caseythereader's Reviews (1.84k)

adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 - LAND OF MILK AND HONEY is the kind of dystopian novel I wish we had more of. It’s futuristic but grounded, bringing in real world elements without hitting you over the head with the lessons.
- Overall though, this was a little too “no plot just vibes” for me personally. I quite enjoyed the overwrought food descriptions, but inbetween those, not a whole lot was actually happening. I don’t say that to steer you away from it, because it’s a beautiful book. It’s just a personal taste thing.
- I know that despite what I just said, I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time to come, and wouldn’t be at all surprised to find it was prophetic. 

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

Thanks to Gallery Books for the free copy of this book.

 - THE WITCH’S DAUGHTER falls into the memoir category of Messed Up Childhoods, and if you gravitate toward that kind of memoir, you should definitely pick this one up.
- The narration flips between past an present, the context for and understanding of Orenda’s mother’s borderline personality disorder becoming clearer for both Orenda and the reader as the book advances.
- Fink is so empathetic toward all her family members, and illustrates precisely why it’s so hard to disentangle oneself from a situation like this.
- Additionally, Fink was a member of the band Azure Ray, so there’s some really delicious name dropping if you were a fan of Saddle Creek Records bands at their peak. 

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thanks to Macmillan for the free copy of this book.

 - After loving I’D RATHER BURN THAN BLOOM and now EIGHTEEN ROSES, I’ll offically read anything Shannon C.F. Rogers writes.
- Lucia is a hater of the first degree, and I loved her, spiky edges and all.
- Rogers blends together the broad injustices of being a teenager with the specific struggles of being Filipina-American and of fighting to make ends meet.
- There are so many plot threads in this book that I worried about it going off the rails, but Rogers brings them all together perfectly at the end. Best of all, Lucia grows and learns without losing the essence of herself.
 

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challenging emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free copy of this book.

 - I have mixed feelings about TANGLEROOT. I was on board for the story and setting, for Noni, and for the mystery of her family history as it unraveled. However, the execution of it fell short for me.
- The big thing I couldn’t get past was Noni’s mother. She was intensely controlling and it was swept away at the end, with Noni coming to the conclusion that her mother knew best. I’m sorry, but in what world is it fine to find out that your daughter made one insensitive comment to a coworker so you decide she can no longer attend the four year college she plans to in the fall and you instead enroll her in the local community college and sign her up for a slate of courses she isn’t interested in at all??? There are several other actions the mother takes that horrified me, and they simply weren’t addressed.
- Whew okay, aside from that, I appreciated that this is a YA novel that explored aspects of slavery that aren’t usually touched in books for this age group. 

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emotional informative sad slow-paced

I do not have the brainpower for this right now, unfortunately. Maybe another time.

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’m just not a big fan of queer people’s pain as a vehicle for straight learning. Also how nearly every woman in the story suffered because of the men’s actions and it was kind of glossed over. Also the dialogue was so corny. Does anyone actually say stuff like “we gotta go before Johnny Law gets here” ?

ALSO
I thought we were done with transness as a plot twist but I guess not

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challenging emotional informative

Thanks to Libro FM for the free copy of this book.

 - ABOLITIONIST INTIMACIES combines both poetry and praxis to look at the state of incarceration today and imagine what could be.
- Jones relates the personal stories of the many incarcerated people she has known and worked with over the years, detailing the many ways - large and small - that the state strips them of their humanity.
- I did find it to get a bit repetitive about halfway through. Jones tended to tell a story in an essay and then again later in poetry. I do recommend the audiobook though, as narrator Aiza Ntibarikure reads with strength and emotion.
 
adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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