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447 reviews by:
librarymouse
The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South
Radley Balko, Tucker Carrington
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I hadn't known John Grisham's political affiliations prior to reading this book and it's forward. I guess I just assumed that because a lot of the readers I know who like him are conservative, that he is as well. After reading about his work with the innocence project in the forward to this book, and the references to cases that inspired some of his fiction, I'm interested in reading something by him. Hayne and West committed innumerable, unforgivable violence against the people of Mississippi. They created and took part in a cult-like system that revered their expertise while reveling in a cognitive dissonance created by their lack of certification. The fact that pay to play adjacent certification programs exist and are accepted as certification for coroners; that coroners weren't/aren't required in some states to be certified by a central agency or program, and the fact that the political roadblocks to overturning wrongful convictions are so strongly upheld by the insular and corrupt nature of law enforcement are incredibly upsetting. This book puts the popular police procedural dramas into a different perspective. The cowboys of law enforcement doing what it takes to get a conviction of the person they fundamentally believe committed a crime takes on a far more sinister reality in the light of how many innocent people were wrongfully convicted based off of the opinions and beliefs of poorly trained/racist/bigoted police officers, which we're upheld by a corrupt coroner and court system.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Excrement
Minor: Slavery
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've found that I love the niche of nonfiction/memoirs written about a fictional world and fictional people. I really loved this book. Cranor and Matthewson have a talent for describing a character's descent into into madness/paranoia/a conspiracy as a reasonable, understandable, and extended progression. They way they build suspense is very much like the frog and boiling water metaphor, and they pull you right alongside the characters. Miriam feels like a friend, and I desperately want more information about the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer
emotional
funny
reflective
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
Interior Chinatown is a fantastic exploration of self image and interpersonal relationships, exploring the systematic racism in place in the United States, ranging from Hollywood to immigration policy through an analog of movie tropes and stereotypes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Classism
Minor: Dementia
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Having read Michelle McNamara's perspective on the investigation, it was interesting to read about the search for the Golden State killer from the perspective of another working on the case in a more traditional investigative capacity. Paul Holes is a characteristic writer, and every loss faced by him and the others who's stories he tells are deeply impactful. His work on cold cases gives me hope that others who have suffered without knowing the fate of their loved ones will find closure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder
adventurous
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
I love this series! I look forward to Yu possibly becoming a reoccurring character, and the integration of different mythologies and types of magic is really fun and interesting! Getting to hear from Julie's point of view is nice. Every character is fully realized and valued, and I just think that's neat.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury
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adventurous
emotional
funny
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
God, I love these books. They flip flop between slice of life and bloodthirsty fantasy/adventure.
I'm really glad to see The return of Andrea and Grendel. Andrea being kicked out of the order (forcably retired) was upsetting, knowing how much it meant to her, but I'm glad to see her and Kate working together again, and for the chance she and Rafael could get back together. Aunt Bea's meddling, which nearly killed the kids, really frustrated me. I like her, but I'm glad Andrea punches her. Ascanio is a great new addition to the cast of characters. His playboy attitude at the beginning of the novel compared to what he went through to try to save Julie and the actual kind kid behind the bravado makes me hope hope he'll be a recurring character. Kate's childhood being dismantled during her visit with baba yaga was also really interesting. The story of her mother, princess like, staying behind to sacrifice yourself while Voron escaped with baby Kate makes a lot more sense knowing that Voron's immortality was tired to be coming a virtual slave of Roland's. The efforts to which Voron went to train Kate, depriving her of a childhood and not letting her know her maternal relatives or be trained magically are put into an even darker light with the revelations in this book. I'm very interested in how Kate's magical training will go, and I want to know more about the voice she spoke to while cleansing Julie's blood. Part of me thinks it was Hugh, hence the flowers, but another part of me thinks it was a god like Morrigan or possibly Kate's mom. Curran threatening to leave if Kate ever performs that variety of blood magic again felt almost out of character, but not in a bad way. It just felt out of place after learning that Curran was willing to give up the pack for Kate. I look forward to seeing more slice of life content, or at least familial content now that Kate's extended and adopted family has expanded again.
I loved the cookbook scene.
I loved the cookbook scene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy
adventurous
funny
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
I love Dali. Getting to hear her internal monologue was kind of upsetting, if only for being somewhat familiar as someone who grew up with thick glasses and features different from my peers. At a first glance, Dali's inner monologue feels like an unexpected 'I'm not like other girls' bender, but as the story progresses, you can see how she came to view herself this way. The books that feature Kate as a protagonist only show the facets of the other characters in how it would make sense for them to interact with her. Getting to see pack dynamics from an insiders view, and seeing who Dali and Jim outside of a professional setting was neat. There really are no secondary characters in this series. They're all fully realized. Dali's a really cool character and I love that the author's promised a full-length novel for her and Jim soon! The amount of care put into the cultural biographical information for Dali was really nice. And I love the dragon!
Jim calling Dali beautiful was perfect
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Blood
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emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Well written and engaging, the narrator's voice is conversational while giving factual information and leaving space for herself to reflect on what she's learned. Amanda Montell comes at this information from an interesting perspective, being the child of a father who was raised in and resisted a cult before escaping as a teenager. The content centered around religion, belief systems, and process 1 and 2 thinking specifically really interested me. As a former catholic, I always thought that I was just a very cynical child because I didn't quite mesh with the religion in a way I thought my peers could. The author's explanation of prayer as perceiving one's own post-prayer thoughts as answers from God really put how I've relied on process 2 thought in religious spaces into perspective. This is a book that begs reflection from readers, but doesn't condemn piety or belief in any form it may take so long as it doesn't cause harm.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, Toxic friendship
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel is a really interesting character study of some pretty terrible people. It was really well written, though by the end of the novel, every time someone said Miss Jean Brodie is in her prime with gusto/conviction, it's almost comical. The whole book feels slightly queer coded, especially Miss Brodie's interest in a select few of her students' sexuality. It's palpable to the extent that Sandy once ponders the possibility of her being a lesbian.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment
Minor: War
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is so easily consumable. Hamid lovingly crafts the story in such a way that the reader is invested and can follow the concurrent past and present story lines with ease. Changez is an incredibly likable character, and getting to know him, flaws and all, through this personal and confessional narration endears him to the reader. This first half of the novel shows an idealized American experience, often inaccessible to those not among the elite. He is on a whirlwind tour on a shoestring budget, attempting to keep up with his peers who don’t know he’s not wealthy. This hidden self is what draws Jim, the interviewer for Underwood Sampson to him, but it soon becomes apparent that what they want is a total destruction of said hidden self. The goal is to exceed expectations and leave one’s roots behind.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist shows the logical progression of Changez’s idealized view of the United States being systematically dismantled and then inversed. In the second half of the novel, Erica’s dissent into herself, and her subsequent death/disappearance are the realization of Changez’s disillusionment and the total decimation of his access to the American dream. Prior to her breakdown, Erica actss his shield in post-9/11 New York, bringing him into the circles of the upper crust and introducing him to that world in a way in which welcoming him was required. She acts as his credibility within the racist and Islamophobic culture that the US became steeped in. She is the combination of the white picket fence, 2.5 kids, marrying your high school sweetheart American dream, and the new metropolitan, affluent, whirlwind adventure, freedom to create, New York American dream. Changez idolizes her, dreaming of how different his life would be if only a large part of what makes her who she is isn’t there. She is a manic pixie dream girl trope whose destruction serves a purpose for the betterment or as a catalyst for the narrator’s self-reflection.
The American Changez is talking to, being implied to kill him/be there to kill him is dotted throughout the novel in lines that place Changez as looking oblivious at first. While Changez keeps the conversation light and friendly for the most part, he alerts the man that he is seeing and understanding exactly what he is doing with his hourly check ins, hesitance to eat local food, and with the gun in his coat. Changez is not a trained soldier nor a militant dissident, but he is aware of the violence around him and aware of the American reaction to himself and his culture in the climate created after 9/11.
This novel brings modern American imperialism and the American military’s self-imposed role as the world’s police into question through a lens not often considered by American audiences. This over policing and overstepping of other cultures creates a power imbalance. The US is working to impose US-specific democratic ideals onto countries deemed dangerous to continue progressing with their own cultures. Changez did what some American professors do, in being a political resource for their students, inciting change and encouraging them to take action to make change. Sometimes, as it did for Changez when a student he’d met with a few times committed an act of politically motivate violence, it backfires, but in the US, a politically active professor would not be assassinated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia