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readingpicnic's Reviews (500)
This book doesn’t shy away from honestly depicting very heavy topics of mental illness, self harm, self hatred, and su*cidal thoughts, and I appreciated that. I don’t want to say it was “relatable” like all of the people at the con in the book did…but it was and I saw myself in this. I thought the art style and formatting was SO creative, and the depression monster and body horror drawings were so incredible and creepy and made me feel itchy under my skin. There was also lots of humor in this book and it was genuinely funny. I feel like I should have read her other book first since she talks so much about it, but I’ll get to it soon!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia
So so good and such incredible art. It builds off the videogame so well, and I love sapphic Clementine!
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
I loved reading about the author’s angsty need to only like niche things as a teen and college student, and there were so many funny scenes like when he accidentally bought a poster of Björk that was way too big and got scared of it above his bed. The search for identity by both Ken and Hua felt so vulnerable and raw, as well as trying to find a form of activism that was sustainable for them. I found the conversations around representation from when it wasn’t as popularized (or mainstream?) by Hua, Ken, and Hua’s parents to be very interesting. The grief in this book was hard to read towards the end, but I think this is an important memoir and I’m glad it was written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Grief, Murder
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I’m sad because I was so into this at the beginning, but the writing got so bad and the story was so drawn out, and I didn’t care how it ended at that point.
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
I was not a fan of the weird incestual relationship between the main character and her BROTHER (or at least raised as her brother, which is just as bad imo). I guess the author explores taboo relationships with both the main character and her brother, as well as with the aunt and the high school student she had a relationship with. I thought the aunt was a very interesting character though, and I was as captivated by her mystique like the characters in the book were. I also thought the main character’s supernatural intuition was really cool.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Abortion
fast-paced
A weird little wintery book set in South Korea that comments on white tourism, biracial identity, the body modification culture in Korea, body dysmorphia, and complicated mother-daughter relationships. There were some great vividly weird scenes, especially between the mother and daughter. The weird relationship between the main character and the French tourist made me so uncomfortable, but more in an intriguing way? The men were just pretty gross and unlikeable in this story in general. The main character does end up binge-eating a lot in this book, especially in scenes with her mother, and food plays an important role in the story, so content warning for that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Fatphobia, Blood, Sexual harassment
Minor: Vomit, War
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Very fast paced perspective of a young disabled Cuban-American immigrant based on the author’s own experiences that was both emotional and heartwarming. I think the cast of characters were all very well-rounded, and the family dynamics and dialogue were all very believable. I loved all of the food descriptions, plus the recipes in the back! I haven’t read a middle grade book in a long time, but figured I would try it since the author teaches at my alma mater (I feel pretentious saying alma mater for some reason?), and I finished and enjoyed it in a day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Excrement, Medical content, Car accident
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief
Many sections of the book felt like filler pages with very basic definitions of like what friendship means that weren’t saying anything new or profound on these subjects, which weren’t very engaging to read. I much preferred the sections where Lewis shared personal anecdotes from his life, so maybe I should have read his memoir instead of this book? I’m not the biggest fan of advice books in general though.
emotional
sad
fast-paced
I thought this memoir was very well written and engaging. I was so captivated by her life, especially her girlhood. I picked this up from a senior home’s library because it was so mysterious: no checkout history, very little information about it online, and no summary. I love reading feral girlhood books, and the beginning half of her life encapsulated that niche genre so well. Reading about her life with her first husband was incredibly frustrating and sad because she deserved so much better and sacrificed so much, but she was self aware about that and included all of her thought processes for why she felt she had to stay in an often abusive relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting
It was okay I guess. Even though I don’t like dystopian books, I gave it a chance since so many people on booktok loved it. There was so much anticipation for something to happen towards the end, but really nothing did. It left off on a pretty hopeless note, and I was disappointed by this. I guess if you like survival stories, kind of like The Promised Neverland, this might be for you.