miajakobsen's Reviews (152)

A bit predictable but I had a ton of fun reading this book! Lesbian code breakers <33

Coriolanus Snow's perspective is extremely compelling because it is immensely clear how deeply selfish and evil he has always been... It is so fascinating to see how he thinks and justifies his actions. Such an interesting book and brilliant addition to the Hunger Games series.

Such a sweet book :")

I really enjoyed Shelley's writing... The use of three sections / povs was so smart as it allowed us to fully understand each character, especially the monster. Victor's backstory leading up to the creation of His Monster was super compelling, same with the monster's entire story (I didn't expect him to be such a sweetheart!). Huge huge fan of this book.

(also this was my first book to be annotated fully! yay!)

Such a fun book! Great characters and written in such a descriptive manner.

Was only reading certain chapters for class. Will finish another time.

On first read - a relatively easy read with an interesting basis. Despite confusion around the plot, Awad's writing was very good - especially in the middle section when Samantha gets drawn into the cult (the narrative switch from "I" to "We" was extremely effective). Plot-wise, I understood what Awad was trying to do, but

the actual creation of humans out of bunnies/animals gore

confused me. After reading a variety of people's interpretations of the book, it makes a lot more sense and I have a deeper appreciation for this novel.
 
I overall like Awad's plot concept and now that I have a better idea of what actually happened, I need to reread to see how I feel about her execution of it. I really want to rate this book higher because I think Bunny is unique and well-written, and I enjoyed reading it, but the Bunnies/Darlings concept could've been a little less convoluted. This book requires focus and intensive reading for those who want to understand it on the first try, especially for people (like me) who don't read this genre very often.

I found this Reddit conversation about the book fascinating and helpful! I would recommend checking it out, especially if you're still trying to figure out what happened in the novel! 

Almond tells the story of Yunjae, a boy who can't feel things. Yunjae's alexithymia is written quite well - he learns to be silent (in part, as a tribute to his mother), but eventually finds solace in the written text and newfound friends (such as Gon, a boy who feels too much). The ending feels a bit rushed, but it was still a very compelling and heartwarming novel about life and the love we feel for one another. Once I picked the book up, I couldn't put it down. The translation is also done quite well, but I'm sure that it is even better in the original Korean.

I typically don’t enjoy modern books with a casual tone so I started this book pretty skeptical, but I ended up really enjoying it! Alderton’s stories picked up about halfway through for me, and by the end, I was so engaged with the text. I loved the way the book interspersed recipes and other emails between chapters - it was a brilliant creative choice that highlighted Dolly’s humour perfectly. The "Dear friends…" chapter was really good and the chapter on Florence was particularly touching (yes, I cried). The book ends on a lovely note highlighting that while Alderton has not been the most romantically successful, she knows a lot about love because of her friendships with women (cue that Hozier x Anne with an E edit).

This book is so so powerful and inspiring. Miss Major is an exceptionally compelling speaker and we have so much to learn from her. This book is written in an interview format (conducted by Toshio Meronek) and details Miss Major’s lived experience and how we can achieve collective liberation against The Powers That Be (i.e., corporations, governments, and all those who work to preserve the status quo). Miss Major Speaks is warm, intimate, and most importantly, a calling to action and a calling to love and support your community. Without community, why do we keep going and who do we do it all for?