Tag Archive for: Stand-Alone

Hang the Moon

Hang the MoonTitle: Hang the Moon
Author: Jeannette Walls
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Audio
Pages: 349
Length: 12h 29m
Narrator: Jeannette Walls
Source: Owned
Reason: BotM Backlist
Rating:

My Thoughts

I love prohibition era stories so when I read the synopsis for HANG THE MOON, I was super excited to read it. I didn’t realize until about a third of the way through the story that Walls was using Queen Elizabeth I’s life as inspiration for the main character. At first, I liked the allusion but then it just got to be too much. I wished it hadn’t so closely followed that history because I kept wondering who each character represented in Tudor era England. The story was also a little slow and, at times, really grim and sad. (I get it. Both of the these times in history were grim and sad. I had just hoped for something a little more inspiring.) I’m glad I read the book, even if it was a little disappointing.

Cross Her Heart

Cross Her HeartTitle: Cross Her Heart
Author: Sarah Pinborough
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audio
Pages: 352
Length: 10h 23m
Narrator: Antonia Beamish
Source: Owned
Reason: BotM Backlist
Rating:

My Thoughts

CROSS HER HEART was different than I was expecting. The story and mystery kept me reading even though I didn’t really like most of the characters. There were difficult chapters to read due to the content, but I think it’s necessary to portray these types of things in media so we remember that some people have really shitty childhoods.

Service Model

Service ModelTitle: Service Model
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Genre: Science Fiction
Format: Audio
Pages: 373
Length: 12h 22m
Narrator: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Source: Owned
Reason: Book Club
Rating:

My Thoughts

Although SERVICE MODEL was very slow and sometimes boring, I did like aspects of it. I thought the illogicalness of the robot’s logic was funny and I laughed out loud a few times. I also liked the message that if people with bad motives program robots / AI, then those robots / AI are going go about their programming in a way that’s not helpful to society. I think this message is really important in today’s world because of the reliance we’re starting to put on AI chatbots. Machines cannot act outside their programming. They’re black and white and cannot exist in the gray like humans can, and that absolutism will mostly likely result in chaos and destruction.

The Hating Game

The Hating GameTitle: The Hating Game
Author: Sally Thorne
Genre: Romance
Format: Audio
Pages: 384
Length: 12h 18m
Narrator: Katie Schorr
Source: Library
Reason: Just Because
Rating:

My Thoughts

I actually really enjoyed THE HATING GAME. I thought it was a fun, heart-felt, spicy enemies-to-lovers romance. I loved Lucy and Josh, their chemistry, banter, and sexual tension. I thought the games they played in the office were fun and it reminded me of other enemies-to-lovers books I’ve loved in the past. I’m glad I read 99 PERCENT MINE first because I knew there was an epilogue to this story. I’m glad I read it. It was so sweet.

99 Percent Mine

99 Percent MineTitle: 99 Percent Mine
Author: Sally Thorne
Genre: Romance
Format: Audio
Pages: 368
Length: 11h 23m
Narrator: Jayme Mattler
Source: Library
Reason: Just Because
Rating:

My Thoughts

I thought 99 PERCENT MINE was a fun spicy romance. I really liked both Darcy and Tom. I disliked Darcy’s twin and I wish her heart murmur would’ve taken the story down a different path. I also felt like the story was lacking in some way, but I still enjoyed reading this despite not quite getting what I wanted.