Jenni from the book

It's a pretty sad state of affairs that the only time I seem to make any headway on my reading is when I go on holiday! Note to self: must get better at reading year-round. But despite my schedule faults, I've managed another 5 books and so I'm here to deliver to you the verdict, thoughts and, naturally, a few spoilers...

If I had to name just one author as my ultimate favourite, it'd be Taylor Jenkins Reid without a doubt. She's a huge author now but I feel like somewhat of a proud intrepid explorer, since I discovered her back in 2017 and have loved everything of hers that I've read so far. I've been falling behind with her newer books, but I was super excited to finally read Daisy Jones & The Six, which seems to be the one that really got her name out there. I'd timed it somewhat perfectly too as I started reading when the TV show was on the way. Although, I actually haven't bothered watching that yet because I'm unconvinced that such a unique and powerful way of storytelling could possibly translate the same onto a screen. This book is pretty different as it's written not as a novel, but as a series of interviews where the reader is in the position of an author writing a book about the musical phenomenon of the 1970s; Daisy Jones & The Six. So there are a few author's notes posed as facts from the outside, but generally, the story is put together in building blocks from the various perspectives of the band members, managers, band significant others, and anyone else who knew the story well from the time. Together, these different view points build the picture of The Six, a band created of 2 brothers as their front men and 4 more background members, and how they started to rise to fame in the glory days of rock and roll. Although it wasn't until they were joined by Daisy Jones as their lead vocalist that they really hit the big time. Daisy Jones, who was tragically beautiful and beautifully tragic in equal measures, she not only turns the band into a crazy success, but she also turns them upside down. Her rivalry and chemistry with unofficial head of the band, Billy, is one for the ages, and together they battle to get their own lyrics out there. And then one night, without any explanation, became the night that Daisy Jones & The Six performed for the last time. So this author is here to explore what happened and unleash the secrets of the past - but are some secrets better left locked away? Okay so like I said, the style of this book was amazing. It was so different from anything I've read before and I worried at first that it wouldn't work but it was incredible. The idea that certain facts will always be lost to history and subjectivity was so good (like for example, they all had a different but equally plausible recollection of how the band name came to be) and I liked that you really felt from the characters the way that time had either clarified or clouded their thoughts from the time. Like how realistically can we really recall a story from 40 years prior? Our memories and what we know to have been true since then will always cloud our ability to truthfully tell a story and this book did a great job of conveying that; showing the way characters regretted certain things or realised with time that they'd been right or wrong. Another thing I loved about the book was the excitement around music. I'm not a particularly musical person but even I felt the passion for it through this book and the description of song writing and music creating. It made me wish I could hear the songs in real life so that's one thing I am excited for the TV series about! It wasn't just a book about being famous though. It was sex, drugs and rock and roll. So it touched on some really raw subjects about addiction and mental health struggles and the attitudes of the past (to both). I feel like I'm in the minority however, with the idea that the connection between Billy and Daisy is the central plot point. Yes, by the end, you feel that they love each other. But I think anyone who would boil this book down to just that must've been skipping massive passages from Billy's wife, Camila. There are some really beautiful and poignant ideas about love from her, and commitment and longevity and faith. She talks about how there's more to love than loyalty, and she seems to accept that Billy and Daisy love each other, but that it doesn't diminish his love for her. Most of the time in love triangle stories like this, the original partner is made out to either be naive or stupid or a victim of some kind. So I loved Camila's chapters proving that she was anything but these things. She just had big ideas about love and marriage and what it means to love unconditionally and she was certainly anything but a pushover. A lot of the chapters where she articulates her thoughts and feelings made me cry because they were just so well written and conveyed. The twist at the end where you learn who the author of the book is, and where you learn what actually happened to split the band up, was an ending I really enjoyed. This book overall was a delightful time-travelling adventure that explored what it means to love, to lose, to get everything you ever wanted, and everything in between.

I was on a roll, author wise, as Sarra Manning is another of my long time favourites. But she doesn't release that many books, as she seemingly alternates between adult and young adult, so I was excited to read The House of Secrets (this being one of her adult books). I love books with a split timeline and one of her others had done that very successfully. So when I read this blurb and learned that the story was that of two women, connected by loss and by the same house, but separated by 80 years, I was already sold. It's 1936 and Libby is reeling from the loss of her pregnancy and the running away of her husband, but she must keep calm and carry on in order to make ends meet. That is until she meets Hugo, a businessman with an interesting and somewhat indecent proposition. As she and Hugo go from frenemies to something more, Libby learns that maybe she could live and love again. But if something seems too good to be true, should you walk the path anyway and risk a dark ending? On the flip side, it's 2016 and Zoe is also reeling from the loss of a pregnancy. She may have her husband Win still by her side but that doesn't seem to make her journey any easier. When the two of them go searching for a fresh start in a new home that was built in 1936 but mysteriously never lived in, they not only find themselves with a massive renovation project on their hands, but also a suitcase that's been gathering dust for 80 years. A wedding dress, baby clothes, letters and a diary; that's all the suitcase contains. But that's enough to get Zoe hooked on finding out more about the woman they belonged to. Realising they share the same pain and finding a kindred spirit in a woman from another time, Zoe follows Libby's story from Paris, to Spain on the brink of Civil War, to secret trysts in London. But does her mission to learn more about the past put her future, her marriage to Win and a second chance at happiness in jeopardy? Through their interweaving stories, is it possible for both women to find their own happy endings? Well, I LOVED this book. The exploration of pregnancy loss was really delicately done, and it did well at exploring ideas of the past, ideas of the future, and the ways that it can affect women, even if they didn't know they were pregnant or if pregnancy was something they wanted. Having said that, I did find Zoe's character a little too much. I get that she was deep in depression and the book did an honest job of exploring that. But for a reader who isn't deep in depression, it did a good job of trying to drag me there. Some of Zoe's feelings were a bit over explored and her narrative didn't really seem to move forwards at all. I definitely enjoyed Libby's chapters much more, and the historical fiction side of things was really fascinating. For example, I didn't know the history of the legalities of divorce, so that was interesting (and also important for the story). I think the main thing I took from it is that Libby's situation was much more dire than Zoe's and yet she handles it 100 times better. But maybe that was a lesson the author was trying to teach? There aren't rules to loss and everyone deals with things differently; it's not a competition. But objectively, it made you feel grateful for Zoe and other women in the here and now who have so many more options and possibilities than women in Libby's timeline. That's both on the healthcare front, and also legally, women's rights wise and everything in between. The book wasn't just all about pregnancy loss (that would be a bit much), it also did a great job of exploring different ideas about love and long term relationships. So many books like to tell the story of falling in love. Naturally. But I enjoy books that explore what love looks like when it's a commitment and a choice and a challenge. Falling is easy; staying is sometimes hard. And seeing Zoe and Win attempt to navigate the staying was really lovely (although their communication was absolutely abysmal - they really need to work on that). I absolutely loved the ending - it made me cry. Overall, I'd highly recommend.

If you want something fun and frivolous then Ali Hazelwood is the one for you. I'd already read her debut book, The Love Hypothesis and I was excited for another instalment of her women-in-stem, rom-com-trope-saturated series. While her previous book honed in on the fake relationship trope, Love on the brain centres the enemies-to-lovers trope (a personal favourite of mine and actually, so far her two novels have followed the same trope pattern as Bridgerton). Bee starts the book with a very exciting opportunity; to work on a new project at NASA as the lead neuroscientist. The only thing stopping her from jumping up and down with an explosion of excitement, is the name of the co-lead on the project; Levi Ward. She may not have seen Levi since grad school, but even years apart haven't forced her to forget how much he hated her, and how much she ended up hating him in return. But when these two archenemies find themselves united by their shared passion for saving their NASA project as it teeters on the edge of being canned, questions start to arise about whether that's the only passion they'll be finding together... Okay so my first comment on the book is that the blurb is terrible. Whoever wrote it should be sacked, as it gives literally no clue to the actual plot of the book. It makes it sound like Bee starts on the project, everyone bullies her, Levi sticks up for her and then she must confess her love. Not exactly enticing and if I didn't already love the author then I would've left it on the shelf. What the plot is actually about is that when Bee arrives at NASA, the project seems more challenging than necessary and upon a bit of digging, it's under threat of being cancelled. Bee is surprised to learn of the reasons why this project is so important to Levi and so the two of them form an unlikely alliance to make sure the project is a success. But with other forces working against them, and a growing attraction between the two of them that threatens to make things messy and complicated, will they be able to pull it off? There's also a whole other layer to the book that the blurb hints at, but the hint only makes any sense once you've read the book. The other layer being that it's You've got mail (but in the world of modern STEMinism). Alongside her job and other hobbies, Bee has built up quite the anonymous presence on Twitter, under an alter ego; WWMCD (what would Marie Curie do). Along with all of the amazing women in stem that the platform has allowed her to bond with, she's built a particularly special friendship with a man-in-stem influencer. Using his platform for good to act as an ally to Bee, the two of them speak all the time but have never shared their real names or information. I don't think it's an especially daring spoiler to reveal that it's actually Levi (since I already told you it's You've got mail). So along with dealing with her changing feelings towards Levi in real life, Bee must also consider how her online and offline worlds fit into the new picture. It's hard to provide much intelligent commentary on this book, as it's kind of exactly what it sounds like from that description. I loved Bee and her character so much; she was sweet and intelligent and had depth (from childhood loss, to immigrating to a new country, and wanting to change the world of stem for the better). The plot, and especially the dramatic ending, felt lifted straight from a noughties movie but it was fun and entertaining if not particularly high brow (it definitely made me smile). I enjoyed the connection between Bee and Levi, although I would argue that the "enemies" element of their relationship was very weak. The whole point of enemies-to-lovers is supposed to be passion; the idea that there's a fine line between love and hate. Whereas their "enemies" part gave off more "disinterested acquaintances" (although, spoiler alert, it turned out it had never been there at all because Levi had loved Bee from the beginning). I will say that this book needs some criticism for being highly unrealistic and very unrelatable in parts. Ali Hazelwood likes to write her men the way that no men really exist in real life (even the best ones). They're super feminist and selfless in bed, and romantic and they can cook really well. So many times while I was reading this book I just thought 'well that would never happen'. Like when Bee and Levi are talking on twitter through their alter egos (before they learn it's each other), and Levi sends these massive paragraphs about a woman he's in love with, and frankly his descriptions border on stalkerish. I get that the author included this for the plot, so that when the big reveal is made, Bee finally learns how Levi feels about her. But let's imagine for a second that you did have an online, non-romantic pen pal of the opposite sex; would you really launch into a big rant about a woman you were obsessed with and how you want to 'take her to your office, strip her and do unthinkable things to her'. Come on! But, despite the crazy and lazy parts, there were also some clever ways that the author manufactured to keep these two apart, which I enjoyed. I mean, as normal, all of the conflict in a rom-com could be solved by a frank and transparent conversation, but that's true of every single book, film and TV show in the genre. As an example of what it is, this book is shiny and fun and I'd recommend a read.

All my colors is an interesting one as you may think it's found its way on to this list by mistake. It was unlike anything I've ever read before and while the genre was a different one for me, I really enjoyed mixing it up. Described in reviews as an early Stephen King-esque book, I didn't really know what to expect from the blurb. It's 1979, and in a small town in Illinois, Todd Milstead is safe in the knowledge that he's better than everyone else. He throws the best parties, he's an astute writer, and he's always the cleverest person in the room. Sure, his friends only attend his parties for the expensive whisky, and he's never actually successfully managed to write anything. But his knowledge - that can't be argued with. And because he's always the cleverest person in the room, he's used to knowing more than everyone else. But even Todd is incredulous when he quotes the book, All my colors, at a party and no one has ever heard of it. Discovering that he can't find his own copy of this book he remembers word-for-word, and even his local favourite bookkeeper has never heard of it, the book becomes a thorn in Todd's side. Has it just disappeared off the face of the earth? A better person might've chalked it down to confusion or an unexplainable mystery, but because Todd is an objectively terrible person, he decides to seize this lost book as his own. After all, he has a looming divorce and money problems to contend with, so perhaps a successful best-selling novel is just what he deserves. Since Todd loves to recall literary quotes so much, perhaps he should've bore in mind this one; there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. The book might be complete, but Todd has messed with a force he doesn't understand and as the gruesome consequences start to play out, he must learn the hard way that thou shalt not steal. From the description of the book, I assumed the consequences of his actions would be legal ones or corruption or something along those lines. But this book is actually a fantasy horror, so there's basically a lot of supernatural strangeness that goes on. It's hard to pinpoint an exact plot; he writes the book, loads of grisly things happen, and then it ends basically. There wasn't really a progression or anything, but the writer was really good at building tension and suspense and intrigue. The problem is the book spent way too long doing that and then flipped the script and wrapped the whole thing up in a few pages at the end. It all seemed very rushed and chaotic, and as a reader I'm still not really sure that the idea behind the book was a very fully-formed one. Ultimately, I did enjoy this book. Seeing a horrible, mediocre, and horribly confident man get his comeuppance was quite satisfying, and I really enjoyed reading a book where the main character was interesting but not-at-all likeable, without being a full blown villain. The plot may have had some holes and I can't say it's a book that taught me much or that will stay with me, but it was fun and strange and a nice quick read. Great while you're reading it, but mostly forgettable after you've finished. Which is ironic, given that that is the whole plot of this book.

Two entirely frivolous books in one post! But it's summer holiday season so let me off. Exes and o's was another rom-com that follows the same plot as a beloved film; this time it was What's your number. Okay it's not quite the classic that You've got mail is, but it's a great film and Anna Faris is amazing in it (watch it if you haven't already). It's essentially all about the idea that maybe your dating history holds untold gems, and so you recruit an insanely good looking sidekick to help you track down your exes in pursuit of your happy ever after and then oopsie, you fall for the sidekick instead. So in a nutshell, that's what this book is about. But the author very much seems to know that, as the book is all about romance tropes, told through the eyes of book vlogger Tara. She's in the middle of a fresh start off the back of her broken engagement when the book begins, and she gets a very eye-opening introduction to her new flatmate Trevor (walking in on him banging someone against the kitchen counter was not what Tara expected to see in the middle of the day). Despite the questionable beginning, Tara and Trevor quickly find themselves becoming good friends and so when Tara sets out on a mission to revisit her 10 ex boyfriends to see if any of them might be her One True Love, Trevor is more than happy to help her. Well, 'more than happy' might be a stretch, since he thinks it's crazy. Yes they get on well, but Tara and Trevor couldn't be more different when it comes to love. She's naive, excitable and ever-optimistic, while he's cynical, closed-off and protective of his heart. Naturally proximity plays its hand to push these two together, but will they get their trope-worthy romance, or will their fears keep them apart? Okay, so this book was entirely predictable; I'll probably go more explicit with the spoilers on this one since you can mostly guess what happens anyway. The predictability certainly didn't ruin it for me either; the dates with the exes were really funny, the connection between Tara and Trevor felt really sincere, and the author thankfully didn't rely on a classic rom-com mix-up as the main conflict. The main thing I loved about this book though was Tara. She was so sweet and lovely and it was really refreshing to see a main character written in the role that would normally be cast as the best friend. That statement doesn't make much sense on its own, but what I mean to say is that the main character of a rom-com is normally "not like other women"; she's cool, she's not looking for love, she's insanely beautiful but she doesn't know it, she somehow doesn't find the insanely hot guy that exciting, and she probably prefers beer to cocktails because she's just different like that. Meanwhile, the best friend is definitely looking for love, sometimes verging on desperately so, often acts too clingy with men, likes to stay home at the weekends and gets herself in plenty of embarrassing situations. Essentially, the characters from How to lose a guy in 10 days. I like that this book flipped the script a little, and it was our main character Tara who was always being told she was clingy or crazy, she had a criminal record for keying an ex boyfriends car and she had a very definite lack of hobbies or social life. What was especially nice is that we saw Trevor fall for all those things, and the message was very much to be your authentic self and eventually the right person will come along (rather than changing anything to suit someone else). The book was really funny and joyful and there was a lot of positive, modern ideas and references in there (when they get together, they talk about getting therapy to learn each others communication styles, for example). I also really liked the almost self-mocking commentary on rom-coms through Tara's vlogs, where they talk about certain patterns and stereotypes. I loved that Tara spent the whole book chasing a second-chance-romance and got an entirely different trope of her own in the end. The only part I didn't like is that when Tara and Trevor finally sleep together for the first time, they have some big declarative conversation first, and then somehow get themselves confused about each others feelings after that. For one, I don't know of any time that anyone has slept together for the first time and had a conversation like the one they had beforehand. That felt far-fetched and like it was trying too hard. For two, I think having an open conversation about feelings would rule out the possibility of any mix-ups after that, so that conflict felt the wrong way round. It would've been better if they'd slept together, neither knew where they stood, and then the declaration came afterwards. But overall, it was a minor tweak to what was otherwise a really nice book and there were some serious aspects to their back stories too to give it a bit of depth. The only thing that was a real shame, was the epilogue at the end. I HATED it. The book ended with Tara and Trevor getting together and having open conversations about how they would work at their differences, they were at his niece's birthday party and were hopeful that her Leukaemia treatment was working, and Tara had finally gotten closure from the mean way her ex treated her. It was all really nice, and felt well-rounded and genuine. Then, the epilogue shat all over it with stupidity. The epilogue was one year later and apparently life has been absolutely perfect since then with nothing but rainbows and candyfloss, they're the perfect couple who have never once had an argument, Trevor's niece has made a miraculous recovery, and he proposes to Tara in a very unlike-Trevor move. It was all so awful and unrealistic. I don't need to be told by the author that the couple did actually make it, because you've already implied that in the book and as a reader, I'm supposed to believe in their connection and therefore believe they would stay together after the last page. Tying everything up with a bow like that made for very lazy writing and I don't know what purpose it served, other than to reinforce the idea that you need a ring and a wedding and a baby in order to call it a happy ever after. If you read this book, make sure you close it before that chapter, and you'll come away a happy reader.