Scan barcode
valetparkering's reviews
146 reviews
Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald
4.0
Good reminder that climate justice and social justice are a part of the same struggle
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
4.5
Harrowing. The narration on the audiobook was good. It seemed like Shackleton was probably portrayed a little more heroically than he probably deserved.
The Cabinet by Un-su Kim
4.5
This was delightful. I really enjoyed the slow turn into the sinister. The translation did a great job of conveying the mundane horror of society and work today. I'm still digesting the ending but Kim has a great imagination for metaphor.
The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
3.5
I really like the world and the voice of the main character. For such a short book, it was a little repetitive with some of the world building elements but overall it was a good book.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
5.0
Ah yes, my favorite type of book: one that hates you.
This books is intense and probably has every trigger warning under the sun but the most upfront ones related to sexual assault sometimes including minors and gore/violence. I don't think it was quite as pervasive as some other reviews but do to the style of narration I think it comes up suddenly throughout.
I'm a sucker for second person narration, here it's mostly used in the framing device(the main character is being interrogated/submitting testimony) . I love the quipiness and small moments of humor. Tracker feels like a whole person with complicated emotions and I love his relationship with the Leopard and Mossi.
A lot of other reviews talk about the misogyny and while it is present, I think this is a case of depiction not endorsement. Like the text is trying to talk about this issue. Tracker is confronted several times about how silly it is to assume every woman is a witch and how he's blatantly blaming all women for his bad experiences with his mother.
I had to read this over the course of a month to let it steep, this isn't something you should force your way through
This books is intense and probably has every trigger warning under the sun but the most upfront ones related to sexual assault sometimes including minors and gore/violence. I don't think it was quite as pervasive as some other reviews but do to the style of narration I think it comes up suddenly throughout.
I'm a sucker for second person narration, here it's mostly used in the framing device
A lot of other reviews talk about the misogyny and while it is present, I think this is a case of depiction not endorsement. Like the text is trying to talk about this issue. Tracker is confronted several times about how silly it is to assume every woman is a witch and how he's blatantly blaming all women for his bad experiences with his mother.
I had to read this over the course of a month to let it steep, this isn't something you should force your way through
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar
2.75
I'm not convinced the author had a plan for getting the Macguffin off of the ship because she knew it would be sinking.
I know Josefa only managed to get a few of the gems out of the cover but they kept saying that they would "never have to worry about money again" so why did they run out so fast in the ending chapters?
The characters where fine. I think it's hard to do all these one on one interactions and development while also trying to build the relationship between Emily and Josefa.
The main thing that knocked this down was the lack of emotional intensity. LiterallyHinnah and Violet died with extremely little fanfare. There was no tension when Emily was trapped in a locked room with the water rising. The only time I felt any emotional weight was in the final confrontation with Josefa and August (which having the largest emotional beats involve a man in a sapphic book, crazy (mostly joking but still)).
I know Josefa only managed to get a few of the gems out of the cover but they kept saying that they would "never have to worry about money again" so why did they run out so fast in the ending chapters?
The characters where fine. I think it's hard to do all these one on one interactions and development while also trying to build the relationship between Emily and Josefa.
The main thing that knocked this down was the lack of emotional intensity. Literally
Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham
4.0
I loved the voice of Carlotta and this worked really well in an audio format. I couldn't always tell when she was speaking vs narrating though.