arealswellfellow's reviews
192 reviews

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Hits differently after high school

Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood by Satya Doyle Byock

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

The intro is the best part. I think there is some value to reading about other people, even fictional, going through similar challenges to you. But a lot of those parts in this book read like pyschology fan fiction.

The intro and first chapter are pretty good though. I think the authors own personal quarterlife story was much more helpful and personal than the ones she made up.

The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women's Roles in Society by Eleanor Janega

informative medium-paced

3.5

If you have an interest in gender studies or medieval history (or both!) this is the book for you.

I spend a lot of time listening to Eleanor’s podcast so I’ve heard a lot of the topics discussed in the book before. It’s fairly surface level but very interesting for someone new to the topic of women’s role in medieval society.

I really wish Eleanor was doing the audio book narration herself. I think a lot of her biting sarcastic comments didn’t land as well without her.

Animorphs: The Predator by K.A. Applegate

adventurous dark sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Animorphs, a children’s book, has some of the best body horror out there. Also one of the best uses of intentionally deceptive cover art I’ve seen in a series. Everyone knows the iconic animorphs covers but this one was more than that. Good trick.

I’m consistently impressed that KA Applegate was able to come up with so many creative uses of animal morphing and increasing the stakes every book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The emotions in this book are its strongest asset. It’s a love story but not a romance. It’s something more than friends, it’s something very special I haven’t see any other media and I think it’s a feeling a lot of people can relate or long for.

I think some of Zevin’s other books are more YA and some of that writing style leaks in. At first that was jarring to me but after I adjusted I liked her writing a lot. I feel like it may have even purposely matured alongside the characters.

My one complaint with an otherwise emotionally really engaging book was some of the traumas. The characters in the book go through a lot and a lot of it feels unnecessary to the plot and almost like it’s there for drama or shock value. The emotional complexity comes from the ennui and the longing. The tragedies weren’t needed and maybe take away from what we’re focused on. Not that much, but enough to keep me from saying 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, and Death of parent

Spy x Family, Vol. 4 by Tatsuya Endo

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

NK Jemisin is a creative and fun writer. It’s hard not to have fun reading this book. I think the concept of city avatars and city magic is also really intriguing.

I really wanted to like this book. It starts even better than the first one!

I think this book just feels unfinished. So as much I love the concept the execution leaves me wishing for something more.

Jemisin touches on this in the acknowledgements, originally intended as a trilogy the series was shortened due to Covid, US politics, and cultural changes in NYC. Real life moved faster than the books, a challenge for any series set in the present day. 

However, in this book we end up with some of the most fantastic urban fantasy set up and then an anticlimactic finish. So many large plot lines end as a one line sentence in the coda. Things accelerate at such a strange pace in the last few chapters and it just feels like the plan had changed. 

Spy x Family, Vol. 3 by Tatsuya Endo

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

The Mythical Man Month and Other Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.

funny informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

Hard to rate this book. Software engineering and program management have come a long way since the 70s. A lot of considerations and limitations in this book read almost like jokes now. 

However at the same time, a lot of things about project planning, testing code, and estimating time for work are still true. It’s almost uncanny how the debates in this book are still the same debates programmers have 50 years later.

I would skip this book as a tool. There are more relevant references now. But as a little time capsule and a book of historical importance to computing it remains special.

Spy x Family, Vol. 2 by Tatsuya Endo

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.5