KNOW MY NAME by Chanel Miller

Know My Name by Chanel Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Personal Rating: C, Average

My view of this book is not a popular one. I wanted to give my self some time to sit with it and see if my feelings have changed. While I do believe that Chanel Miller should absolutely be able to tell her story, and what happened to her is tragic and should happen to no one. I didn't feel that the quality of the story/writing or the inspirational value of the book itself was a 5 star experience. I felt it to be repetitive and not as inspirational as I had read in so many reviews. I also understand that this could be a generational thing, I know that many millenials found this to be very inspirational.

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THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E.Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
My GoodReads rating: 3 of 5 stars
(rounded down from 3.5)
My Personal rating: 7/10 (B) Enjoyable

I picked this up as a buddy read with a friend and had VERY high expectations. I had just come off of reading THE YEAR OF THE WITCHING by Alexis Henderson (if you haven't read it - you should!). I really did want more of the same eerie feeling from this book that was in THE YEAR OF THE WITCHING but it wasn't there. This book was definitely more contemporary, which is fine and it was a very good book - if maybe just a bit predictable in the end.

I do see what all the hype is about. I love the imagination of this story and the way it was written. It just fell a little short in what I needed in the moment - by no fault of the author. All in all - i enjoyed the story and will look to read more by V.E. Schwab. Nicely Done.

Can't wait to discuss with it with my buddy.

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NIGHT BOAT TO TANGIER by Kevin Barry

Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
My Goodreads rating: 2 of 5 stars

My Personal rating: 4/10 C (Average)

I had no real preconceived ideas about this book when I started it. This book was chosen by my work book club and although I knew it was more of a character study, which is not my go to, I didn't know much else going in. The first 100 pages were very hard for me to read. The writing style is very different than anything i'd ever read before. There are no quotations to let you know when someone is speaking versus simply thinking or acting. I later learned that this was intentional and that it was meant to be read more like a poem. After the 100 pages though, i did start to get into the groove and was geniunely curious about the characters.

I don't want to give away the ending so I will just say that this book wasn't written for me - and that's ok. I don't regret reading it - i definitely appreciated pieces of this story and seeing another writing style but I don't think I will be picking up another book by Kevin Barry. It's just not for everyone, and it's not for me. I see how much people loved this writing style, but I'm just more of a plot driven reader. Not every book needs to be for everyone.

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THE YEAR OF THE WITCHING by Alexis Henderson

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
My goodreads rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Personal Rating: 8/10 (B+) GREAT!

This was the book that was exactly what I needed just at the right time. I love spooky reads and I love October spooky feelings and this one just hit it right where I needed it to. Although it may be technically YA - I would not hold it against this book.

Immanuelle was a strong independent female character who held the story completely on her own. I would love to see a map of Bethel because the author described it so vividly that I felt I could see it for myself and would love a comparison. This was a really well done book with great character development and a good amount of spookiness and witchcraft.

I hope that this becomes a series because I would immediately pick it up to see the future of Immauelle and Bethel.

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THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood (THE HANDMAID'S TALE, #2)

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
My Goodreads rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Personal Rating: 8/10 (B+) Great

Ahhh -this book was EVERYTHING that I wanted THE HANDMAID's TALE to be and more. Everything that I felt was missing in THE HANDMAID'S TALE was represented in this book - so thank you Margaret Atwood! So glad I ready THE HANDMAID'S TALE after THE TESTAMENTS came out so I didn't have to wait so long as others did to have this book in my hands. There were moments where I thought I might not want to ready this book, because of I didn't want more of the same. But I am so very happy that my friend and I chose this as our buddy read for October.

So many questions were answered and so much was information was provided in the background that I feel content now. I honestly could have used this being broken into two books - One the Background and one the future state of Gilead... But I will not complain about what we were given as a gift in this story.

I was not a fan of the ending, the wrap-up, but it did not ruin the story for me one bit. Very Enjoyables.

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