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bookswithlee's Reviews (669)
4.5 ⭐️ Night of the Living Rez is a beautiful and unique interconnected short story collection that follows the main character David across his life span within a Native community in Maine.
Written in first person POV, this book felt more like a novel with each story being a chapter of David’s life. However, it is not told in chronological order with some stories being when he was 12 and others when he is a older man.
Told in 12 different stories, we follow David who has a difficult upbringing living with his mom, her boyfriend, and his sister who struggles with drug dependency. We learn about them as well as other people in David’s life as the stories develop.
The author did such a good job with building each story up that by the end you feel so connected to the main character and his experience. I almost loved every story, which is rare for me.
This was a great book! That I definitely recommend!
TW/CW: drug abuse, addiction, child death, miscarriage, dementia, alcoholism, sexual assault, animal death
I received this ARC audiobook from Libro.fm
Written in first person POV, this book felt more like a novel with each story being a chapter of David’s life. However, it is not told in chronological order with some stories being when he was 12 and others when he is a older man.
Told in 12 different stories, we follow David who has a difficult upbringing living with his mom, her boyfriend, and his sister who struggles with drug dependency. We learn about them as well as other people in David’s life as the stories develop.
The author did such a good job with building each story up that by the end you feel so connected to the main character and his experience. I almost loved every story, which is rare for me.
This was a great book! That I definitely recommend!
TW/CW: drug abuse, addiction, child death, miscarriage, dementia, alcoholism, sexual assault, animal death
I received this ARC audiobook from Libro.fm
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence
Minor: Homophobia, Vomit, Gaslighting
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars
Overall the writing was beautiful but there was a bit too many different characters and stories happening at once that I just couldn’t keep them straight. This impacted my ability to really appreciate the writing as I could not keep up with the plot. Maybe I’ll have to reread some day when I’m able to comb through and really grasp the story a bit better. I thought that it was a good book, just not the 5 star read I was hoping for
Overall the writing was beautiful but there was a bit too many different characters and stories happening at once that I just couldn’t keep them straight. This impacted my ability to really appreciate the writing as I could not keep up with the plot. Maybe I’ll have to reread some day when I’m able to comb through and really grasp the story a bit better. I thought that it was a good book, just not the 5 star read I was hoping for
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
CW: homophobia, outing, Anti-HIV prejudice
I saw this book featured on a booktubers account that I love, and thought I would give it a go, and it was such an impactful read.
I think it’s an important book for young adults to have access to as it deals with some complex topics such as HIV that continues to receive a lot of stigma today.
This book follows three young adult gay men navigating life as the HIV epidemic rises. This is a translated work that takes place in Brazil. Although there were a lot of of similarities that mirrored that of the HIV epidemic in the US, I want to point this out as there may be differences due to the cultural context that this story was written within.
I thought this book did a great job shining light on the complexities of living with and during a time where stigma around HIV was heightened. It looked at the prejudice that many individuals receive not only from the communities surrounding them, but the prejudice they may place on themselves as they try to navigate societal pressures and stigmas.
Although I enjoyed the content of this book, the only thing that took away from the story for me was how one dimensional the characters felt. I wasn’t really invested in any one character. It felt as if they only existed to get the story across, which isn’t necessarily a problem, I just preferred more character development in books.
Overall, great read and definitely worth your time!
I saw this book featured on a booktubers account that I love, and thought I would give it a go, and it was such an impactful read.
I think it’s an important book for young adults to have access to as it deals with some complex topics such as HIV that continues to receive a lot of stigma today.
This book follows three young adult gay men navigating life as the HIV epidemic rises. This is a translated work that takes place in Brazil. Although there were a lot of of similarities that mirrored that of the HIV epidemic in the US, I want to point this out as there may be differences due to the cultural context that this story was written within.
I thought this book did a great job shining light on the complexities of living with and during a time where stigma around HIV was heightened. It looked at the prejudice that many individuals receive not only from the communities surrounding them, but the prejudice they may place on themselves as they try to navigate societal pressures and stigmas.
Although I enjoyed the content of this book, the only thing that took away from the story for me was how one dimensional the characters felt. I wasn’t really invested in any one character. It felt as if they only existed to get the story across, which isn’t necessarily a problem, I just preferred more character development in books.
Overall, great read and definitely worth your time!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you look up the definition of epic fantasy, this is it! The world building, the character development, the pacing of the plot was nothing short of amazing!
I’m not going to lie, for a large majority of the beginning of the book I was beyond confused as to what was happening. It was like the reader was dropped into this world and you had to essentially learn about it as the story developed.
Here’s a quick summary of the world and conflict: the story is set in Meridian (Tova is the most dominate city it appears). The city is divided into 6 districts which are all ruled by “the watchers” the priest class. Years earlier a massacre accorded in one of the districts by the watchers which was ordered by the Sun priest. This sets you up for a wild ride of fast paced events jumping between time lines through 4 different POVs.
Overall I really enjoyed this story, my only struggle was the jumping of timelines. It took me a bit longer to grasp what was happening and which character the author was referring; however, as the story progressed this became less of a problem.
I also loved how queerness was added within this world, not as a second thought, but as a normalcy. Overall, each character appears to have been developed with care and consideration.
I cannot wait to read the second book! This was a fun and engaging read prefect for those who enjoy high fantasy, faced paced books!
I’m not going to lie, for a large majority of the beginning of the book I was beyond confused as to what was happening. It was like the reader was dropped into this world and you had to essentially learn about it as the story developed.
Here’s a quick summary of the world and conflict: the story is set in Meridian (Tova is the most dominate city it appears). The city is divided into 6 districts which are all ruled by “the watchers” the priest class. Years earlier a massacre accorded in one of the districts by the watchers which was ordered by the Sun priest. This sets you up for a wild ride of fast paced events jumping between time lines through 4 different POVs.
Overall I really enjoyed this story, my only struggle was the jumping of timelines. It took me a bit longer to grasp what was happening and which character the author was referring; however, as the story progressed this became less of a problem.
I also loved how queerness was added within this world, not as a second thought, but as a normalcy. Overall, each character appears to have been developed with care and consideration.
I cannot wait to read the second book! This was a fun and engaging read prefect for those who enjoy high fantasy, faced paced books!