{Book Review} Flipcup by Kim Hartfield

  

Flipcup

Vino and Veritas Book 7

Kim Hartfield

LGBT Romance

188 Pages

Blurb:

Could swearing off men lead Chelsea to the perfect woman?

After being rejected one too many times, Chelsea makes a bold vow: No more men. Her friends doubt a boy-crazy party girl can handle not dating for a year, but that only makes Chelsea more determined.

Tara has made a vow, too. After growing up in foster care and suppressing herself to please others, she's going to live her truth. When she sees a beautiful woman, she'll make her attraction known.

Chelsea appreciates Tara's flirtatious compliments, not to mention her androgynous beauty. There's a loophole in Chelsea's vow, and it's more tempting every day...

My Review:

Ugh, this book. I put it on my TBR a few months ago when I saw it in a newsletter and was really excited to read it. I thought Pride Month would be the perfect time. But this book is a classic case of unlikeable characters who should not be a couple.

Chelsea is this guy-crazy, heavy-drinking immature woman who decides on a whim to try hooking up with a woman because she's tired of meaningless sex with guys that never leads to a relationship. She clearly has no idea how to adult because she actually asks Tara after she gets her own apartment what she's supposed to do with the garbage, isn't someone going to come get it and take it out of her apartment. 🙄

Then there's Tara, who is described as an "androgynous beauty" in the blurb. She's overly flirty toward Chelsea but when Chelsea takes interest it's like she gets all offended. I believe there is a word for people like that but I won't say it here. Despite being flirty, Tara is startlingly closed-off because of her childhood in the foster care system (seriously, another one of those books... aren't there a ton already that show how shitty the system is? We get it already!)

Another thing I didn't like was that the author bases most of the book around Chelsea and Tara's physical relationship. It's like they're the only characters that matter in the book. We see no interaction between Chelsea and her parents, Chelsea and Tara's friends are one-dimensional, people that come into Tara's life like her guitar teacher or aunt are mentioned but we don't really learn much about them or build that connection. 

Overall, I didn't like this book. For such a short book it took forever to read. I will not read another book by this author. As for the series, I'd have to take it on a book by book basis, as each can be read as a standalone and each is written by a different author. 

My Rating:

🌟🌟

2.75 of 5 Stars!

{Book Review} BIG SUMMER by Jennifer Weiner

 

Big Summer

Standalone

Jennifer Weiner

Chick Lit / Mystery

368 Pages

Blurb:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the “nothing short of brilliant” (People) Mrs. Everything returns with an unforgettable novel about friendship and forgiveness set during a disastrous wedding on picturesque Cape Cod.

Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless.

Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song.

A sparkling novel about the complexities of female friendship, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most.

My Review:

This review is going to be a little different. I DNF'd this book, meaning I did not finish it. But I definitely have some opinions on what I did read. 

I bought this book last year when it first came out and I guess I thought it was a fluffy summer beach read. Maybe I read the description then, I'm not sure. I didn't realize going in this was going to be an attempt at a murder mystery.

We start out with a prologue in 1994 and that was fine, interesting even. But I have no idea how the woman we read about or her son play into the plot. I never got that far. Fast forward to chapter 1 and suddenly it's 2018. So the four-year-old in 1994 would be 28. Are we reading about him? No. We meet Daphne, a plus-size instagram influencer meeting with Leela, a stylist/clothing designer at a coffee shop to talk about a social media collaboration. Leela is talking about ethically sourced materials and inclusivity and Daphne is thinking about all the trouble she had growing up finding clothes that look nice on her body and are stylish and that's about the point where I was like - hold up I don't need to read anymore of this BS. 

I'm a plus size woman, true. I also like to think I appreciate fashion and have an interest in acquiring nice clothing. I'm so sick of authors writing plus size characters and their whole character ARC is having a past of being bullied or having insecurities about their body. I'm over it.  If we've reached a place where we can have LGBT+ books that aren't just about coming out why can't we have books with plus size main characters where it's normalized and say "x character" is bigger the same way we'd just casually describe characters saying they were tall or short or red-haired or bald and have the main story be about a mystery or a rom-com or a horror plot that has nothing to do with pages upon pages reminiscing about their weight struggles. When I think of myself, I often don't see myself as any different than anyone else. I don't constantly internalize that my thighs are thicker than a woman I might see at the mall. I buy high-end clothing and have no trouble finding clothing that fits nice and is in my correct size. I even *GASP* feel sexy when I wear certain things. Please authors, stop reducing anyone over a size 10 into a bunch of insecure, weight obsessed, weaklings. Give us hobbies, a personality, the same as you would a skinny character! 

Moving on, I skimmed to the end of the book after I realized it was a mystery just to see who the killer was and found the reveal to be not all that surprising and their motivation mostly unoriginal. 

Overall, though I did not finish this book, I really disliked the parts that I did read. I probably will not try anything else by this author.

My Rating:

DNF

Top Ten Tuesday: 4 Books I'd Gladly Throw in the Ocean

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday: 4 Books I'd Gladly Throw in the Ocean

This week’s TTT is all about books we'd gladly throw in the ocean. I'm taking that to mean books we didn't like? Books we want to get rid of? Well that's the way I'm interpreting it anyway. Honestly, I could only think of 4 books I hated so strongly I'd want to obliterate them off the face of the earth. Sure, there are other books I've DNF'd but these four I definitely have an issue with...

 

1. Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis

This book was such a let down. It had all the set up to be a creepy read but you have a main character that is so annoying it's hard to get past the beginning. (I didn't. She used the word 'optimal' too many times in the first chapter or two and I just couldn't. Want a book that is similar in subject but way better written and a lot creepier? Go with The Lost Village by Camilla Sten)

2. Barking Madness by Ryan Hill

The author contacted me to review this book and it was so bad. I tried to give it a chance but the way it was written was portrayed the female character in such despicable and misogynistic ways I wanted to throw the book. Ha - I get it now... gladly throw it into the ocean 🤣

3. Heart of Ash by Kim Liggett

I don't know if this is technically "throw in the ocean"-worthy but it's a prime example of a sequel being completely different (in a bad way) from the first book. It was such a confusing read when compared with the plot of the first book.

4. You by Caroline Kepnes

I watched the show first. The first season was okay, typically Lifetime stuff. I didn't like the second season and stopped watching. But the book? Joe is way more messed up and gross on the page. I couldn't get past page 60. 

***

What books would you gladly throw in the ocean?

Let me know in the comments or drop a link to your TTT!

Happy Reading Bookdragons!

-Taylor