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caseythereader's Reviews (1.84k)
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
- It took me a bit to sink into the world of SMOTHERMOSS, but once I was there I was rapt.
- Alering has built a world where the lines between reality, imagination, and the supernatural get increasingly blurred, drawing the reader further and further into Sheila and Angie’s bubble of a life.
- Not everything was explained neatly, but it all made sense within the structure of the story, which is a feat in this type of fever dream book.
- I read the audiobook, and narrator Susan Bennett nailed the regional accent. I have family in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and listening to this book was like talking to older folks from the area.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying
Minor: Sexual content
- Hollis is now one of my all time favorite YA protagonists. Her growth over the course of the story felt real, and I’m so glad it exists in the world. Hollis is here to tell girls they don’t have to put up with gross nonsense, ever.
- I’ve never played D&D and still had no trouble following the game scenes, and even found myself on the edge of my seat during a few battles.
Graphic: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Infidelity
- THE MESSAGE is three essays that connect through the idea of how writing and storytelling shape our view of the world. Coates tells us about trips he takes to Senegal, South Carolina, and Palestine.
- The first two essays are good and thought-provoking, but the essay on Palestine is the heart of and reason for the book. Coates lays out why the narrative he’d been told his whole life about the region was wrong, and obviously so from the moment he set foot in Jerusalem.
- Coates connects the dots between the three stories - slavery, book banning, and apartheid - and how the narratives that have built up around them over time shape the daily lives of oppressed people.
Graphic: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, War
- I have no idea what to make of THE COIN, but I am pretty sure I loved it, if that makes sense.
- Our unnamed narrator belongs to the grand tradition of Rich Women Falling Apart, but here we have the added layer of her being a Palestinian woman living off family money in New York. The emotional, social, and historical complexity of this identity are clear in her muddled and often terrible actions.
- I really liked the concept of the coin in this story. I am certain many readers won’t, as its intended meaning is almost totally opaque. But I kind of love that: everyone can read something different into it.
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Genocide, Colonisation
Minor: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury