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sydboll's Reviews (662)

Between the World and Me

5.0

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Interesting, important book about American culture, specifically as it relates to blackness and the black experience. Definitely recommend reading this.

The Vegetarian

Han Kang

challenging dark tense medium-paced

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional reflective sad 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

I love the way this story is told. Reid effortlessly gives voice to both Evelyn and Monique. This has been on my list for a while because I love reading and watching things about Old Hollywood, so I'm glad I picked it up.

Mooncakes

Suzanne Walker

5.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I loved this! It's super cozy and fun. I wish I could live in the world of this book!

I definitely appreciated the diversity of this book and the relationships built between the characters. Definitely recommend for anyone looking for a good graphic novel for a cozy night in.

Convenience Store Woman

Sayaka Murata

5.0

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is absolutely brilliant. Murata makes us seriously consider what we consider success in a capitalist society and how we perceive the success and "normalcy" of other people.

Goldilocks

L.R. Lam

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I had such a hard time with this one. I wanted to like it SO MUCH, but it seems to do so much postulating and not a lot of actual character or plot development. This book is so hard to enjoy because the "plot" mostly revolves around these philosophical thought experimets... and it gets dry after a while. I appreciated that the author wanted to write a feminist book with feminist themes, but I feel like this book was more #girlboss and lacked substance.

One Last Stop

Casey McQuiston

5.0

emotional funny lighthearted 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: Yes

Truly enjoyed this one. Casey McQuiston writes romance novels, but really she just writes novels about the intricacies of queer relationships and queer spaces.

Heavy Vinyl: Riot on the Radio, Vol. 1

Nina Vakueva, Carly Usdin

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Super fun comic series. I hope there are many more for these for me (and others to enjoy). Highly recommend if you are looking for something fun and sapphic.

Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Charlaine Harris

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book could have been a parody if Charlaine Harris had leaned more into the absurd. Aurora Teagarden is hard to like and I found myself laughing at her more than I was laughing with her. Definitely some summer easy reading fodder, though I can't say if I found it enjoyable.

Ever After

Olivia Vieweg

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

This book was...difficult. I absolutely adored the artwork, but had trouble following the story at all. There were multiple points in the anarrative where I had no idea what was going on nor how we got to that point. I think this story really needed some more narration to help guide us.

That said, if you're interestsed in post-apocalyptic fiction or zombies, you may find this interesting.

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