Reluctantly, this is a dnf. I read the first couple of chapters last year but had to stop as I was not in a mentally good place. I wanted to try again this year since I'm doing much better but all I feel is anxiety (before even opening the book again). So, as much as I want to read this book, I have to admit I simply can't. Not right now, maybe later in life.

I'm sorry I just don't care. Maybe because I'm getting closer to my 30s but I don't have the patience for teenage characters and young adult literature. I'm not the target audience, which means it's unfair of me if I keep reviewing these books when I know I'm not really enjoying them (somehow I do love middle grade). I'm sure the book is fine.

Thank you to Netgalley and the University of Chicago Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review 

This is the first biography of 20th century Algerian artist Baya. Unfortunately, I could not finish the book due to a file issue, which I already tried to fix once but now I lost all access to the book. I could read 14% and I enjoyed this beginning but obviously it's not really much of a review. I had heard of Baya before and it's a shame she has little recognition (the author mentions only her home country, Algeria, celebrates her). So, I'm glad there is finally a written biography so that, hopefully, people will learn a little bit about her and her paintings.

This book has several ingredients that are appealing to me: Icelandic culture, exploring mother/daughter relationship, being a writer. And yet, this is a dnf not even halfway through. I really don't like the writing style. It feels overwritten (was using five synonyms to avoid repeating the word 'dog' in the span of 10 lines really necessary?), although it may be due to an awkward translation. I completely lost track of the timeline (going back and forth between the past and present). Mostly, I found the story boring. And there are too many other books to read, so many I'm quite excited for. Maybe I'll try this book again much later in my life.

Poem on p.81 wtf did I just read??
Just like the anthology of 20th c. Czech poetry I read earlier this year, this one has a poem about the poet or narrator SA'ing a young girl and it brings no criticism whatsoever. I've had enough of these and enough of anthologies of 20th c. poetry only featuring male poets (and their disgusting poems). That's a dnf.

This book has been collecting dust on my bookshelf since 2018 I believe. As much as I'm interested in Scandinavian literature, I realised I don't feel like reading this one, especially after seeing it's actually a six books series. I just don't care for it.

Thank you to Dundurn Press and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf at page 72. This is a reminder to publishers (and authors when they have a say in this) to include trigger warnings. Yes even when it's horror. Readers who don't want potential spoilers are free to simply not read the content warnings page.

This is a book marketed as similar to Mexican Gothic and other books in this interesting trend of horror or horror-leaning novels written by women of colour, specifically non-US and non-euro centric. Although it had good prose, not only do I not have the stomach to read incest and sexual abuse which felt gratuitous, but I also did not see where the story was going after the first 70 pages.

First 50 pages exhausting: Awful treatment of women, every man is a rapist, bye

dnf (or on hold I guess) for now at 16%

I'm sorry I'm really not into the romance genre these days and I don't really like the audio narration but can't find the book in another format.

I think this is a dnf for now even though I'm only 2 chapters in. The first chapter screamed cliché for the character, the conversation topic in chapter two was annoying and boring. Plus I'm not a fan of the writing so far.
I wanted to read a book from a genre I don't read much from but maybe romance isn't for me, or maybe it'd be better as an audiobook. But rn, I don't feel like picking this book up.