Skip to content
The Wallflower Digest The Wallflower Digest

Blogging book reviews, embroidery & whatever else may on my mind.

  • Home
  • Books
    • Book Home
    • All Book Reviews
      • 1 Star/Did Not Finish1 Star reads and books I didn’t finish. I use this for books I couldn’t finish. If I finished a book, it meant it was passable at least so deserves an extra star! It is very rare that I need to do this, I’m good at knowing my own taste. Usually if  a book got this rating I’d made a miscalculation when I picked it up! I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 2 Stars2 out of 5 star  book reviews. I finished the book but it felt like a struggle, and I probably ended up skim reading a lot of it just to get though the thing. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 3 Stars3 out of 5 star book reviews. These are middle-of-the-road books. Nothing that got me excited, but they were fine and I probably had a good time reading most of it. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 4 Stars4 out of 5 star book reviews. I had a good time reading it, I felt like I got something out of the experience and I’d recommend it to other people. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 5 Stars5 out of 5 star book reviews. I got super excited about it! I’ll buy a hard copy for my library, and I’ll likely read it again. Sometimes for these books, I’ll write up a longer review with analysis. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
    • Review & Analysis
    • A guide to my ratings
    • Monthly Reading Roudups
    • Book Tags
    • Top Ten Tuesday
  • Life
    • Blog
      • Digest BlogThese are semi-regular updates on my life. What I’ve been up to recently, what TV shows or movies I’ve been watching and whatever else is on my mind.
    • Garden
    • Internet Research
  • Making Stuff
    • Embroidery
  • TV/Movies/Games
    • Games
    • Movies
    • TV
  • About
    • ✍🏻 Guestbook
    • Tag Cloud
    • Ways To Follow
    • Blog Roll
  • Home
  • Books
    • Book Home
    • All Book Reviews
      • 1 Star/Did Not Finish1 Star reads and books I didn’t finish. I use this for books I couldn’t finish. If I finished a book, it meant it was passable at least so deserves an extra star! It is very rare that I need to do this, I’m good at knowing my own taste. Usually if  a book got this rating I’d made a miscalculation when I picked it up! I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 2 Stars2 out of 5 star  book reviews. I finished the book but it felt like a struggle, and I probably ended up skim reading a lot of it just to get though the thing. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 3 Stars3 out of 5 star book reviews. These are middle-of-the-road books. Nothing that got me excited, but they were fine and I probably had a good time reading most of it. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 4 Stars4 out of 5 star book reviews. I had a good time reading it, I felt like I got something out of the experience and I’d recommend it to other people. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 5 Stars5 out of 5 star book reviews. I got super excited about it! I’ll buy a hard copy for my library, and I’ll likely read it again. Sometimes for these books, I’ll write up a longer review with analysis. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
    • Review & Analysis
    • A guide to my ratings
    • Monthly Reading Roudups
    • Book Tags
    • Top Ten Tuesday
  • Life
    • Blog
      • Digest BlogThese are semi-regular updates on my life. What I’ve been up to recently, what TV shows or movies I’ve been watching and whatever else is on my mind.
    • Garden
    • Internet Research
  • Making Stuff
    • Embroidery
  • TV/Movies/Games
    • Games
    • Movies
    • TV
  • About
    • ✍🏻 Guestbook
    • Tag Cloud
    • Ways To Follow
    • Blog Roll

Mini Review

Home » Mini Review » Page 2
Idol by Louise O'Neill 4/5 stars Genre: Psychological Thriller Positives: + Unreliable, complex protagonist who is both a victim & ruthless manipulator + I enjoy reading between the lines. + Addictive with mounting tension. + Interesting exploration of memory & manipulation. Negatives: - Lisa could have used a deeper characterisation to flesh out the story.

Idol by Louise O’Neill

Posted in4 Stars, Book ReviewsOctober 23, 2023
A messy unreliable narrator made for addictive reading! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars
Read More
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Posted in3 Stars, Book ReviewsOctober 18, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 Stars - Cute but feels a little dated for 2023.
Read More
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Posted in3 Stars, Book ReviewsOctober 18, 2023
Like reading an overly sentimental made for TV movie - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 Stars
Read More
A Lady’s Guide To Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin 3/5 Stars Genre: Regency Romance Positives: + Kitty is a confident, pragmatic and independent protagonist. + A twist on the marriage mart romance from an outsider perspective. + Lovers can communicate effectively! Negatives: - Feels very flat. - The first half drags. - Very tame with no sexual tension! - Feels like side characters were out having all the fun & romance off the page!

A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin

Posted in3 Stars, Book ReviewsSeptember 20, 2023
A middle of the road regency romance that lacked chemistry - ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 Stars
Read More
The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell Genre: Mystery, Family Drama Positives: + As ever, the narrative structure makes for a compelling mystery story. It just is not as good as the other books I‘ve read. Negatives: The story is about the husband, not the wife! I found Adrian frustrating rather than sympathetic. - He got off extremely lightly for his decades of selfishness. - I absolutely hated the ending. - Maya ends up forgotten as collateral damage.

The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell

Posted in2 Stars, Book ReviewsSeptember 16, 2023
Still a gripping mystery but unrelatable characters with missing perspectives, and I really, really hated the ending! - ⭐⭐ 2/5 Stars
Read More
The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell Genre: Mystery, Family Drama Positives: + Has the usual hallmarks of a Lisa Jewell that make a compelling mystery story. + Varied characters. + Balanced look at the impact of guilt & hoarding on the whole family. Negatives: - The mystery lacked twists or a climax. Really more of a family history. - I didn‘t care for any of the characters. - Lorelie herself I found more annoying than charming!

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

Posted in3 Stars, Book ReviewsSeptember 11, 2023
Another reliably gripping mystery story, but turned out to be lacking in twists and a little anti-climactic - ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 Stars
Read More
You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry. Did Not Finish (DNF) Mini Review. Genre: Romantic Comedy, Chick Lit Positives: + Emily Henry is an engaging writer. Flows well, easy to read. It just has all the tropes that I hate! Negatives: - Could not stand Poppy. - Did not believe the friendship between her and Alex could have lasted 12 years. - No chemistry on the page. - Nothing happened in first 25%, it is so boring. - It is the anti-Book Lovers (which I loved so much!).

You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry

Posted in1 Star/Did Not Finish, Book ReviewsAugust 27, 2023
Annoying characters, all the tropes I hate and worst of all it was boring! 💀DNF
Read More
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

Posted in4 Stars, Book ReviewsAugust 22, 2023
Dark, twisted humour with a murderous narrator is my favourite flavour 🍽️ - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars
Read More
Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell 4/5 Stars Mini Review, Audiobook

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Posted in4 Stars, Book ReviewsAugust 21, 2023
My second Lisa Jewell, and it was another gripping, twisty mystery! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars
Read More
The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

Posted in5 Stars, Book ReviewsAugust 15, 2023
Gripping mystery and brilliantly narrated Audiobook! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 Stars
Read More

Posts pagination

Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 Next page
Welcome

The Wallflower Digest is a personal blog written by me, Alice. These are just my personal thoughts, feelings and hobbies! I am not an expert in anything, but just a person trying to learn and make sense of the world!

Have a look around
Currently reading

Currently reading

A Darker Shade of Magic
Alias Grace
I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan

goodreads.com
A few popular posts
My Problem with Atomic Habits by James Clear
Bunny by Mona Awad - 5-Star Book Review and Analysis!
Who Is Piranesi? The Inspiration For Suzanna Clarke's Fantastic Novel
11 Books to Put an End to Your Reading Slump
Top 10 Favourite Books with Unreliable Narrators
Let's keep in touch?

You can get email updates for new posts by subscribing.

Or, you can follow me on these sites

  • 🛜 RSS Feed
  • 🦣 Mastodon
  • 📷 Embroidery Insta
  • 📖 Goodreads
  • 📚 The StoryGraph
  • 📔 Fable

Pages
  • ✍🏻 Guestbook
  • About
  • All Book Reviews Listed
  • Blog Roll
  • Books Homepage
  • Cookie Notice
  • Life
  • Making Stuff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Tag Cloud
  • Ways To Follow
  • 😻 Caturday
Main Categories
  • Books
  • Internet Research
  • Life
  • Making Stuff
  • TV/Movies/Games
Archives

Background image credit: NASA/ESA and Adolf Schaller

Copyright 2026 — The Wallflower Digest. All rights reserved. Bloglo WordPress Theme
Scroll to Top