Review: Scientific Secrets for Self-Control

Quick review for a quick read. This isn’t the first “Great Courses” audiobook I’ve listened to, but it was one of the ones I was most disappointed by. A shame because the topic is very fascinating in terms of how self-control is regulated by the brain. It touches on several topics with support from several studies: brain injury and how it affects self control, mental energy and fatigue, dietary influences in brain energy, making decisions, how fatigue factors into difficult topics, self control and finances, etc. I found that I wasn’t really the biggest fan of the audio lecturer. His dictation didn’t feel immersive/enthusiastic about the topic and the transitions between topics weren’t as smooth from lecture to lecture as I would’ve hoped. I did have a few takeaways for the knowledge base and topics this series of lecture covered, but not enough for the time and energy that it took for me to move through this audio course (which was well over 3 hours).

Overall score: 2/5 stars.

Review: Gem & Dixie by Sara Zarr

Quick review for a quick read. Another emotional and engaging read from Sara Zarr. “Gem and Dixie” is a story of sisters as well as knowing when to let go and grow. I enjoyed the journey, though the story had more compelling points in certain turns than others. It got a little muddled in the middle trying to march itself towards the ending, but still pulled at my heartstrings for showcasing the relationship between the characters.

Review: Burned (Burned #1) by Ellen Hopkins

Quick review for a quick read that I picked up from my library’s audio collection. Powerful and really wonderful character exploration, which is typical of Ellen Hopkins’s books. Pattyn is a young woman living in a tightly knit religious community and abusive household. She strongly laments her inability to grow as a young woman – in relationships, in asserting herself among other things – as well as watching her mother being subjected to her father’s fists. After a series of incidents in which she acts out, she’s sent to live with her aunt and begins to know what it means to have a better life for herself, including being valued in a romantic relationship with her S.O. (Ethan). In the end, she’s not prepared to return to the household that cast her out, yet she never really wanted to leave completely behind, and things only turn for the worst after that point. I’ll admit it hit me like a punch to a gut and I couldn’t shake the emotional upheaval it left within me long after turning the final page.

Review: Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

Quick review for a somewhat quick read (at least as far as audiobooks are concerned). I honestly enjoyed “Empress of a Thousand Skies”, though it took me a while to really get started with it. The challenge for this story lies in the fact that it has multiple narrators, has a very extensive set of worldbuilding rules and jargon that may be difficult to adjust to at first, and follows different storylines that eventually converge and reveal themselves in terms of the link between characters. It also starts very sluggish with pacing and development, which to me was probably the narrative’s biggest achilles heel through the beginning of the story. However, once I found the flow with the story, I honestly couldn’t put the book down and I loved the experience. I honestly can’t wait to see where this series ultimately goes, considering the stakes established and the character relationships.

Review: Echoes of Us (The Hybrid Chronicles #3) by Kat Zhang

Initial reaction: That was a satisfying end to a good series overall. A few points for me had the narrative dragging but I enjoyed the journey overall.

Full review:

I’ll admit I’m a little sad to be finishing this series with “Echoes of Us” for two reasons: 1. It took me a long time to pick up this final novel and 2. This is pretty much the end of the journey for Eva and Addie. I’ve spent three books following these characters and found myself invested in their fight for representation and non-erasure of hybrid souls. This book has Addie and Eva delving into an alternate identity once again by going undercover at a facility with hybrid children like themselves to expose the horrible treatment of the souls there, but it comes with a high cost.