November 2022 Book Review

Hi friends!

November reading was kind of a let down if I’m being honest. I only read one book that I actually loved. The others were very lackluster, but you’ll have that sometimes and something that I may think is yuck, someone else may love. So, check it out below. 

Thanks for reading!

 

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

 

3/5 

 

When I originally finished this book and rated it quickly, I thought “well, it wasn’t my favorite, but I like Colleen Hoover so I’ll chalk it up to my own personal dislike.” But, after reading other reviews, many readers shared some of the same negative thoughts that I had about the book. So now I would really like to rate this one around the 1.5 out of 5 mark.

For beginners, Hoover’s writing is usually about older adults (or in all the novels I’ve read by her so far) and so for this one to start with two teenagers felt icky to me. Not only in the fact that Ben and Fallon are 18 when they first meet if I remember correctly, but he is so pushy and so willing to put her in uncomfortable situations for herself that it makes me want to say “just back it up for a damn minute.” 

Ben is made out to be her soulmate, but does literally not one thing that a true soulmate should be doing. And on the other hand, I don’t like how insecure Fallon is and the way that her character thinks that Ben may be the best she’s going to ever get. Gag. This just furthers my point that this is a “romance” story about children.

I don’t have much more to say about this one, other than I was highly disappointed not only with the story, but with the ideas that it probably flooded young female readers with, making them think this was a happy ending.

 

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls  by Lauren Graham

 

3.5/5

 

I grew up with Gilmore Girls on the TV, but I never watched it until I was in college around 2016. I love love loved the series and was super excited about the reboot, although I found it to be a little disappointing. So, when I stumbled across this book I thought why not give something different a go? Reflecting back, I don’t think I’ve watched Lauren Graham in anything other than Gilmore Girls, but now I have decided to watch her other series, Parenthood.

Deciding to watch Parenthood is probably the only thing I got out of her book, unfortunately. The short little insights of what it was like growing up, starting out as an actor and the first go round of Gilmore Girls was all great and it captured my interest. After that, I found myself thinking of other things while I was reading as if I was almost zoned out when someone is talking too fast…ironic. 

I love her voice in this and I could hear her saying all of it, but for me it just felt as if the book really had no point or direction. Still love Lauren Graham, but I will most likely stick to watching her work rather than reading it.

 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

5/5

 

Malibu Rising is the story of four famous siblings who have had their fair share of heartbreak and hardships. They all come together each year to throw a huge house party in Malibu. They have a famous, deadbeat father and a turned-alcoholic mother that passed away too soon waiting for him to come back. Nina, the oldest, ends up raising all three of her younger siblings by herself. 

I enjoyed this book because of its switching back and forth between 1950/1960 and 1980, telling the story of Mick and June Riva and the stories of the children, Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit. The character development was complex and the emotions were real. A true story of pulling yourself up and making the best of it when the world has dealt you a shitty hand. “Our family histories are simply stories. They are myths we create about the people who came before us, in order to make sense of ourselves.” I loved this quote because it is so true and is used over and over in the book to make sense of themselves and potential other siblings. 

Overall, I thought the book was slightly overly sweet but I did enjoy reading about the dynamic of the four siblings because let’s be honest, it would be ideal if everyone’s sibling relationships worked out to be this perfect. You could take this one and deeply analyze each personality and it would probably be a therapist’s dream, but just on the surface you relate to each of them on some level. TJR knocked it out of the park on this one!

 

Who Rescued Who by Victoria Schade

 

2/5 

 

Okay…this one had so much potential. Like SO much, especially for me. I mean I am like her key demographic. It has the English countryside, Border Collies, and a hot guy that owns and brews his own beer. Right up my alley. But, it flopped 🙁

This was like your typical Hallmark-y movie which is probably why I didn’t like it. Elizabeth gets fired from her tech job in San Francisco where she leads a life that’s overly attached to social media and “influencing.” When she gets a call from an Uncle that she never knew she had, she packs it up and flies across the pond to Fargrove, a small town outside of London. Elizabeth tells herself that this will be a quick trip, to settle up on some land that belonged to her late father and then she would travel across Europe posting for all of her followers to see.

Long story short, she ends up staying longer than she expected, falling in love with the town, the guy, and the dog. She goes back to San Francisco when she accepts a new job, thinking this is just what she needs to get back to her old life. This is when she realizes that she doesn’t belong in that world anymore. And that’s really no spoiler because that’s how predictable it was.

This one was just meh and kind of a crappy way to end my November reading. Anywho, on to December!