Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Title: Daisy Jones & The Six
Genre: Fiction/Historical
Publisher: Ballantine Books/Random House Audio

Links: Bokus / Book Depository / Goodreads

Daisy Jones and the Six truly surprised me. I saw it on my audiobook service and, having seen all the hype, I though I’d give it a go. I don’t know why, since I almost never read hyped books and I definitely don’t read books about a 70’s band. But I did and I’m glad.

I don’t think I would have enjoyed this book as much as I did if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook. That’s rarely the case, but this book worked amazingly as an audiobook. The narrators - and there where a lot of narrators (another thing I usually dislike, what’s this book done to me?) - were amazing. It was like listening to a movie. A real documentary.

What's so damn good, then? I don't know! I kept expecting to be bored, getting fed up with the cheating, the booze, the drugs. But the book kept sucking me in, getting me involved in the lives of The Six and Daisy. Camilla was marvelous, but truly - all of the characters' personalities came through even though most of the story revolved around Billy and Daisy. The author made the storyline exciting and, most important, believable - everyone remembers differently, thought differently and that gave another dimension to the story.

Why should it be read? Because it's a beautifully written story with a set of characters you won't get out of your head. If you're looking for a character-driven story set in the 70's, behind-the-scenes of rock music and full of humanity, I recommend you pick this up. Especially the audiobook, if you're into that!

5 of 5 rockstars

/ Denise

Blossoms in Autumn by Zidrou and Amiée de Jong

Author: Zidrou and Amiée de Jong (ill.)
Title: Blossoms in Autumn
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Europe Comics

Links: Bokus / Book Depository / Goodreads

Even though this book is rather bleak and a bit more depressing than I would have thought, I truly enjoyed this story about to people finding each other when they didn't really expect it. Ulysses is 59 years old and Mediterranea is 61. He's a widower and a father forced into retirement, she's a former model who's been taking care of her dying mother and owns a cheese shop.

What did you like about it? The illustrations are lovely, for one thing, speaking an entire language of their own. I liked the couple's relationship and their easiness with each other. How they both went from bleakness to brightness, just by being with each other. There's some nudity in this book, which I also appreciate. It's an honest look on aging, on feeling younger than you are and not seeing yourself in your body. But it's also a book that's humorous and sweet, so not everything is depressing.

Why should one read it? If you're looking for a story about aging, trying to find yourself when what you always have known isn't there anymore, finding love when you didn't think it would be possible, you should pick this one up. 

4 of 5 perfectly aged cheese

/ Denise

Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roerig

Author: Caleb Roehrig
Title: Death Prefers Blondes
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Links: Bokus / Book Depository / Goodreads

My oh my. If you'd said to me that I would love a book about ass-kicking drag queens, murder mysteries, daring heists, sweet romances and spinning action scenes... I'd probably have believed you. Pick this up, just do it. Also, look at that cover. Total insta-cover-love

Okay, what was so good, then? I don't know. I liked the story, about a spoiled rich girl trying to create some action in her life, ending up loving the action and becoming a thief. Getting in over her head on a job and her personal life crumbling before her eyes. With her band of drag queens. I liked the characters, each one unique in their own way. I loved the friendship. I loved the way the romance was low-key - even though I would have liked to know about the romances around Margo.

Something not so great? Well, if you're going to have multiple points of views, I would love for it to be consistent. Don't tease us with the boys sides to the story and then give us all Margo. That's probably the least good thing about this book. And it's not an awful thing. I just felt... unsatisfied, that's all.

What should one read it? If you're looking for an action-filled, interesting, smart and including rainbow-book with great characters, a mystery to be solved and some deadly outcomes, you should read this.

4 of 5 fabulous drags

/ Denise

Josh and Hazels Guide to not Dating by Christina Lauren

Author: Christina Lauren
Title: Josh and Hazels Guide to not Dating
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Gallery Books

Links: Bokus / Book Depository / Goodreads

I saw that someone described this book as "pure fun" and I have to agree. Hazel is such a wonderful character and I loved how she loved herself. Sure, she was quite adamant that she was a bit loony, but she was also determined not to change for a man. You go, of course you shouldn't change for a man. Be you. Josh is also a great guy, funny, thoughtful and respectful.

What did you like about the book? Well, honestly, almost everything. It's not a complicated story with lots of intrigue, lies, action or anything and that's absolutely perfect. This is a book about Hazel and Josh getting to know each other. Becoming friends. Falling in love. It also has one of my favorite tropes - opposites attract! I adore watching people who are so completely different falling for each other, realizing they are still compatible and respect each other for their differences. I love how natural the entire thing is in this book.

Almost everything? Yes, there was one thing that made me a bit uneasy. How Hazel practically worships Josh. And people, including Hazel, says as much on multiple occasions. Yeah, that was my one negative thing about this book. Josh never took advantage of the fact that she worshipped him and that's what matters, I guess. Oh, I'm not so fond of how things ended, but the epilogue does include a little boy dressed as a Disney-princess, so I'm good.

Why should I read this? If you're looking for a fun, easy read with characters with great chemistry and respect for each other, I'd say - pick this up. Christina Lauren's writing style should be reason enough.

4 of 5 double dates

/ Denise

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren

Author: Christina Lauren
Title: My Favorite Half-Night Stand
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Gallery Books

Links: Bokus / Book Depository / Goodreads

Okay, so this book has one of my favorite tropes - friends-to-lovers. When done right, it's can be such a fun and sweet read. In this case, the friends are best friends and have such a great relationship, being comfortable with each other, bantering, caring about one another.
But, this book also has one of my least favorite things - lying. I just don't like it. Especially when there's no real good reason. Like in this case, the woman, Millie, is catfishing the man, Reid. This is not okay and I had trouble with it the entire book.
That said, if I had to read a book about lying and catfishing (and, apparently no one had to put a gun to my head), I'd pick this one. Even though the story is important, I find even more important that I love the characters. Millie had her issues (bad decisions, trust issues, workaholic) but I couldn't help but like her. I would have liked to gotten to know her a bit outside the circle of friends and Reid, though. Reid's a decent, lovely, genuine guy without said issues (except the workaholic part), and we get to know him a lot more than Millie, it feels like. The only secondary characters we get more than a glimpse of are the group of friends, which is okay and just a little boring.

What's up, then? The thing about Christina Lauren is that I'm starting to realize that I love their writing style. I adored Autoboyography. Their characters are funny and great and multifaceted, which gives me warm, fuzzy feelings while reading. I'm definitely reading more from them in the future.

About the audio book - loved the female narrator, had to get used to the male one, though. But eventually it worked out okay.

3.5 misspelled its

/ Denise

Muffin Top by Avery Flynn

Author: Avery Flynn
Title: Muffin Top
Series: The Hartigans #2
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Entangled: Amara

Links: Adlibris / Book Depository / Goodreads

Okay, so I truly thought I would like this book. I read both good and not so good reviews and I went in with that in mind. And... I was disappointed. It wasn't a bad book, really, it just wasn't the kind of book I wanted to read. A lot of little things that became big things that annoyed me kept coming up. The plot was okay, I guess, and the story went along fine. The characters started out promising, but turned out to be the most disappointing, really.

What went wrong, then? Listen, a story about a plus-size (aka fat) woman who's totally badass and confident and the love-interest is a big, muscly firefighter who loves his women, but not enough to stick, going away and spending a lot of time together, fake-dating - it sounds all kinds of great, right? The woman, Lucy, needs to go on a reunion and dreads it. The man, Frankie, is on sex-hiatus and thinks that Lucy is the perfect woman to spend time with, because he feels no attraction to her. Not because she's fat, no no, but because she's a fierce ballbuster with too much confidence (what?), because he's totally attracted to her physically, because she's got great boobs (um?). And not only do we get this somewhat illogical explanation, that I could have overlooked, but we get this told to us multiple times "It's so lucky I'm not attracted to her, because she would eat me alive"-kind of talk. What more, when we're in Lucy's point of view, we first meet a confident, awesome woman enjoying a burger and fries with extra hot hot sauce and I instantly like her. I feel like this is the book I've been dying to read. But no... I can take the self-deprecation and the bad jokes about her size - okay, I understand how it's easier to hide behind humor instead of throwing yourself out there. What I cannot, and will not, take, is the authors need to remind us how fat Lucy wherever we turn. And I also don't need to be told everything in detail multiple times. Let us readers figure it out, please. That's probably one of my biggest pet peeves - books that don't let the reader read between the lines, figure out some stuff along the way.

Was there anything good? Okay, I'll be honest. I didn't read the entire book (only about 3/4). I just couldn't finish it - maybe I will at some point when I'm not a mess and can distance myself from my irritation. But, okay, the kind of good things. Lucy is not portrayed as someone who's not capable. She can and does do everything she sets her mind to, she wears what she wants and eats what she likes - yeay for that. Also, Frankie seems to honestly give zero thoughts to her ample body if it's not in a sexual, horny, attracted sort of way and he, as well, doesn't see any reason to limit her. This should obviously be as natural as breathing, but unfortunately the world is not always awesome, so it was nice to read it. Also, the friends were nice.

Should I read this then? Yes, if you're looking for a plus-size romance with hot bods and steamy sex somewhere down the line, but also is not afraid of reading about a great woman reject herself multiple times. I hear a lot of readers relate to Lucy and her thoughts, so I am very possibly wrong in all my words. Read it for yourselves, yes.

No real rating, since I didn't really finish it. I really like the cover, though.

/ Denise