chelseareads's Reviews (449)

The Shadow Speaker

Nnedi Okorafor

3.5

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Annihilation

Jeff VanderMeer

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Becky Chambers

3.5

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

If the somewhat indulgent title doesn't throw you off, you'll really enjoy the book. It was a wonderful exploration of humanity and society, and the story was not bad, either! The second book is better than this one, though, because there is less angst. The human grinds my gears a little in this one.

EDIT: I can't get it out of my head. This duology changed me a little.

White is for Witching

Helen Oyeyemi

3.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Yikes. I'm not used to reading this type of book and it was a lot. But so well-written and carefully planned. The narration was excellent and the pacing was good.

Content Warnings

Thousand Cranes

Yasunari Kawabata

3.75

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I did not enjoy reading this book.

Les putes voilées n'iront jamais au paradis!

Chahdortt Djavann

DID NOT FINISH

The violence

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

S.A. Chakraborty

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

An excellent stand-alone story in a universe I was already in love with. The pacing is off, as other reviews have said. Otherwise, it's an amazing book.