becandbooks's reviews
1093 reviews
How to Think Like a Woman: Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind by Regan Penaluna
informative
slow-paced
3.25
The Pledge by Cale Dietrich
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Stalking
Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Medical trauma, and Gore
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Confinement
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
dark
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Violence, and Death
Saga, Vol. 10 by Brian K. Vaughan
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
5.0
This continues to be my favorite and most recommend graphic series for adults.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Inspired by the horrific reality of the Victorian era, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a book to devour and be devoured. Every single aspect of this book deserves to be awarded - from the paranormal world-building to the ferocious and authentic character-building to a plot filled with vivid mystery and intrigue, and horror elements both of and not of this world. This author is proving to be phenomenal in his creation of horror, with this book being the absolute best example.
Silas is an autistic and transgender character, written so that these are both wholly part of who he is but are not the extent of his character. Readers are immersed in his story as he struggles with the misogynistic, and often brutal, consequences of his time that are forced upon him and the girls around him. This book is heavy, but the graphic descriptions of gore and horror are used in a way that is incredibly necessary rather than shock-value. This book tells a story that is very much its own but also screams about the very real abuse and opinion that has existed within human society.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Misogyny, Torture, Ableism, Body horror, Grief, Blood, Deadnaming, Abortion, and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Miscarriage
→ trigger warnings: ableism (specifically towards autism), sexual assault, physical assault, gaslighting, dissociation, graphic body horror, graphic medical trauma & experimentation, graphic medical procedures, eye trauma, blood depiction, pregnancy, graphic self-abortion, miscarriage discussed, misogyny & sexism, homomisia, transmisia, conversion therapy, misgendering & deadnaming, nonconsensual institutionalisation, death of a friend, death of father, stabbing
Gen F'd? by Alison Pennington
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.75
This is an incredibly informative, but a little stale nonfiction book about the state of the Australian economy and the impacts on younger generations. Perhaps it was just because it was also super depressing to read, knowing that the state of distress when considering things like buying a house is rooted in a lot of reality and decisions made by generations that benefited.
Pick this up if you are a young Australian who wants to understand why everything is currently how it is. Also, pick this up if you are an older Australian who doesn't want to believe that it is currently ridiculously hard to get by for younger generations and it's because of decisions past. Because the facts are in this book.
Pick this up if you are a young Australian who wants to understand why everything is currently how it is. Also, pick this up if you are an older Australian who doesn't want to believe that it is currently ridiculously hard to get by for younger generations and it's because of decisions past. Because the facts are in this book.
Clementine, Book Two by Tillie Walden
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Tillie Walden has created a story that is grand - in the places it goes, in the growth of its characters, and in the emotion and weight instilled in every illustrated panel. In the second volume of Clementine, readers are met with not just a companion to a well-known universe, but to a story with breadth and character.
Clementine, herself, is an enormous young character whose wisdom and toil beyond years are striking on the page. But the real applause is for the relationships throughout the story - the primary trio based on survival, the resilience of relationships lost and the development of bonds with countless characters along the way. This is a story that speaks deeply and slowly, a story of apocalyptic survival that will resonate with hearts today.
Note: Review copy received from Edelweiss. This does not impact opinions within this review.
Clementine, herself, is an enormous young character whose wisdom and toil beyond years are striking on the page. But the real applause is for the relationships throughout the story - the primary trio based on survival, the resilience of relationships lost and the development of bonds with countless characters along the way. This is a story that speaks deeply and slowly, a story of apocalyptic survival that will resonate with hearts today.
Note: Review copy received from Edelweiss. This does not impact opinions within this review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide
trigger warnings: death of a friend, death of a child, death of a son, blood depiction, pregnancy, grief depiction, knife violence, suicide, drowning mentioned, starvation, poverty themes, loss of vision