Julie de Klerk

Fast paced and creepy

Revisado: 02-28-23

Elements of this book reminded me of other books I’ve read, including classics like Jane Eyre. It had the feel of a book written for the screen. It was fast paced and kept me creeped out and really interested in what happened next. I do not mind ambiguity in a book, but I found parts of the ending implausible any way you looked at it. I liked it more about two chapters before the ending, but still, overall, a solid 4.

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Amazing narrator, average story

Revisado: 02-21-23

I read Julia Whalen’s Thank You for Listening and really enjoyed it, so I was eager to try this one. It’s not bad, but it felt like something I’d read before. The characters were less developed and the plot was less engaging. I personally didn’t care for the main character as much, but I liked her arc overall. Basically it was just ok- a distant second to her more recent novel.

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Immediately engaging

Revisado: 02-11-23

This book is fast paced and instantly engaging with many nail biting scenes and plot twists. I read one other by Julia Clark and really like her writing. Her female characters are rich and prop each other up. Well worth a listen!

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Spend your credit elsewhere

Revisado: 02-08-23

I enjoy a good romcom. I don’t even mind a Hallmark style movie now and then, cheesy and predictable though they are. So I thought this might be fun because I was in the mood for something light. I had just read Thank You for Listening, and this was recommended. Also the fact that it was a Reese book club pick swayed me. At this point I’d recommend that a buyer should definitely beware when it comes to her book selections. There’s a real mixed bag of quality. But I digress…

This book just didn’t do it for me. I thought the female narrator was fine, but the male narrator was smarmy and sounded disingenuous and conceited. I’m sure that has a lot to do with how he was written. Especially in the beginning, I found myself thinking that no man actually notices the details that he notices. His lines feel written the way a woman might want a man to think/feel, but no man would actually have those thoughts running through his head.

The love story between the two main characters, Jack and Laurie, is the anchor of the book, but Jack is so thoroughly unlikable that I can’t understand why Laurie is smitten with him. Another reviewer wrote that this is more of a coming of age story, of people growing up and maturing. I agree with that, but feel like if Laurie really had grown up, she would have realized that she had hung way too much on a random glance and encounter at a bus stop when she was 22. She does move past him, but every time her feelings for him flare up again I found myself thinking WHY???

The book spans a whole decade and the jumps in the timeline feel somewhat random and disconnected. Despite it being a relatively short listen, it’ll feel like you invested ten tortuous years listening to Jack and Laurie prattle on. It might have been more compelling if it was just about Laurie, or even just told from her perspective. The writing around some of her personal drama did feel a little bit more real. But overall I had difficulty believing the characters and I couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for their romance. I’d definitely recommend skipping this book!

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Light but with substance

Revisado: 02-05-23

I really needed to read this right now. It was light and intentionally predictable with generous nods to the genre, but there was also realism in the characters, the commentary on life, loss, and change. Great writing and great narration. I loved the whole “meta” set up, and definitely listen to the author’s commentary at the end. Satisfying and with heart. Loved it.

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So unexpected and wonderful

Revisado: 02-02-23

I really didn’t know what to expect when I started this book, but I loved it from start to finish. Reichl presents brilliant and mouthwatering descriptions of food, lots of nostalgia for a not so distant past, a peek into a glamorous and exciting world, and poignant insights into the nature of being a working woman. I was sad when it was finished. And a little hungry!

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Fuzzy feelings about football

Revisado: 01-14-23

Britt-Marie Was Here is a sweet and insightful read, full of quirky characters and a lot of heart. I found myself smiling a lot in this book, and many chapters touched my heart. And it made me feel tenderly about football (soccer) which is something that, as a rule, I do not feel about any games involving a ball! Three cheers for Britt-Marie, and an author who clearly believes it is never too late to leap.

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Isn’t it ironic?

Revisado: 01-10-23

The irony is that for a book about an infinite number of dimensions, the characters were surprisingly flat. Daniella is very much a stock character: the sexy strong wife and amazing mom who props up her man. Charlie, their son, was more of a plot point than a character. And Jason himself has odd motivation at times, his character feels uneven, and the narrator’s reading of him makes him feel very self satisfied.

Throughout the book, the fact that a man was the author felt glaringly obvious. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read several books by men who can handle nuance, but it is the exception. I frequently find a certain density in books with male authors. The density in Dark Matter manifested in Crouch’s clumsy handling of the characters, his preference for unconvincing action sequences and his tendency toward oversimplification, the last of which is again ironic given the inherent complexities of the multiverse.

The narrator sounded arrogant and his accent work was spotty. His reading of the teenage voice was so strange it was almost funny. He over exaggerated the WHs is words like “white” and “why” which was mostly annoying. Overall I would maybe skip books narrated by him-he did not enhance the experience.

This book reads like a poor man’s Dan Brown novel. I understood what the author was attempting to do, but he fell short in the execution. It was entertaining insofar as I wanted to know the ending, but simply not engaging enough, and ultimately forgettable. Go reread the DaVinci Code instead!

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This book blew me away

Revisado: 01-06-23

I LOVED this book. It was sad, and funny and true and poignant and absurd and REAL. Just read it, with your heart wide open. Amazing.

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What a fabulous book!

Revisado: 11-22-22

I don’t know what I liked the most about this book. Part of me felt that I wanted to be Elizabeth Zott, and part of me felt that at times in my life I have been in Elizabeth Zott. As the reader, your heart breaks for her and celebrates with her an equal measure. The characters in the story lines were woven together so beautifully, and the message is so powerful that I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

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