brittmariasbooks's Reviews (1.45k)

Goed boek over een burgerberaad in Nederland. Ik hoop dat er echt één komt.

 Yeah, I don't know enough about Pakistan's history to understand and fully appreciate the political satire in this book. 

This poetry chapbook description: "This pandemic has not been easy on anyone. We have all had our share of grief and loss. However, with things moving so fast, we haven’t been able to take a moment to sit down with our emotions. But you don’t have to face those emotions alone." made me expect more poems about the pandemic than there actually were. However, I liked Phuong Huynh's poems nonetheless.

 CW: Lesbophobia, orientalism

I was going to read Silk Fire in March with a book club. We were all very excited to read this book. However, I do not think any have finished this book. Combined with the inappropriate behaviour of the author online, I have lost all interest in this book. 

 Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing me with a DRC of The Juneteenth Story.

The Juneteenth Story briefly explains the history of the end of slavery in the United States in the format of a picture book. It does have more text and is more informational than your average picture book. So I would recommend this book for a bit more older children (and adults because I also learnt a lot due to this book!). Agostini did a great job in telling this complicated history in just a few pages. The illustrations are wonderful. I recommend The Juneteenth Story to anyone young or old who wants to learn more about Juneteenth. 

 Baby's First Book of Extraordinary Women briefly shows extraordinary women in the Rebel Girl fashion: explaining what she did with an illustration. This book does not go as in-depth as the Rebel Girls books usually do but that's due to its even younger audience.

I really enjoy the Rebel Girls book even as an adult so I was excited to see how the authors would write a book about these women for an even younger audience. I think they managed quite well and if the baby grows up wanting to learn more about these and other women, Rebel Girls will have them covered with more information and more beautiful illustrations. 

 A must-read for every NetGalley user.

NetGalley's Book Advocate Toolkit is a nice document that NetGalley users can use to make the best of their NetGalley experience. I have been using NetGalley for quite a while and had to discover quite some things on my own (read: NOT going on a requesting spree). New (and old) users will be happy to have read through these tips and do's and don'ts. 

I really enjoyed Thunderhead. The way the story is told is one of my favourite ways. While multiple points of view, a quite large cast of characters all with their own motivations. Shusterman is not afraid to take risks and the books so far are so well written, I can only recommend you start reading the books as well!

The ending of this book was so well done. From the build-up to it the execution is a chef's kiss! It will be an ending I will think about a lot.

 TW: stalking, alcohol abuse/addiction

The Player in New Zealand drew my eye because I have travelled to New Zealand twice and love the country. Although I have never been to the North Island - where the book takes place - it did remind me of my lovely journeys through the South Island.

The book follows Claire who flew from Boston to Wellington to escape her stalker. In New Zealand, she is working in a bar on a temporary working visa. Tane is a retired rugby player due to an injury and owns the bar where Claire works together with his sister Nina.

Even though I am usually not a fan of Boss-Employee relationship stories this one was fine. The romance was fine as well. It was a nice read during my vacation. I liked the setting in New Zealand and the Māori aspects of the story due to the Māori love interest.

(Also, if your e-reader font is on Open Dyslexic, the word Māori will appear as 'Mflori').