Slow and Steady Wins the Race.

A February 2023 wrap up

With January wiped off from suffering with a moderate-to-severe case of COVID-19, it carried over through February, but at least the symptoms were much milder and I was able to feel like I was achieving something. Though, admittedly, I’m still not at 100% but the Doc assured me things will be back to normal in March… I just have to start getting my body used to activity again after being sedentary for an extended period of time. Nothing new for me; I know the drill, and look forward to getting back to the point where I can get in a gym workout.

This month I managed to read 7 books; it should have been much higher, but ‘The Raven King’ put me in a bit of a slump. This makes 3 series completed, 3 books off my TBR shelf (the rest were purchased with gift cards from Christmas presents, mainly to buy the rest of books in series I was part-way through.)

TBR 310 down to 303.

As for writing, I was concentrating on a single project – a romance novella as I’m just getting back to writing after some serious time off (thanks a bunch cancer and COVID, don’t come back) and managed to get 5,000 words on paper and spent a good chunk of time reviewing the plot and making sure the pacing was working in the first two chapters I’d already written (plus some light editing) to get my head back in the ‘space.’ Not a great achievement for me, but it’s a start!

Because February is more of a ‘light duties’ month, and I’m only just starting to get back into the swing of things, it was important not to go full throttle and burn myself out. So I would limit my work time and catch up on some viewing pleasure. There was a months backlog of shows I wanted to watch/catch up on since I was so sick/sensitive to light in January. I think this is the most amount of screen time I’ve indulged in for years.

Wolf Pack, The Witcher : Blood Origin, Kleo (Season 1), Mayfair Witches, Chucky (Season 2), The Good Doctor (Season 6), 9-1-1 Lone Star (Season 4), Bump (Season 3), Nancy Drew (Season 1-3), His Dark Materials (Season 3), The Mosquito Coast (Season 3), RuPaul’s Drag Race (Season 15)

Rewatched Seasons 1-4 of Stranger Things

Movies: M3gan, Shotgun Wedding, Knock at the Cabin Door, We Have a Ghost,

I’m starting to become more active online too, but again limiting my time to avoid burnout (or doom-scrolling) I’ve started out reconnecting with my friends, and reading other blogs and reviews randomly, but I’ve noticed there doesn’t seem to be a lot of activity on the things I follow (some for quite a while – I guess the pandemic affected a lot of people in many different ways.) So in March I’m looking to engage more and discover new blogs/content… so watch for the wrap up of that month to see what I discover. Though there was an interesting discussion on censorship and book banning in the US which could start to have repercussions worldwide if it gains traction. Post by PagesUnbound.

Or if you want to recommend any great blogs that centre around reading and writing comment below!

© Casey Carlisle 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Regretting You’ by Colleen Hoover

Part of this is every mother-daughter relationship ever, part is an over-dramatised trope.

Genre: Y/A, Contemporary, Romance

No. of pages: 354

Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.

While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

This is a difficult one for me to review. I enjoy Colleen Hoover’s work so much; she always manages to pull out all the feels and notch up a great amount of angst.

‘Regretting You’ was a little off kilter for me. The pacing is slower, even though the alternate perspectives between mother and daughter Morgan and Clara switch with each chapter respectively and move the plot forward; there was a lot of misunderstanding, blustering off without getting the full picture, having a spat…. it felt all very over-dramatised. Plus – and this is my personal preference – I did not entirely like any of the characters.

Clara was doting one moment and irrational the next. Morgan was a people pleaser who drifted through life and felt washed-out as a character for me. The love interests were all-too-doting and secretly in love with the protagonists and felt like Hoover was painting the men with the same brush. Miller felt clingy and something about his characterisation made me feel very uncomfortable – like he was over-compensating for something. Johan is probably the one character I liked the most, but still, I wanted more dimension from him. Like I said, it’s just my personal impression of the cast.

The characters develop nicely, are complex and have different motivations. I think there was an element of emotional connection I wasn’t getting. Maybe I’m turning into a cold-hearted shrew? Maybe I’m tired of romance? Maybe I’m just dead inside? Only joking. Some books connect really well with certain readers, and ‘Regretting You’ didn’t do that for me. I still love Colleen Hoover’s writing and will continue to indulge in her books.

There are some nice reveals and a well written plot, I think it was somewhat simple, and the whole misunderstanding/misjudging trope in contemporary romance can be great if executed well, but it is so overused that may had added to some fatigue in my reading of ‘Regretting You.’

Overall a fun read, but one I did not enjoy fully. I’m on the fence recommending this one – probably for those who loved contemporaries and big fans of Colleen Hoover.

Overall feeling: just okay for me

© Casey Carlisle 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookporn #coverlove

Catching up on some of my CoHo!

Book Review – ‘Too Late’ by Colleen Hoover

A surprising departure from Colleen Hoover’s regular fare that brought all the negative feelings.

Genre: Y/A, Contemporary, Romance

No. of pages: 394

Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves.

And she does, every single day.

After finding herself stuck in a relationship with the dangerous and morally corrupt Asa Jackson, Sloan will do whatever it takes to get by until she’s able to find a way out.

Nothing will get in her way.

Nothing except Carter.

Sloan is the best thing to ever happen to Asa. And if you ask Asa, he’d say he’s the best thing to ever happen to Sloan. Despite Sloan’s disapproval of Asa’s sinister lifestyle, he does exactly what he needs to do in order to stay a step ahead in his business. He also does exactly what he needs to do in order to stay a step ahead of Sloan.

Nothing will get in his way.

Nothing except Carter.

The best way I can sum up my initial reaction to ‘Too Late’ is 10% titillation 90% revulsion. This book was triggering for me on so many levels. Colleen Hoover stated in the forward that this novel had a darker tone, (and why she released it under the moniker C. Hoover and not her full name to address the departure from her usual publications) and while none of the content actually surprised me, it had my inner feminist, protector, and fellow human being screaming and rattling a metaphorical cage. 

This is also not typically a novel. It’s a series of blog posts and chapters published in order they were written. So there was no weaving of a masterful plot, no going back and redrafting or editing. This was a stream of consciousness. Word vomit. Just for her enjoyment to escape the woes of what she was currently working on – get a reprieve from the tension and pressure. 

I admired how Colleen Hoover gets into the mind of antagonist Asa. And it certainly drew out a lot of passionate emotions from me. Which is sort of the point really – it’s just that they weren’t particularly nice emotions. 

Additionally, I’m not about violent sex, domination, abuse, or well, ‎sex scenes that don’t service the plot. Erotica or titillation just for the sake of it makes me feel like the author is taking a cheap shot. The easy road. Like they couldn’t come up with something more substantial and meaningful to attract a reader. Like sex in advertising. It works, but it’s not something that I find all that appealing. 

So how do you discuss a novel that’s not quite a novel? I’m just going off entertainment value. I was engrossed – and then grossed out. I had to keep putting the book down because I felt ill, like I was going to throw up. And angry. Frustrated. You get it… not a lot of happy feelings. So I was not entertained. It was like driving past a car crash on the side of the road. Such an awful thing to witness, crumpled metal and blood splatter, flashing lights of police cars and ambulances; and you know you shouldn’t look because there’s a chance you could see something that will scar you for life, but you just can’t seem to tear your eyes away.

Given the nature of this being a series of blog posts there isn’t really a structure to the story. There are entire chunks of the novel that are essentially flashbacks. Our protagonist Sloan is painted as a hero for surviving, and choosing to live through a controlling, abusive relationship. This triggers me so badly my thoughts and words turn into rambling passionate nonsense. Add to that, undercover cop and love interest, Carter, tipped as the knight in shining armour… well the characters felt flat to me, and unrealistic. Even the way the story was resolved had me eye-rolling; if this scenario played out in real life ALL the characters would be in jail.

I guess this novel did a great task in getting a strong emotional reaction out of me. For that I have to applaud Colleen Hoover. But for the story itself – well, it’s not your traditional mode of telling a story. The plot is a dog’s breakfast. The scenario did not feel researched thoroughly, and all the characters were (for me) completely unlikeable.

On the whole, ‘Too Late’ rubbed me the wrong way, and as conscious as I am to give this a proper review without letting my emotions take control of me, I can’t recommend this to anyone other than those interested in explicit sex scenes and rape scenarios.

It put me in an awful reading slump and I kind of want those two weeks back.

Overall feeling: Hell No!

© Casey Carlisle 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookquotes

I liked the message this book played with, but it was waaaay to confronting and graphic for my sensitive brain. Plus it was more a collection of blog posts than an actual novel.

Fun to mix up the reading formats every now and then, step out of your comfort zone.

What was the last time you read something out of your comfort zone? Was it enriching or a dumpster fire?

#bookporn #coverlove

RED. I was feeling bold and wanting to embrace colour, so I chose a selection of books from my shelves with prominently scarlet covers… what’s your favorite pick?

#bookquotes

Hmmm… it’s been a while since my last CoHo read – must correct that immediately!

Book Review – ‘Without Merit’ by Collen Hoover

Messy can be beautiful… or just plain miserable. But there is also beauty in misery.

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

No. of pages: 385

From Goodreads:

Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.

The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.

Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her—until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.

Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.

What a train wreck of a family! ‘Without Merit’ is all about keeping secrets and putting up a front that contributes to this family imploding. But you don’t get the info dump of all the elements that have built up this tension – Colleen Hoover reveals them like peeling back layers of an onion in an organic way through the perspective of our protagonist Merit. It is a moderately paced book with a slow burn romance. It’s not overly traumatic, and has a cute ending but is very engaging. I completed it in two sittings and found the characters – and their arcs – delightful. It is just another novel that adds to the proof of Hoovers’ deft writing and stylistic flare.

We’re introduced to Merit as someone who is angry yet hopeful… and then slowly shown why she is both of these things. I related to her because she is both flawed, intelligent, and resourceful. She questions and challenges the world in her loner fashion.

The rest of her siblings each have a different dysfunction – their mechanisms for dealing with the repercussions of their parents’ divorce and parental style. Utah, Honor, and Moby were still connected enough to be a family unit, but had their own story arcs going on. It was great to read that all the characters were so intricately crafted.

Two other characters of note revolving around the family: Luck seems like a bright addition to the family, but is soon discovered as the grenade that starts the inciting moment of self-inspection the family desperately needs. And Sagan, who comes across as the tattooed brooding love interest with a touch of mystery about him – and while he is all of those things we soon discover there is more: an artist, a compassionate soul. I really enjoyed discovering him through Merits eyes, though the whole quiet brooding thing was starting to get a little tired towards the end.

We also get the neighbour’s dog that Merit adopts; who is by far my favourite character and a wonderful symbol of moving on from a painful past.

I like how mental illness is represented and discussed in ‘Without Merit.’ It doesn’t necessarily paint a pretty picture, but once brought out into the open and dealt with, can be treated in a way that is not destructive.

The novel really deals with how perceptions and assumptions are continually deconstructed and the truth revealed.

The first half takes a while in setting up the characters and plot, so the pacing feels moderately slow, but after the halfway mark, things really get interesting and I did not want to put the book down. It’s not really an angsty novel. More one of uncovering one sensational thing after another, like some telenovela, it was tragically juicy and I was hooked.

Hoovers writing style slayed me yet again, and it was hard to predict what was going to happen because the predicament Merit finds herself in is just so deliciously messy. It all made great reading and a novel I’d happily recommend.

Overall reaction: Knock me down with a feather.

© Casey Carlisle 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookporn

It feels like I haven’t read a CoHo book in ages… this is one of my latest purchases that I’m hoping to dive into. Can anyone tell be what to expect?

Book Review – ‘November 9’ by Collen Hoover

Trashy tropes and shenanigans.

Genre: N/A, Contemporary, Romance

No. of pages: 310

From Goodreads:

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

I loved reading this book. The Drama! I was hooked from the first line.

I think this book is great in illustrating that we are all fallible. Everyone makes assumptions, mistakes, and it is how we recover from these that defines our character.

All the characters are great: fully realised, they jump from the page, warts and all! You get clear character development from the cast too, so by the end you feel like you’ve gone through a journey, and it has changed you.

I really liked our protagonist, Fallon – her insecurities can translate to any girl with aspects of her body that she does not like. It was also great to see her get over her wallowing and deciding to make something of her career. That get-up-and-go attitude really resonated with me, and I instantly became invested in her story. That and the hilarious and sassy conversation with her father at the start of the book had me hooked.

As for the worst: I found Fallon’s love interest Ben to be a little long-winded, a little whiny, and a little over-expository. But I loved his character. I think the failings I had with his personality is another reason I deducted half a mark… Though he is tenacious, altruistic, and incredibly romantic. After finishing ‘November 9’ I decided his good traits outweighed the bad.

‘November 9’ is an easy read with some great wit. I did get a little annoyed and the small amount of swearing – and Ben calling Fallon ‘babe’ – but that is just a pet hate of mine and I didn’t let is sway my rating. Colleen Hoover weaves angst and tension in there as seamlessly as she always does, and one of the elements in her writing style that always has me coming back for more.

I would have rated this higher if something about the story didn’t creep me out a little. But that’s all personal. And I won’t discuss it here because I don’t want to spoil your reading experience with giving away the best part of the plot.

The discussion of ‘insta-love’ and other bookish elements was a great touch, using them as an underlying theme had me cheering. The pacing is well done too, even though it takes place over many years, you don’t get bogged down with too many irrelevant aspects not important to the main storyline.

I will say I did not see, or remotely guess the plot twist. I revelled in the drama. For me the ending was sweet, if a bit meh… but that is my personal taste given the situation, not the writing, how everything was brought to culmination. Again all of the issues I had with ‘November 9’ stem from my own reactions to the situations faced by Fallon. Another great title from CoHo herself and something I’d recommend to all faithful fans and lovers of contemporary romance.

Overall reaction: Messy people make for a great read.

© Casey Carlisle 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.