svmreads's Reviews (412)

Death Valley

3.75

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

I’m torn on how to rate this book because on one hand I thought there were parts that were incredibly relatable and moving, but on the other hand I thought that Melissa Broder could have done more with the speculative elements, especially the cactus. Overall, I liked it but didn’t love it.

Consent

Jill Ciment

4.25

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Content Warnings

The Moon That Turns You Back

Hala Alyan

4.5

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Content Warnings

This is Amiko, Do You Copy?

Natsuko Imamura

4.25

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Boulder

Eva Baltasar

5.0

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Eva Baltasar is one of the most talented authors working today! Loved Permafrost and loved Boulder maybe even more!

The Friend

Sigrid Nunez

DID NOT FINISH: 18%

This might be a controversial opinion but this just did not work for me. I was very disconnected from the text and found the story lacked the emotional grounding, heart, and sensitivity of other stories dealing with similar themes that I have read this year.