averyjaye's reviews
30 reviews

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

this is an insane book.

brutal and horrifying and so much fun.

People Collide by Isle McElroy

challenging emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Girlfriends by Emily Zhou

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Emily Zhou is a writer who I am very interested in reading again. I adored many of the stories in this collection. Others left me scratching my head, but I'm a way that made me want to reread them  I will be following her career going forward, and am excited to read whatever she writes next.

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

challenging reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

The prose here is so unbelievably delicate that, if you were to read it aloud, you might break it. It's like reading spiderwebs. Yet, in spite of its delicateness, it is rich and full and heartbreaking.

I have no connection to Mennonites, and cannot say I am at all familiar with their lives or experiences, so much of the subtext of this book is lost on me. However, Miriam Toews has written these characters and their world so vividly, I felt as though I was sitting in the hayloft with them, reading between the lines of their flinches and glances and sighs (which are as much a part of the story telling as the dialogue).

Excellent, and expertly written.

On Community by Casey Plett

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens

adventurous emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

I did not enjoy my time with this book and must also give it five stars. Its prose is immaculate and measured, but its emotional core is raw and wounded.

It is a book to read in a time of grief, and to reflect of the brief universality of that grief.

Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante

emotional lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Garbage.

An enormous slog that wastes it's unique framing device on useless, uninteresting detail. 

Thematically blunt as the flat side of a hammer that manages to miss hitting the nail on the head with every swing.

It started strong, but by the half-way point I found myself actively resenting this book, it's author-surrogate protagonist, and the "lol so random" tidbits of Little Blue that we're forced to wade through in an effort to get to the interesting bits (which, more often than not turn out to be uninteresting as well).

The Butterfly Lampshade by Aimee Bender

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Unbelievably lovely. Aimee Bender writes like jazz. She treats words with dignity and reverence, as well as playfulness and joy.

A delightful meditation on mental illness, family, and self-actualization that is impossible to put down once you start reading.

Highly recommend.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25