jenknox's Reviews (494)

This book is full of gritty characters, action, and exploration of the humanity below the grime of addiction and corruption. Burnett writes with momentum, and I absolutely devoured this book.

Lovely writing, heartfelt story

I enjoyed Sue Mell's novel immensely. Exploring the themes of grief, aging, family dynamics, and the ways we seek security, Mell managed to create characters that were realistic and nuanced. This is a beautiful and tender journey story that touches many relatable topics and offers just enough unexpected hope to make the heart swell.

Meade's chapbook is full of insight, humor, and truly remarkable writing. This book was able to examine the role and expectations that are attached to fatherhood, breaking them into bits, only to expose the very real, messy, beautiful reality beneath it. I am not a parent, but I could relate to the depth and beauty of relay that occurs within our closest relationships. This book has a unique take on what it means to be a parent and a witness to another's existence and, upon closer examination, how we witness ourselves through the heartache, expectation, laughter, and constant forgiveness that love demands.

5 of my favorite stories here.

Merged review:

5 of my favorite stories here.

From the first line, Untamed pulled me in. This is the sort of book that is incredibly difficult to put down, the kind of book you can fall into and forget the world, forget you’re reading words on a page. Our narrator is a true heroine in a tumultuous futuristic world in which the Enhanced Ones are “better, faster and stronger than you.” The premise is unique and engrossing, and by the end of the book I was left wanting more (good thing – it’s a series). As a person who rarely reads fantasy/sci-fi but grew up with it always on the nightstand, Dyer’s book reawakened in me a buried love for the genre.

Every other book I read by Jodi Picoult is fantastic. Her work is comfortable reading with surprising hints of poetic genius.

How many books tell a unique story? A unique collection of stories? A unique and well-written collection of stories and poetry that takes risks and is told with an engaging voice? Not many. This is one.