skudiklier's Reviews (647)

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

4.75

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Okay, so: hmm. Wow. It took me a while to get into this book--at first, I was only really interested in the letters, and found the lead-up to them kind of boring. But eventually the book got me hooked enough that I was engaged by all of it (though still the letters held almost all the good parts imo). I wrote down a lot of quotes I liked. This book feels like one I would have loved in high school or even just a few years ago, but now I just liked it. It was written beautifully and made me cry.

Content Warnings

This Is How It Always Is

Laurie Frankel

4.5

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I mostly liked this and thought it was well-done. There were some things I didn't like (like

changing Poppy's pronouns and name back at the drop of a hat without her even explicitly saying that

) but I like that at least it ended on a more nuanced note. A bunch of the reviews for this book were disappointing though, and I wish it were made more clear by the book that supporting your kid in being trans from a young age isn't the wrong move. Anyway. Overall I liked it, it was nice, it was well-written. Just not perfect.

Oh also, if you're trans, a very specific part of this is really hard to read. Look at the spoiler in my content warnings for more detail.

Content Warnings

Radiant Sin

Katee Robert

DID NOT FINISH: 16%

I was given a preview ARC on Netgalley, so I can't finish it yet--but I want to!! I loved the first three books in this series and this one seems headed in a very interesting direction. I can't wait until I can pick back up where I left off.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this (preview) ARC.

Content Warnings

Itch: Poems and Prose

Zane Frederick

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Zane's latest collection might be his best yet! Right from the introduction I was hooked, and I found so much in these poems that rang true for me. Zane really knows how to put longing and loneliness into words.

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

I Gave Myself The World

Catarine Hancock

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

This is a beautiful collection of poetry, self-love, affirmations, and growth. My favorite pieces were the ones about her mother; they were so relatable and beautiful. I've been slowly making my way through this book for a while now, and it was really nice to sprinkle into each day. I wrote down a lot of quotes I liked, but my favorite was probably "this is my secret: i gave into the urge."

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Young Mungo

Douglas Stuart

2.5

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Please read the content warnings before reading this book.

It's written well, and Mungo is a likable and sympathetic character (especially his autism, which I immediately related to). But overall this book is just too sad, dark, and upsetting to me. I didn't get enough out of it for the darkness to be worth it. I might have DNF'd it if it wasn't for a book club I'm hosting; the time pressure was my only real motivation to keep reading. I didn't even necessarily want to know what would happen, because I knew it wouldn't be good.

Content Warnings

Big Girl

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

4.5

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I kind of expected more from this to be honest, but it was still pretty good. I don't really have anything to say about it.

Content Warnings

Young Mungo

Douglas Stuart

DID NOT FINISH: 6%

I'm just switching to the audiobook version and I couldn't figure out a better way to track that than to DNF this one. I need to finish the book in time for a book club I'm hosting, and my only chance of doing that is listening to the audiobook.

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them

Junauda Petrus

5.0

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Gosh I loved this. I didn't really know much going in, so one of the main plot points really took me by surprise. This book is so beautiful and it made me cry a lot. I'd definitely recommend it.

Content Warnings

A Winter's Promise

Christelle Dabos

3.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Complicated

Honestly, I just couldn't get into this one. I might have even DNF'd it if it hadn't been an audiobook. It was interesting enough on some levels, and I cared about what happened to Ophelia, but in some ways it just felt like a bunch of sad/frustrating/confusing things happening over and over. Like every once in a while the situation would change but it never got better, and I just didn't feel very engaged on most levels. It's well-written I think but it's just not for me.

Content Warnings

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