Genre: Realistic Fiction

Review: The Dirty Book Club – Lisi Harrison

Review: The Dirty Book Club – Lisi Harrison

The Dirty Book Club is all about female friendships and empowerment, and how books may be the way to both! Story: M.J. thought she had it all, but living her life not fully knowing what she wanted didn’t make her happy The Dirty Book Club changed all that. At first, she had some awkward interactions with some of the women her own age, but she felt like people in LA were so very different from the New Yorkers she was used to. The Dirty Book Club followed both M.J. and her new friends and Gloria and her friends. Quite a bit of the story happened in the past, when Gloria and her friends were younger. They were rather open-minded, and […]

Posted 3 October, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 5 Comments
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Review: A Tragic Kind of Wonderful – Eric Lindstrom

Review: A Tragic Kind of Wonderful – Eric Lindstrom

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful had my whole body in knots. Mel made my heart break so badly, and at the same time I’m so happy to have met her – to get a glimpse into how life might be for someone who suffers from bipolar disorder. Story: After a horrible shock, Mel became so sick she couldn’t go to school for several months. Afterwards, though, she never shared with her friends the actual reasons for not coming to school. She didn’t want anyone to think she was weird. Or different. Or someone they might not want to spend their time with – so she stayed away from them instead. She got new friends, though and that works well for […]

Posted 23 August, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 12 Comments
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Review: Hello Forever – Sarina Bowen

Review: Hello Forever – Sarina Bowen

Hello Forever had everything I enjoy in a romance, a strong relationship between the protagonists – even when they thought they couldn’t be together. Story: After Axel and Cax got caught making out in the woods at youth camp, Cax just disappeared. Axel still thought of him, and at least his mom was there for him in every way she could be. Six years later, when Axel is offered a job, he decides to say ‘yes’ after seeing Cax in the stands of a basket ball game. There is a lot of love and hope in Hello Forever. At the same time, there is a lot of bigotry and hate, too. The characters move the story forward, and it took […]

Posted 22 August, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 4 Comments
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Review: Lost and Found Sisters – Jill Shalvis

Review: Lost and Found Sisters – Jill Shalvis

Shalvis hit it way out of the ballpark with Lost and Found Sisters! What a strong story, with characters who made my heart both swoon and ache. Lost and Found Sisters is a bit different from Shalvis’ usual novels, but still has the same feel to it. A deep story, where Quinn, the main character makes several discoveries about herself, which in turn brings her to move out of LA to a small village to try to find her way, while also getting to know some people that will become very important to her. The main theme in Lost and Found Sisters is family, and what exactly family is. Does it have to mean those people we are related to […]

Posted 21 June, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 18 Comments
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Review: On Second Thought – Kristan Higgins

Review: On Second Thought – Kristan Higgins

On Second Thought is one of the most tender and hopeful stories I have read. It’s character-driven by women of incredible strength. Ainsley and Kate become close as sisters after they both ended up single once more, and On Second Thought follows them both in the aftermath of the shock they received. Kate tragically and unexpectedly became a widow after only four months of marriage. And soon after, Ainsley’s live-in boyfriend of eleven years left her start over and find himself again. I just felt so much tenderness while I read their story, and I loved being inside their head, understanding their vulnerabilities and their wants and needs. Kate had gotten over searching for a husband at thirty-eight years old, […]

Posted 4 April, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 21 Comments
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Review: The Upside of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli

Review: The Upside of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli

The Upside of Unrequited is pretty much a perfect book. I have not a single complaint, I loved everything from the writing to the characters to the story to the beautiful and extremely strong feels! I was practically enchanted by The Upside of Unrequited – and I think one of the reasons was because I just understood Molly so very well. How she was a serial crusher, but never dared to completely put herself out there and try to see if the guy liked her back. From the safety of distance, she could crush and feel the butterflies, but make sure she’d never get hurt. And while I didn’t think of it that way when I was her age, now, […]

Posted 21 March, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 22 Comments
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Review: Not If I See You First – Eric Lindstrom

Review: Not If I See You First – Eric Lindstrom

Not If I See You First was both delightful and sad. Very real, and with a dash of drama thanks to Parker and the way she thought about herself first – like many other teenagers tend to do. I’m not sure why I kept Not If I See You First for so long on my kindle without reading it – it was as if it was hiding in plain sight! Parker was a very prickly heroine, and some might not enjoy her at all. I found her to be refreshing in some ways, though, because not only was she brutally honest, she was able to deal with the aftermath of her honesty as well. Her life was not an easy […]

Posted 23 January, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 8 Comments
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Review: It Ends With Us – Colleen Hoover

Review: It Ends With Us – Colleen Hoover

Yeah. It most definitely should end with them. It Ends with Us is a bit different from CoHo’s other stories with more mature characters. There are quite a few things that are similar too, though: the amazing writing, the character-driven story, and my tears… It Ends With Us is a very strong and necessary story. It deals with some pretty heavy subject matters, and I have actually already used it as an example of something important with a young woman I know… Lily Bloom is a very strong woman, and she has built so many walls around herself and her heart that she might have been completely impenetrable, but she wasn’t. The story itself starts with some chance encounters, and […]

Posted 8 August, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 12 Comments
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Review: If You Only Knew – Kristan Higgins

Review: If You Only Knew – Kristan Higgins

If You Only Knew is a cute read which still tackles some serious and heavy subjects – I loved the strong friendship between the sisters. If You Only Knew is a contemporary romance that I would definitely tag as realistic fiction, as it follows two sisters – Jenny and Rachel – through some of the upheavals of adult life. How to deal with things when it’s impossible to run to mom and dad, how to stay strong when all one wants to do is to curl into a small ball and cry. How to trust again after that trust has been completely torn apart by someone who should have known better. How to deal with secrets – both those within […]

Posted 25 July, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 24 Comments
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Review: Leave Me – Gayle Forman

Review: Leave Me – Gayle Forman

Leave Me left me feeling a bit raw, with my emotions and my heartbeat just underneath the surface of my skin. In many ways, I was totally prepared to hate Maribeth, the main character in Leave Me. A 44-year-old mom of twins, a career woman, a wife, a friend, a daughter… One day, she was feeling out of sorts and it took until later the next day for her to figure out that she was having a heart attack. Which ended with her having open heart surgery and being out of it for a while, and recuperating in the hospital for a full week. Once back home, and really needing her husband to take care of her for a change, […]

Posted 18 July, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 30 Comments
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