d

monalyisha Things I‘d like to have learned more about: 1. the origin of the curse, & 2. Birdie‘s life. June fights so hard to give Annie a life that doesn‘t disintegrate & unravel. What does she do with it? All we really know is that she ends up as June‘s parental figure & that she had a husband at some point. I need *more.* And, to be honest, I would have preferred more closure for Mason. “He fell in love with an intern” doesn‘t quite cut it. Why an intern? 3d

cariashley Such a great review, you nailed so many of my issues/questions with this one! 3d

monalyisha @cariashley Thank you! I was *scouring* reviews trying to determine if anyone else felt like I did and coming up wanting. 😅 So, your comment is both validating and appreciated! 3d

63 likes8 comments

Jen2

Water Moon: A Novel | Samantha Sotto Yambao

pick

Good

40 likes

Bookish_Gal

Water Moon: A Novel | Samantha Sotto Yambao

so-so

Audio. The whimsical tone of this book made it difficult for me to keep up with as an audiobook. As such, may have rated differently. It‘s a cozy show book, with a Studio Ghibli type atmosphere. Enjoyed hearing about the Otherworldly places; though the characters went through them too quick to fully appreciate them. The romance felt forced throughout, unnecessary. Even with the ending twist - which was well placed.

7 likes

JillR

A Year of Marvellous Ways | Sarah Winman

pick

I love Sarah Winman but this one had passed me by. It‘s a lovely book, I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if the whimsical elements lost me slightly at times. There‘s a little mystery here as I pass a lot of my books onto my mum. I found this on her shelves but it didn‘t come from me and she has no recollection where it did come from. So who else is passing her books of this quality I ask?! I thought I was the one who gave her the best books 😆

Cathythoughts Who is this person ?! 🕵️‍♀️ 😂 6d

JillR @cathythoughts exactly! She does occasionally buy her own books 😆 but I don‘t think she‘d have picked this so the mystery deepens😆😆 6d

31 likes2 comments