India's Updates

India added 'Book Lovers'

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 22:28:30 -0700

India gave 5 stars to Book Lovers (Paperback) by Emily Henry
bookshelves: all-time-favourites
I would be remiss to give this book any less than 5 stars.

If there was a literary prize for dialogue (sub-category: banter) Emily Henry would get my vote.

I adored this book, the characters, they were relatable, the relationships between them and just everything else. I want to be best friends with Charlie and Nora.

I haven't read a lot of true romance books in the past and was a little intimidated by the genre for some reason, but I had only heard great things about Emily Henry novels so wanted to pick one up and was kindly gifted this book . It did not disappoint. I will absolutely pick up more of her books in the future.

Even though a lot of the plot points were predictable, I still really enjoyed the experience because the writing was just so good. I'm also really happy with how the story ended. I just had the best time with this.

India added 'Happy Place'

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 05:23:42 -0700

India gave 3 stars to Happy Place (Paperback) by Emily Henry
bookshelves: book-club
**3.5 stars* *

What I loved the most was the found family/chosen family themes, particularly with direct comparison to blood family relationships. The friendships are written so well and they are so believable. I really fell in love with all the characters and loved that there was development and growth shown in all of them, most prominently in Harriet, Sabrina and Cleo.

The miscommunication trope is unfortunately not my favourite so I found the romance to be frustrating at times, but I think that Henry's skills in writing dialogue and character/relationship development was able to save this for me.

I also loved the theme of happiness and mental health which were discussed.

Overall a good romance, but an even better showcase of the development of friendship as people move through different stages of life.

[spoilers removed]

India is 45% done with Happy Place

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 06:49:37 -0700

India Dwyer is 45% done with Happy Place.

India started reading 'Happy Place'

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 23:57:59 -0700

India started reading Happy Place by Emily Henry

India wants to read 'The Unicorn Hunters'

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:55:37 -0700

India wants to read The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

India wants to read 'Daughter of Crows'

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:55:32 -0700

India wants to read Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence

India wants to read 'The Poet Empress'

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:55:12 -0700

India wants to read The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

India added 'This Is How You Lose the Time War'

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:42:26 -0700

India gave 4 stars to This Is How You Lose the Time War (ebook) by Amal El-Mohtar
bookshelves: physical-tbr
**4.25 stars**
This book is SO beautifully written, I highlighted so many lines.
I loved the setting of the book, though I struggled a bit with visualising the characters and how they travelled at times.
Despite being a small book, this is a slow read. This is from savouring the beautiful prose, but also from trying to grasp everything that is happening.

Its not obvious from reading that this book has 2 different authors. The book and writing is very cohesive and does not feel disjointed, which I found to be very impressive.

Overall, I'm giving this story a 4.25 stars because even though I loved it, the writing was at times difficult to follow and this meant that I had to read over some passages several times to really absorb what was happening and visual the setting.

India added 'Light Wielder'

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:27:29 -0700

India gave 1 star to Light Wielder (Fire & Metal #2) by Rachel Schneider
**1.5 stars**
I quite enjoyed Metal Slinger, particularly the ending of the book as I felt that my perspective of the FMC completely changed in an exciting way and I was excited to pick up the next instalment.

I won't lie, this was a total let down for me. I was so bored most of the time and the book literally could have been 1/3 of the length for the amount of time spent on useless things.

This book starts 4 years after the conclusion of the first instalment. This is really strange because the characters talk about each other as if the story is only a few months later based on how they reflect on their relationships.

The 2 main characters are honestly super boring and their only personality traits seem to be that they are obsessed with each other. I REALLY wanted more internal conflict from the FMC and at least some thoughts that didn't revolve around Jovie.
The final scenes are scrappy and chaotic. The secondary characters also have absolutely no personality or real bearing on the direction of the story.

If there are more books in the series, I won't be picking them up.

India added 'The Dangers of Smoking in Bed'

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:25:08 -0700

India gave 3 stars to The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (Paperback) by Mariana Enriquez
I really enjoyed the writing/translation of these stories. As is typical for short story collections, there were some stories that I enjoyed more than others.
The themes of the stories and the setting of Buenos Aires were really exciting for me. While none of the stories really scared me, I like how they left me feeling unsettled.