Time Travel Thursday | April 18

Posted April 18, 2024 by Haze in Time Travel Thursday, Weekly Book Memes / 2 Comments

It’s Time Travel Thursday! Hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog, this is where you get to take a look back at what you were reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and get to relive those bookish memories!

This time last year I was reading:

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can’t imagine working anywhere else. But lately it’s been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who’s fresh off a journalism master’s program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.

When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it’s this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it’s not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle and climbs podcast charts.

As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other. In an industry that values truth, getting caught could mean the end of more than just their careers.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this one. It was just the right amount of funny, serious, and sexy. I love the funny scenes – not just the banter between Dominic and Shay, but Steve being cute and adorable, and I also love the awkward and self-deprecating stuff. The serious stuff were handled really well too – the grief and loss talk, not just on the radio but when the characters talk to each other. I love how Shay and her mom communicates about their feelings, and yes, the vulnerable conversations between Dominic and Shay gave me feelings. The sexy scenes were hot and steamy too, and I love that because it seems like sometimes you either get a fluffy love story with lots of sexy scenes, or a more serious romance without anything steamy. I really love the balance here. Definitely checking out the author’s other books!

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? What were you reading this time last year?

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Book Review | Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent

Posted April 16, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent

A former slave fighting for justice. A reclusive warrior who no longer believes it exists. And a dark magic that will entangle their fates.

Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.

Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organizations of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.

The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. But even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.

But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.

Even if it means wielding death itself.

Fans of epic romantic fantasy like Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy will devour this tale of dark magic, passionate romance, vengeance, and redemption.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #25: An author “everyone” has read except me)
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge


The Reason

Everyone has been talking about The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, so of course I was intrigued, but there’s a long waitlist for that book and this one by the same author happened to be available on audio, so I thought I’d try it.

The Quotes

“Men want power because it makes them feel good. Women want power because it lets us do things.”

“Did you know that when caterpillars make a cocoon, their bodies totally dissolve? They become nothing, before they become something else.”

“We had carved out these small, intimate spaces for each other in our lives, and by some miracle of human denial, neither of us had thought about what that would inevitably mean. Now, for the first time, I realized the breadth of the gaping absence we would leave in each other.”

“It’s easy to die for someone,” I said, “but it is so much more valuable to live. I do not give you permission to fail if I fail.”

The Narrator(s)

Dan Calley and Esther Wane. They were fine. I like Esther’s narration but there were parts where I couldn’t hear her properly and missed certain details. Dan’s narration had a bit of an annoying inflection, for me. I feel like I maybe would’ve liked the book more if I’d read it rather than listen to it.

My Thoughts

I liked the story, and I loved Max and Tisaanah, the whole power up montage for Tisaanah, the way they got to know each other. I’m a sucker for slow burns, vulnerable conversations, and I love how they try to protect each other. However, I feel like my enjoyment was marred a little by the narration. Maybe. I feel a little disconnected to the story and the characters, and I feel like it’s probably because of the narration. I feel like I might have missed some important details in some parts, and also the narrators’ inflections and interpretations of the voices and events influenced my thoughts about them. Objectively, I thought it was a great story, but there was just something missing somehow, and that makes me kind of ambivalent about continuing with the series.

My Feels

I think I could’ve loved the story and the characters. I think I could’ve really loved Max and Tisaanah’s love story, but I just feel disconnected. I could try again in print, but there are so many other books out there so I feel it’s really okay to let go and move on. I am still going to read The Serpent and the Wings of Night, but I’m going to make sure I read it in print!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Characters I’d Like to Go on Vacation With

Posted April 15, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 34 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is a Characters I’d Like to go on Vacation With. I had to really think about this one. There are many characters I love, but not necessarily for going on vacation with. Some I’d happily go on adventures or quests with, or if I’m escaping from prison or running a heist or killing monsters, but for a nice, relaxing vacation? Hmm…

Top Ten Characters I’d Like to Go on Vacation With

  1. Ren, Gray, and Vargo from The Rook and Rose series – I love them so much and I would so love to hang out with them doing whatever. Maybe reading pattern together or tarot cards, telling fortunes for fun, or just having drinks together. I think they can be chill and fun companions for a vacation.
  2. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables – I can imagine just sitting at a nice breezy cottage reading side by side with Anne, maybe going on walks enjoying the scenery, picking flowers, making up whimsical stories and fairy tales together. This could be such a nice, relaxing vacation.
  3. Viv, Tandri, and Thimble from Legends & Lattes – Honestly, I don’t so much want to go on vacation with them, as much as I want to go on vacation to them. I’d love to visit Viv’s cafe, drink some coffee, have some of Thimble’s delicious baked goods, hang out and get to know the regulars, listen to the bard playing music, play chess with the old man even though I can’t play chess, try to pet Amity. And I’d love to chat and become friends with Viv, Tandri, and Thimble if he’ll talk to me!
  4. Rocky from Project Hail Mary – I could take or leave Ryland Grace, but I’d love to go on vacation with Rocky. I think he would be such a fun companion, and I wouldn’t even mind that he watches me while I sleep, and of course I’d return the favor. I think we’d have fun conversations, maybe develop a few inside jokes, and I know I’d love learning more about him.
  5. The Wayfarer crew from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – I don’t know what kind of vacation we’d be having, but I just really want to hang out with them and be a part of their vibe. I love how they get along with each other, respect each other, learn from each other. I think there might be a couple of them I’d get annoyed with while on vacation, but I’d still want to be there with all of them.

Have you read any of these books? Did you like the characters? Would you go on vacation with them?

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Book Review | Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Posted April 15, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn’t always what we seek.

In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.

Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.

Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.

What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #19: A buddy read)
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge


The Reason

Legends & Lattes was amazing! I fell in love with Viv and I want more of her! I would read all the books in this series if the author wrote more.

The Quotes

“I don’t know if I can explain it, but watching you read what I give you, putting a book in your hands and seeing what happens to you once you put it back down… I can’t make you understand how that gives me something I didn’t know I had to have.”

“Never trust a writer who doesn’t have too many books to read. Or a reader, for that matter,” said Zelia.”

“Every book is a little mirror, and sometimes you look into it and see someone else looking back.”

“Well,” breathed Fern, surveying the interior with both brows raised. “Fuck me.” Satchel drew back from her in alarm, and his eyes seemed to widen as the flames within them burned brighter. Viv leaned down near his skull and whispered, “It’s just a figure of speech, not a request.”

The Characters

We’ve already met Viv, and in this book we meet Fern, Maylee, Gallina, and Satchel. Also Potroast. I love all of them, Fern especially. She really came to life for me. I love Satchel too, and Maylee. You know what, I love them all!

My Thoughts

The difference between this book and Legends & Lattes is that you know Viv is only here temporarily, and she’s going to leave all the friends she met here behind. The interesting thing is that it doesn’t even matter because sometimes it’s not about how much time you spend with a person, but the quality of the time you spend with them. I thought it was beautiful how all of them felt that it was worth getting to know each other even when they knew it would only be for a while.

I also love the slice of life we see with Fern’s bookshop and the running of it. I thought I loved it when we saw Viv setting up her cafe in Legends & Lattes, but I really love seeing how Viv helped Fern revamp the bookshop. All that talk about books, and the reading experience, and getting excited about book events… I wish I could’ve been there!

My Feels

There are many books I love but I would never want to live in their world. This series is one that I really love and wouldn’t mind living in. I would love to be friends with Viv, Fern, Tandri from the first book, and pretty much everyone Viv calls friend. It’s just amazing how Baldree has written these characters, how Viv seems so real and tangible, the way she brings people together and make everyone she meets, everywhere she goes, better than before. I love her!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Posted April 15, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #51: Related to the word “Wild”)
2024 Library Love Challenge


The Reason

Because I loved the first book, of course!

The Quotes

“Assassins are a monstrous breed. Either they attack when you are at your worst, or they are having a go at you on your birthday. I have never known a more dishonourable profession.”

“I’m afraid I have not gotten over my resentment of him for saving me from the snow king’s court in Ljosland earlier this year, and have made a solemn vow to myself that I shall be the one to rescue him from whatever faerie trouble we next find ourselves in. Yes, I realize this is illogical, given that it requires Wendell to end up in some dire circumstance, which would ideally best be avoided, but there it is. I’m quite determined.”

“The problem is not the packing, I admit; I simply dislike travelling. Why people wish to wander to and fro when they could simply remain at home is something I will never understand. Everything is the way I like it here.”

“One of the guiding principles of dryadology,” I said, “is this: do not cross the sort of Folk who make collections of human body parts.”

The Characters

I still love Emily and Wendell, and of course Shadow too. I was very happy to see more of Poe as well. Other than that, I didn’t connect with the characters in this book as much as the ones in the first book. Professor Rose grew on me, but I didn’t love him. Ariadne seemed like an afterthought, and the rest of the cast were mostly forgettable.

My Thoughts

Despite the characters not being as memorable as the ones in the first book, I still very much enjoyed this book. I love the way the relationship between Emily and Wendell is progressing. I feel like they know each other and are very comfortable with each other, and that’s everything. The story itself is interesting and I think my favorite part was discovering the doors. I also love the journey into Wendell’s kingdom and getting a glimpse of it. I’m excited to see more of it in the next book.

My Feels

I love this book because it’s a continuation from the first book and features characters I fell in love with, but I didn’t love it as much as the first book and I’m a little dissatisfied with how the rest of the characters were written. The characters in the first book were so vivid and alive, but the ones in this book felt like cardboard cutouts.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. Still good, but I need better written characters!

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Way Forward by Yung Pueblo

Posted April 15, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Way Forward by Yung Pueblo

The #1 New York Times bestselling poet returns with his most inspiring collection yet. In this third and final installment of his poetic trilogy, Yung Pueblo expands upon favorite themes while guiding readers further, toward a life lived authentically, intuitively, and in harmony with others.

In these rapidly changing times, it is more important than ever to know ourselves well and fully, even and especially in the face of turmoil. The Way Forward encourages readers to connect more deeply to their intuition, using it to remain focused and grounded amidst a world in constant flux.

In his latest collection of poetry and short prose, Yung Pueblo offers clear strategies for managing the unknown, inhabiting your personal power, and bringing your truest, healthiest self to relationships. Progressing naturally from both Inward and Clarity & Connection , The Way Forward is exactly that­­—an inspired beginning.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #4: Lowercase letters on the spine)
2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge


The Reason

I came across this book while browsing in the bookshop, and immediately fell in love with the poems. I’ve never read anything by this author before, but the words just resonated with me and I knew I had to read more!

The Quotes

“if existing takes every ounce of your energy,
then that alone is heroic work”

“i got lost while trying to survive”

“It is only heavy because you are deciding over and over again to carry it”

“Some people will not get you, but what matters is that you get you.”

My Thoughts

I didn’t know that this is part of a series by the author. I flipped through a couple of pages when I saw it at the bookshop and I was pulled in immediately. There are many that give food for thought, and I took a long time reading this book because I had to ruminate over many of the verses. I wanted to copy some of them into my journal, the ones that resonate most, but there were too many and at that rate I’d be copying the whole book into my journal. I decided to just buy a copy for myself, and I know I’ll come back to it often. I’m definitely going to look in to the other books in the series too.

My Feels

I love this book. It reads easily, just words on paper, but it’s everything I’ve felt and was never able to articulate. It’s also all the encouragement and inspiration I needed but didn’t know how to ask for. I feel like this book spoke to the deepest, darkest parts of me and told me it was okay to be not okay. I felt seen.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Sunday Post | Kitchen Not So Confidential

Posted April 13, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 28 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

Kitchen Not So Confidential

There’s been a lot of cooking this past week. There’s no special occasion or anything, I just felt like it and had the time, and maybe I’m also enjoying the cleaner kitchen and want to take advantage of that.

I made Butter Prawns, some random soups with everything thrown in, Braised Pork Belly with hard boiled eggs, napa cabbage stir fry, and other stuff I didn’t take pictures of. I’ve been eating well but I’m not sure if I can keep this up! I should probably try to get better at taking food pictures if I do!

I’ve finished watching 911: Lone Star and I was going to start watching the original 911, but a couple of other shows caught my eye so I’ll probably alternate when I have time. I started watching Renegade Nell on my own and I’m quite enjoying it even though I’m still not sure what the end game is and why Nell is special. My husband and I are watching Fallout together. Neither of us play the game but that’s not going to stop us enjoying the show. We’re only on the third episode at the moment. I’m really loving Lucy’s character. Not too sure about Maximus.

The weather has also been pretty nice and we took some walks around the neighborhood. That made me very happy and I hope the weather keeps getting better and we get to take more walks. It’s supposed to snow again later this week but I won’t mind it too much as long as I get to walk outside a little more.

All the happy things:

  1. All the food!
  2. The walks and the warmer weather!
  3. I bought a couple of organizers to organize my sticker collection and I love them!
  4. I bought a few skeins of yarn I’m excited to use, soon!
  5. Had a nice chat with a friend who made me feel encouraged about things I’ve been wanting to do
  6. Got started on organizing my closet

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett – I’m so happy I finally finished this book! I’ve been anticipating it so much. I think I like the characters we meet in the first book more than the ones here, but I like them too, and I’m glad we were able to see more of Poe. I’m looking forward to the next book too!
  2. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree – Another one I’ve been anticipating. I loved the first book, and I love this one too! I love that it’s so much more about bookshops and books. And I love Viv as ever. She’s someone I’d love to be friends with, and I love how her character is written so well that you just feel drawn to her the same way the people in the book are drawn to her.

Books I’m (still) reading:

  1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – I meant to finish the rest of this book but was distracted by another audiobook. Plus the next check-in is still some weeks away so I’ve got time!
  2. Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent – I’m 65% in and enjoying it very much! I promise I’ll get back to The Count of Monte Cristo after I finish this!

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

I’ll finish up my audiobooks of Daughter of No Worlds and The Count of Monte Cristo, and I’m starting a buddy read for The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden this week. If I can make it, I’d like to get started on The Kite Runner for my in-person book club before the week is out.

I’m also hoping to get caught up on my book reviews and update my books read on Goodreads and The Storygraph.

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Time Travel Thursday | April 11

Posted April 11, 2024 by Haze in Time Travel Thursday, Weekly Book Memes / 2 Comments

It’s Time Travel Thursday! Hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog, this is where you get to take a look back at what you were reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and get to relive those bookish memories!

This time last year I was reading:

How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

When the technologies we use every day collapse our experiences into 24/7 availability, platforms for personal branding, and products to be monetized, nothing can be quite so radical as… doing nothing. Here, Jenny Odell sends up a flare from the heart of Silicon Valley, delivering an action plan to resist capitalist narratives of productivity and techno-determinism, and to become more meaningfully connected in the process.

My thoughts:
To be honest, I missed a lot of the details, but I get the gist, and it’s better to retain 10% than to never read it at all, so. My takeaways: I want to be more mindful, try to replace more social media activities with some real life activities,. Otherwise, just making time for doing nothing and scheduling “doing nothing” in my calendar and actually sticking to it.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? What were you reading this time last year?

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Book Review | Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Posted April 10, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 6 Comments

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Diversity Reading Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge


The Reason

This was nominated for my book club’s April BOTM but it didn’t win. I was still fascinated though, and since it was available as an audiobook from my library, I decided to read it anyway.

The Quotes

“But one thing I learned from the Saints,
when the crossroads are open to you, you must decide a path.
I will not stand still while the world makes my choices.”

“The body is a funny piece of meat. How it inflates and deflates in order to keep you alive. But how simple words can fill you up or pierce the air out of you.”

“The patron saint of the ocean is known for containing many parts of herself: she is a nurturer, but she is also a ferocious defender. & so I remember that to walk this world you must be kind but also fierce.”

“Dreams are like the pieces of fluff that get caught in your hair; they stand out for a moment, but eventually you wash them away, or long fingers reach in & pluck them out & you appear as what everyone expects.”

The Narrator(s)

Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania Luisa Marte. They were perfect. I have no complaints.

My Thoughts

I have never read anything by Elizabeth Acevedo, and I had no idea this story was told in verse. I was listening to it on audio so I couldn’t see the format, but there was something about the way it was read by the two narrators that made me think it could be in verse, and it was, and I loved it.

I made the mistake of listening to this when my husband was on a plane. Let me tell you the anxiety I felt. But after the initial plane crash, a lot of the story focused more on the two main characters; Camino and Yahaira, and we got so immersed in their lives that I was able to distract myself and enjoy the story for what it was. However, it’s painful to think about the inspiration behind this story, and I’ll be honest and say that right now, I don’t want to think about it too much because I’m still feeling a little anxious.

My Feels

I loved it. I love seeing into the lives of Camino and Yahaira. I love seeing them reconcile what they know about their father to what they are finding out about him, and about themselves. It was such a powerful story told with such powerful words.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. I am so glad it was nominated for the book club’s BOTM and that it was brought to my attention.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt

Posted April 9, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt

When falling in love is the punchline…

Farley Jones is a loud, chaotic, and hilariously clever standup comedian on the way to stardom. The only thing she loves more than the rush of telling jokes in front of a revved-up audience is her hot older manager Meyer, though he doesn’t have a clue. Keeping her feelings hidden from him is agony (a tragedy, even―in lieu of flowers, please send cash…) but Meyer has been Farley’s closest and most treasured friend, not to mention vital to the trajectory of her career. She can’t risk ruining their relationship by telling him how she truly feels. After all, who else would have the patience to put up with a hot mess like her?

A former standup star himself, single father Meyer Harrigan left the stage years ago in order to focus on raising his deaf daughter Hazel. Farley has been everything to them since she came into their lives three years ago, and despite his grumpiness, his protectiveness over Hazel, and his disdain for public attention, Meyer will do anything to make her standup dreams come true.

When the biggest opportunity of Farley’s career comes along and forces the pair to fake-date in order to stir up publicity, it doesn’t take long for their act to bring all those other funny feelings out into the open. Like most matters of the heart, it quickly begins to feel like anything but a joke.

Touching on the creative spirit and all that comes with sharing that gift, Tarah DeWitt’s Funny Feelings is a swoony story about friendship, love, and looking for the laugh in life.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge


The Reason

I’ve had this on my TBR for a while. I’d also been reading a lot of heavy books all at once, and I really needed something lighthearted. It was also available on audio just as I felt I needed it most. So here we are!

The Quotes

“Well, how interesting. Men are afraid of women being funnier than them, and women are afraid of, oh, I don’t know, being oppressed, beaten, raped, or killed by men. But look out! Funny chick here might follow you down an alley and make you chuckle without consent!”

“This book is dedicated to all the women who’ve ever been told that they’re Too Much. Maybe you’re too loud, too crass, too open, too bawdy. You overshare too often, say too many bad words, you’re too weird, or too emotional. To the women who, in their quiet moments, still think back on their social interactions and wonder if they really are too much, if they should feel embarrassed, or ashamed. You are fucking incredible. You are my people. Don’t you dare dilute yourselves to make yourselves more palatable. You are all heart and fire.”

“There’s a Swiftie song for everyone.”

“As long as I remain true to myself, I know that my silly streams of words have the power to make someone’s day brighter.”

The Narrator(s)

Nelson Hobbs and Stephanie Bentley. They were pretty good. I did have some trouble hearing properly at some points, but they were few and far between.

My Thoughts

The beginning started off really strong. I love the premise and I’m always up for a fake dating trope. I also really love that there was a deaf character named Hazel, and deaf-specific jokes. I had an ear operation when I was 10 years old, and have had hearing problems and tinnitus ever since, and my name is Hazel! I’m not deaf, and I don’t think I’m even in the category of being hard of hearing, but I do struggle occasionally.

Unfortunately, I think that the later part of the book kind of slowed down and wasn’t as strong as it could be. It seemed like it lost momentum and the drama that popped up wasn’t really convincing at all. It wasn’t bad, and I still enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been.

My Feels

A lot of the book really resonated for me with the comedy, the sentiment, and many of the quotes. The romance itself didn’t do as much for me, but it was still the nice fun read that I needed.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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