I was so excited to hear Ali released a fantasy-based romance, and it absolutely lived up to my expectations.

While the book had the main character gaining great benefits from meditation, astrology readings, and yoga, none of which are my thing, the story included these things in a humorous way which made the book enjoyable. It’s the story of a year in the life of a 30 year old woman who, as the title suggests, finds 30 things she likes about herself. I really enjoyed the book.

I adore this series. Light fun and intriguing. Each book said with be characters and interest. The references to everyday tasks with a mystical element are delightful.

This book by the author of The Frozen River did not disappoint. A novel based on the true exploits of the "White Mouse" in Vichy Government France of WWII, the book alternates between 1939 and the end of the war. Many of the hard-to-believe events actually occurred, as the woman who wore red lipstick managed to lead an army of resistance fighters, secure supplies, and perform truly death-defying acts in order to thwart the Nazis who occupied France from 1940-1944. Unforgettable!

I have mixed impressions of and feelings about this novel. I found the plot intriguing, and enjoyed Serafina's narrative voice in her alternating chapters, as compared to Sara's, which disappointingly tended to fall more often into cliché turns of phrase. I understand the need to set the characters' "voices" apart and distinguish the eras in which they are living, but wonder if this could have been done with a bit more finesse for Sara's chapters. Some plot revelations were telegraphed and therefore more predictable, while others felt more satisfyingly surprising. At times, the events and interactions themselves seemed to draw on stereotypes, though I appreciate that the author appears to have researched the book quite thoroughly. There were also some unexpectedly graphic passages in the book, so readers who are especially sensitive to intimate and/or violent imagery may wish to be aware of this before reading. Overall, though it would be missing a meaningful modern dimension, I think I might have preferred this as a purely historical fiction novel, set entirely in Serafina's time period. All that said, I would still be interested to read other novels by this same author, in the hopes that they are more of the quality of Serafina's chapters than Sara's.

Fun to read

I thought the part with the pill and the cake was really funny.

I adored this book! The protagonist's "voice" comes through so strongly and distinctively in the first-person narration, and I love the contemporary take on the more traditional epistolary genre. The story is well paced and makes for quite a page-turner. I appreciate the inclusion of supportive educators. The subject matter also remains extremely timely and pertinent in the context of current sociopolitical events. I highly recommend it - and would love to know whether Rachel Maddow herself has read it!

This book’s plot started out seeming like a well-known rom-com plot of “fake dating leads to real love”. That is the basic theme, but the book is entertaining along the way with a lot of pieces to the plot. I really enjoyed the book.

I loved this book. It was like a walk down memory lane as he describes the roles he did and his journey through Hollywood.