April through June were pretty good reading months! Having said that, though, I did decide to change how I rate books in these reviews because of…well, the egregiously bad ones. Previously, I was using a 5 star scale, but I’ve decided to switch to letter grades.

Why? Well, it felt weird giving a book a 0 out of 5. Rating something a zero feels like I didn’t even read the book when, in fact, I had and just hated it. Letter grades help solve that problem by letting me give books that are terrible—and I mean, truly, truly terrible—an F. The +/- component also helps me express more nuance in how I feel about a book!

Since there were only two other reviews, I went back and changed my ratings on those past books according to the new system. Feels good to be consistent, y’know?

Alas, let’s get started—this one’s a long one!

The Hundred Year Flood by Matthew Salesses
Rating: C+
Left me feeling: 😐
Overall: This book was fine; I wasn’t particularly captivated by it, but I didn’t hate it either. It’s very poetically written, but so much so that it almost seemed flowery at points. It takes place in Prague and Boston, and I enjoyed how well the story flowed between the two cities. But again, nothing hooked me, and when I finished I just….was.
Extra commentary w/ spoilers (highlight to see): Honestly, I felt pretty meh about Tee. And why, WHY didn’t Katka say anything about her leg!? Oof.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Rating: F
Left me feeling: 🤮
Overall: I chose to read this because 1) I hear people quote Eckhart Tolle all the time and 2) this book in particular had been highly praised by influencers like Oprah, Jenn Im, and more. (By checking it out, I had, effectively, been influenced!) But upon reading it—and honestly, barely finishing because it was that bad—I am in utter confusion over what there is to commend. It was pure fluff and pretty dogmatic. And problematic at times! Major yikes.
Extra commentary w/ spoilers (highlight to see): What the heck was with his commentary on menstruating women? That was just weird. This entire book made me cringe.

Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur
Rating: A+
Left me feeling: 😵
Overall: This book was TRULY wild. It had been a while since I’d read a book with so much zeal, but that’s easy to do with this one! Not only was the plot—can I even call it that? It’s autobiographical, so the author actually lived this craziness—insanely juicy and intriguing, but the writing was also phenomenal. I devoured this book and was genuinely sad when it ended.
Extra commentary w/ spoilers (highlight to see): I CAN’T BELIEVE SHE MARRIED BEN’S SON!!! AH!!! Also, Charles dying alone broke my heart. And wow, I can’t believe Malabar and Ben got married so quickly! And I’m floored by how good (and sneaky) the idea of a wild game cookbook was. Wow. Wow. Wow. Is it obvious I love this book!?

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Rating: B
Left me feeling: 👠
Overall: The plot of this book was pretty good (a few parts were a bit predictable, but eh), but the writing itself was only okay. It definitely wasn’t bad—it didn’t detract from the plot or structure—but it also just didn’t add anything. I enjoyed the Old Hollywood setting of this book, the clear transitions between past and present, and the nuance of the characters. Not bad.
Extra commentary w/ spoilers (highlight to see): Alright, so the most predictable part of the book was Evelyn’s death. I didn’t expect how Monique’s father would play into the story, but given Monique’s past journalism on assisted suicide—and the fact that Evelyn is straight-up asking her to write her biography—it was pretty clear Evelyn was planning to die soon. Before that happened, though, I’m glad she eventually got to live the life she wanted with Celia.

Educated by Tara Westover
Rating: A+
Left me feeling: 😭
Overall: This book made me think a lot about privilege, resilience, and the value of education (duh). Like with Wild Game, I was mesmerized not only by this book’s content but also by the quality of its writing. Reading it is an intense, but worthwhile, emotional rollercoaster and I couldn’t recommend it enough. It really took my breath away.
Extra commentary w/ spoilers (highlight to see): There were so many parts of this book that broke my heart, from the emotional and physical abuse to the intense gaslighting. Tara is a fighter, though, and reading about her successes—both personal and academic—made me so happy. I usually don’t like callbacks (aka references to the title), but the last line of this book gave me chills. Also, go Tyler!!

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Rating: A+
Left me feeling: 😭
Overall: Since late college I’d already been reconsidering a lot of the views that I held growing up regarding incarceration and the death penalty, but this book REALLY solidified the following for me: 1) jail is not an effective (or humane) solution to crime and 2) we need to abolish the death penalty immediately. If you’ve never read anything on the topic before (or honestly, even if you have!), I would highly recommend this book. Not only is its subject matter incredibly important, but it’s also skillfully written.
Extra commentary w/ spoilers (highlight to see): The chapters about incarcerated children made me cry. Same for the ones about the brutal sexual violence that occurred in all, but especially women’s, prisons. We all need to give and receive more mercy. As Stevenson wrote, you are greater than the worst thing you’ve done. People—even those who have broken the law—don’t deserve to be treated this way.