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alishareadsandrambles's reviews
95 reviews
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What to say about this book, it is so good. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a master of the craft of writing. The characters, atmosphere, and plot of this book are incredible. There is an author's note at the end of the book that talks about how this book was inspired by real events that happened in Mexico, and boy does it show. This book feels so real, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia did a fantastic job of crafting this story!
Survive the Night by Riley Sager
dark
mysterious
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book is good, but it would have been a phenomenal short story. I had a couple issues with this book, the main one being the length and the second big one being the ending. I found the ending to be very disappointing. Also there is so much stuff that happens in this book that just doesn't make any sense. The atmosphere in this book was great, and I did enjoy Riley Sager's writing I just think he slightly missed the mark with this book.
Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wow, this book is well done. This book feels so real, and like so many of the events could actually happen and like the characters are real people. Most of the characters in this book I didn't particularly care for, but they are masterfully crafted. The plot is also incredibly well done, and had me gripped during this entire book. The one thing that comes to mind when thinking about what could have made this book better is just having one character that is a little bit more like-able. I know there are a lot of people who don't care if any of the characters are like-able, but for me it helps me enjoy a story if I have a character I feel like I can relate to or that I'm cheering for.
Sheets by Brenna Thummler
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I had really high hopes for this graphic novel, because it looked so cute. I was really disappointed in the execution of it. I didn't connect with the characters at all and the whole graphic novel felt pretty flat to me. There was nothing in here that made the story pop, and the story didn't really make sense to me. One thing I particularly did not like is how much the adults in this graphic novel bully the 13 year old main character. It is not just one or two adults it is like all of them, and that just doesn't make sense to me.
How Lucky by Will Leitch
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
The plot of this book is pretty good, and the end of this book was very fast pace and engaging. I take issue with the tone of this book though. This whole book feels very performative. The main character will say things about homophobia or racism and how bad they are but then later play into some homophobic and racist stereotypes. There is a part in which the main characters likes that he lives next to a lot of Asian people because Asian people are better than white people and it felt very much like he was tokenizing all of these people.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
challenging
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book started fairly well for me. I thought the beginning dragged a little bit with some info dumping but I was willing to look past that once the book started to pick up. And I enjoyed this book for a good portion of it. Then things started to go down hill.
This book follow Marina and a number of other women, these women were not well portrayed. All of the characters felt flat and stereotypical. And the women seemed to always be waiting for a man to save them. The reveal at the end of this book didn't make sense to me and I found it to be disappointing, I feel like Michaelides could have done something really interesting with it but fell short in the characters, the plot, and the themes.
This book follow Marina and a number of other women, these women were not well portrayed. All of the characters felt flat and stereotypical. And the women seemed to always be waiting for a man to save them. The reveal at the end of this book didn't make sense to me and I found it to be disappointing, I feel like Michaelides could have done something really interesting with it but fell short in the characters, the plot, and the themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Pedophilia
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
challenging
emotional
slow-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
I had heard good things about this book, but I didn't realize exactly how good it was going to be. The first thing about this book that the writing is phenomenal. The writing is so easy to get into and understand while not feeling overly simple or plain. This book felt so real that sometimes I had to remind myself that I was not reading a memoir.
The story itself was also a huge hit for me. This story deals with some very heavy things, namely depression and addiction, the portrayal and discussion of both of these things felt so authentic. This makes the characters in the book so relatable. Not only was I able to feel deeply connected to Gifty as the narrator but also to her mother, and brother, and even some of the more secondary side characters that get very little page time. All of them felt fleshed out and real and I could relate to all of them to some degree or another. This book hits home in a very real way who have dealt with depression or addiction in any way in our personal lives.
I also really appreciated the intersectionality that this book shows of an immigrant family dealing with depression and addiction. I do not have personal experience with being an immigrant, that being said from an outside perspective I thought this aspect was handled wonderfully as well. As I mentioned earlier I kept thinking that this book was a memoir because it felt so real. I feel like this not only comes from the writing style but also the perfect balance of the thematic elements in the book.
As of just finishing this book I cannot think of anything about this book that I did not like or that I felt was lacking. This book was executed to perfection and its one that everyone should read.
The story itself was also a huge hit for me. This story deals with some very heavy things, namely depression and addiction, the portrayal and discussion of both of these things felt so authentic. This makes the characters in the book so relatable. Not only was I able to feel deeply connected to Gifty as the narrator but also to her mother, and brother, and even some of the more secondary side characters that get very little page time. All of them felt fleshed out and real and I could relate to all of them to some degree or another. This book hits home in a very real way who have dealt with depression or addiction in any way in our personal lives.
I also really appreciated the intersectionality that this book shows of an immigrant family dealing with depression and addiction. I do not have personal experience with being an immigrant, that being said from an outside perspective I thought this aspect was handled wonderfully as well. As I mentioned earlier I kept thinking that this book was a memoir because it felt so real. I feel like this not only comes from the writing style but also the perfect balance of the thematic elements in the book.
As of just finishing this book I cannot think of anything about this book that I did not like or that I felt was lacking. This book was executed to perfection and its one that everyone should read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Mental illness
Moderate: Racism