pipsqueakreviews

Love the special bond between them.

Reviewed: 05-08-21 Listener received this title free

I was intrigued by the storyline and special bond the two women have. The story is recounted in the POV of Belinda who spent the first part semi-comatosed. While in locked-in syndrome, a sort of friendship builds between her and a young and beautiful stranger, Carly. The bond Belinda and Carly share is amazing, with Carly being the first to notice Belinda's awareness and ability to communicate. I love Carly's role in all of it, from discovery to recovery. She's the best friend, caregiver and the target of Belinda's crush. And I can see why Carly is easy to fall for.

This story is unrealistic on many counts. For one, Belinda is highly perceptive, sharp and incredibly smart for somebody who had been in a long-term coma since the age of 10. And Carly is too wise and caring for her young age. And let's not go into Belinda's miraculous recovery and reintegration into academic life. But somehow I enjoyed the story and went along with the ride. At least for the first half.

The second half is the reason I avoid YA books but by this time I was so invested in the characters, I had to pursue it until the end despite how little communication the two women suddenly had between them and it was frustrating as hell to watch that special bond between them fade a little in between.

I do still like this book overall. It is one of those that will leave an impression on me for a while. The narration was okay though I thought that Bindhammer could have done a better job making Belinda and Carly's voices a bit more distinguishable.

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Dealing with anxiety and depression

Reviewed: 04-19-21 Listener received this title free

If I have learnt something from this book, it is how much our furry friends can do for us. Caspian is the special friend who provides comfort to Lou who suffers from anxiety and depression and has a history of substance abuse. He is the service dog that protects Alice’s five year old visually impaired daughter, Anna. And as fate has it, he is also the one that reconnects Lou and Alice. These parts with Caspian are what I loved most.

But I had mixed feelings about everything else. The chemistry between Alice and Lou were average at best and it was difficult to listen to them rekindle their relationship and declaring that they are each other’s “love of their lives” when the problem was clearly a lack of communication.

And while anxiety, depression and substance abuse are not difficult topics for me to read, I did not like the way they were handled. Alice did not understand enough and was not equipped to handle her partner’s anxiety and depression. More importantly, I could barely feel Alice’s effort to try. They were young the first time around, so I can understand why Alice wanted to call it quits after Lou repeatedly ended up stoned from depression medication. But to abruptly kick Lou out of the house without discussion or warning unsettled me a little bit.

I wanted it to work better the second time around when the story proper begins – that is when they reconnect 8 years later. But I felt it still wasn’t handled well. While Lou no longer has an addiction problem, she continues to have moments of anxiety and depression. Sadly, Alice still has no clue what to do and this time, she has priorities that are more important than Lou that divides her attention. Of course, this time they don't break up, which makes the difference, I suppose. But Alice only supports her from a distance and Lou was basically left to snap out of her depression on her own.

This one is an audiobook narrated by Dukore. It wasn't that memorable and her mimicking a 5 year old wasn't the best.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

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I'm in love with my first audiobook.

Reviewed: 04-14-21

I'm so glad Lori Prince is my first because she livened the story up and made it twice as humourous.

I love the characters so much. The way Ray was brought to life by Prince is amazing. I never understood the obsession with women in toolbelts so I'm not sure I would have fully appreciated handy ma'am Ray as much if I had read the book instead. But Ray caught my attention right from the start and ended up being my favourite character because of her humour, thoughtfulness and selflessness. As for Monica, she is constantly called a princess. I'm not sure if she is but she isn't spoilt. She has standards stemming from her upper middle class upbringing and social media influencer party planner career and that's fine with me.

I love fauxmances so I like how the story goes - from bickering individuals to fake fiancees planning a fake wedding and then more. Monica and Ray are so different in character and background but the banter is so fun to hear. They both have insecurities that resulted in some miscommunication and I can hear their vulnerability in the narration but I love how they support and protect each other.

MacLeod did an excellent job putting the romance together and Prince did an equally wonderful job bringing it to life.

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Beautiful and bittersweet.

Reviewed: 04-14-21

I was attracted to this audiobook for two reasons. The first was that Abby Craden was reading a Georgia Beers book. And it's on the audible plus catalogue so I couldn't pass this up. This is my second audiobook ever (my first read by Craden) and I totally get why Craden is so popular. She does have an incredible voice that draws you in so yeah, like everybody else, I'm a fan.

The second was the premise of the story, which felt different from what I'm used to. Instead of having two people in heated passion, we get about 20 years or so out of two people committed to a long-term relationship. And while I don't think Jillian and Angie have the best kind of relationship, they have a realistic one. One where people sometimes forget what's most important... where life and dreams consume people, where people unknowingly take their partners for granted and where communication breaks down progressively over the years. But they stick on and I'm wondering if the time period plays a part. I mean it's the 1980s to 2000s, would people at that time be less likely to break up due to irreconcilable differences than today?

Anyway, it's a beautiful, bittersweet story that concluded really well. Beers is a consistently good writer so no surprises there.

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There is room for both.

Reviewed: 04-08-21 Listener received this title free

Somebody told me Jax Meyer is articulate and now I have to agree. It took me a while to get used to the writing style because it is so contemplative but once I got the hang of it, damn.

This is one of the most well-written books that moved me to tears. What sets this book apart from others is how much Cam was willing to face her own issues head-on in her own way in order to move forward. Cam is fasinating to get to know. She's ex-Marine, autistic and had been coping with the sudden loss of her long-term partner. Cam frequently dreams of Sharon and rationalises her feelings a lot in her head and what goes on inside is often far deeper than what she actually verbalises because communication isn't her strongest point.

Cam and Sharon's life as Marines dictated by DADT is distinctively different from Cam's life with Laura which is surrounded by music. Laura is the high school music teacher whom Cam reunites with at the community college she attends. Their relationship is gentle and companionate and this feels right because of their age (Cam is 40, Laura is 52) and what Cam has been through. I love how understanding and patient Laura is and how Cam in return, lets her in and shares her past with her.

It makes a difference knowing there's a prequel with Sharon in it because it becomes even more beautiful when Cam finally realises that she doesn't need to forget Sharon and there can be room in her heart for both.

I'm glad I listened to the audiobook. I got used to Stephanie Murphy and I like listening to her.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

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Such a fun holiday romance!

Reviewed: 04-05-21 Listener received this title free

This is the first book of the Americans Abroad series but it can be read out of sequence as it is a standalone... and oh my, what a fun one this was. I'm beginning to appreciate MacLeod's writing more and more, especially her humour. The premise itself was hilarious - Two American women boarded what they had thought was a lesbian singles cruise only to find out they were the only two eligible women around because of a ticketing mishap. And I thought it was pretty clever to have Jeanie and Eleanor as complete opposites and yet at the same time have them stuck with each other for two whole weeks with literally no other dating options.

It's lighthearted and I'm glad I listened to the audiobook instead of reading this one because it was great hearing Jeanie sound so excitable about everything. And she complemented Eleanor's anxious and OCD self really well.

This is my first experience with Stephanie Murphy narrating and I got used to her pretty fast. I thought her voice suited the lightheartness of the story, though somewhere in the middle, it became a little hard to distinguish Jeanie from Eleanor.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

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