kampbellia's Reviews (561)

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?

Julie Smith

5.0

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

S.A. Chakraborty

4.0

adventurous informative mysterious reflective medium-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: Yes

Murder at Blackwater Bend

Clara McKenna

3.0

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Babel

R.F. Kuang

3.25

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry

3.75

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood

Jessica Grose

DID NOT FINISH: 28%

While I was intrigued by the premise of this book and felt that it had some merit I placed it down at the 60 page mark. My reasons deal purely with the manner in which it was written rather than the material presented.

This book alternated between feeling like an undergraduate research paper and a very long winded complaint about the author's own experiences. It also appeared that American "culture" was being used synonymous with American government. In addition, quotes and sources felt cherry picked to suit the author's needs rather than fully fleshing out the argument. Additionally, quotes were inserted in places where they were irrelevant or not at explained leaving the reader to come to the same conjecture of the source material as the author had, yet failing to explain how it fit in. Personally I feel the thesis would have been better supported if approached from a less formal perspective or from a sociological research perspective rather than a journalistic one.