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sarah_thebooknerd's Reviews (879)
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love books in verse and Amber McBride has cemented a place in my heart. I will always seek out this author now. The writing is gorgeous, the narration for audiobooks is perfection. The interweaving of complex and deep subjects but intertwined with magic and beauty will stick with me for a very long time.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Kate Clayborn is a new favorite author and I cannot stop reading her books. I just love her character development, build to romances and realistic characters.
This book was fun, sweet, tender, swoony and gave me all the feels.
This book was fun, sweet, tender, swoony and gave me all the feels.
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a heavier graphic novel that is aimed for Young Adults and I do not 100% agree with some of the take-aways but I also recognize that part of it could also be cultural.
The FMC deals with an eating disorder and we see active engagement in her eating disorders, there is a brief CW very small at the front of the book and the blurb shares so that at least will clue people into reading it.
I liked the graphics, they are very beautiful and well done. The conversation itself is an important one and I think that if it was handled a little better it would have been an incredible read. Where I think it went flat.
1. The getting help part seemed very rushed for how much we got with the disordered part and I wish it was balanced a bit and we got to see more of the growth of the FMC.
2. The internal fatphobia and fatphobic comments were never challenged by the FMC to her best friend and she really did not have any growth that we got to see. It was subtle but I think that it needed to be stronger with the pain and hurt that the FMC caused to her friend. Being hurt yourself does not excuse you from hurting others and needed to be handled better.
3. The mother in this book is very toxic with her fatphobia and the way in which she talks to her daughter about food, eating and even when the daughter discloses her eating disorder the mother makes light of it. The toxicity was just accepted and the FMC was told by even other families that is the way that the mother loves and the FMC just needs to change her expectations and accept it? I really REALLY hated how this part was portrayed. I do not want the message to readers to be to just accept this toxic form of love because that is how they show it. No, you are actively hurting your daughter and your daughter has disclosed that she is in pain and the main concern is still her making sure to not gain weight. No, no no.
4. The grief aspect of the book just felt so rushed and is a component of the book but I feel like it is lost within the eating disorder part and therefore almost came across as dismissive of the grief and loss.
I think my big issue is that the book tried to accomplish a lot within a short amount of time and it came across as dismissive or lacking respect for some very big topics that needed to be flushed out given the audience of the book and take away they can have.
CW: death of a parent, toxic relationships, eating disorders- in detail, fatphobia, fat shaming
The FMC deals with an eating disorder and we see active engagement in her eating disorders, there is a brief CW very small at the front of the book and the blurb shares so that at least will clue people into reading it.
I liked the graphics, they are very beautiful and well done. The conversation itself is an important one and I think that if it was handled a little better it would have been an incredible read. Where I think it went flat.
1. The getting help part seemed very rushed for how much we got with the disordered part and I wish it was balanced a bit and we got to see more of the growth of the FMC.
2. The internal fatphobia and fatphobic comments were never challenged by the FMC to her best friend and she really did not have any growth that we got to see. It was subtle but I think that it needed to be stronger with the pain and hurt that the FMC caused to her friend. Being hurt yourself does not excuse you from hurting others and needed to be handled better.
3. The mother in this book is very toxic with her fatphobia and the way in which she talks to her daughter about food, eating and even when the daughter discloses her eating disorder the mother makes light of it. The toxicity was just accepted and the FMC was told by even other families that is the way that the mother loves and the FMC just needs to change her expectations and accept it? I really REALLY hated how this part was portrayed. I do not want the message to readers to be to just accept this toxic form of love because that is how they show it. No, you are actively hurting your daughter and your daughter has disclosed that she is in pain and the main concern is still her making sure to not gain weight. No, no no.
4. The grief aspect of the book just felt so rushed and is a component of the book but I feel like it is lost within the eating disorder part and therefore almost came across as dismissive of the grief and loss.
I think my big issue is that the book tried to accomplish a lot within a short amount of time and it came across as dismissive or lacking respect for some very big topics that needed to be flushed out given the audience of the book and take away they can have.
CW: death of a parent, toxic relationships, eating disorders- in detail, fatphobia, fat shaming
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think that there are some really important conversations that occur in this book and some very serious topics- grooming by a teacher, racism, homophobia, pressures of college, classism. Also there is friendship, romance, and magic.
When I was pitched this book I was told it is a hilarious cozy book with witches in a musical and I was hooked on that premise. This book has some funny moments but it is not a cozy light read. It tackles serious issues and is heavy. I liked the discussions and the magic aspects of the book. The friendship, banter and even relationship with Ana was great.
I feel like the book could have been shorter, there was a lot of repetition in the book.
CW: lesbophobia, homophobia, racism, classism, grooming of a minor
When I was pitched this book I was told it is a hilarious cozy book with witches in a musical and I was hooked on that premise. This book has some funny moments but it is not a cozy light read. It tackles serious issues and is heavy. I liked the discussions and the magic aspects of the book. The friendship, banter and even relationship with Ana was great.
I feel like the book could have been shorter, there was a lot of repetition in the book.
CW: lesbophobia, homophobia, racism, classism, grooming of a minor
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is one of the best books I have ever read. The creativity of fantasy- weaving in hoodoo, fairy tales and mythologies, books in verse and weaving of issues that people who have depression and suicidal ideation go through was perfection.
Such a powerful read and I am really glad I read this via audio with the physical book at hand.
CW: death, grief, childhood SA, suicidal ideation/ attempts, depression.
Such a powerful read and I am really glad I read this via audio with the physical book at hand.
CW: death, grief, childhood SA, suicidal ideation/ attempts, depression.
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
These teens turned gentrification on it's head by feeding into the stereotypes that people have about Black and Brown neighborhoods and making up a fake gang in order to try to save one of the teens in the friend group from being evicted due to raised rents in a way to force the renters out.
I was not expecting some of the twists and I think the conversations about racism, gentrification and gangs was important.
I was not expecting some of the twists and I think the conversations about racism, gentrification and gangs was important.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is such a cute and fun sapphic baking competition book. Tori is a high school teacher who loves to bake and was cheated on by her wife. She has two teens about to go off to college and they enroll her into the bake-o-roma show to help make her dreams come true of owning her own bake shop. Tori is so kind and just a beautiful person inside and out. I just loved her character and found her to be so comforting and honestly mothering in the best way.
Kendra is a badass baker who has had to put up a wall to make it in the male dominated field. She is trying to save her restaurant by judging the competition show again this year. Kendra's character growth in the book was amazing to see and I loved seeing her break down her walls and let people in.
Like many others, I found the romance aspect of the book to be really lacking and it could have been more balanced that way but I loved the characters, side characters and felt like I was watching a bake show which always brings me a sense of peace. If you go in knowing the romance is light and the bake show and characters are great I think you might love it too!
Kendra is a badass baker who has had to put up a wall to make it in the male dominated field. She is trying to save her restaurant by judging the competition show again this year. Kendra's character growth in the book was amazing to see and I loved seeing her break down her walls and let people in.
Like many others, I found the romance aspect of the book to be really lacking and it could have been more balanced that way but I loved the characters, side characters and felt like I was watching a bake show which always brings me a sense of peace. If you go in knowing the romance is light and the bake show and characters are great I think you might love it too!
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really loved this book. I normally am not a huge fan of pregnancy being the main issue or thing that brings the couple together in books but I have to say this is one of the best ones to date that I have read. I really liked that the pregnancy was just the thing that brought them in proximity but there was an amazing build, great boundaries and ADHD rep in this one. Highly recommend.
CW: Ableism, sexual content, mention of abortion and cheating
CW: Ableism, sexual content, mention of abortion and cheating
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Sexual content, Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity, Abortion
challenging
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a hard read because this is the reality for Black and Brown young kids, teens and adults and I do not know how anyone can hear the fear, anxiety, though process when they encounter police and racism and not have empathy and also anger that wants you to push for change.
It should be part of high school required reading. The author did a great job adding in the legal information to help protect kids too which made me happy they have someone to give them the advice in a way that is easy to consume but also so incredibly sick because it has to be discussed.
CW: racism, police brutality
It should be part of high school required reading. The author did a great job adding in the legal information to help protect kids too which made me happy they have someone to give them the advice in a way that is easy to consume but also so incredibly sick because it has to be discussed.
CW: racism, police brutality
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Police brutality