eeeeeeee's reviews
190 reviews

[email protected]: A Novel by Pagan Kennedy, Arne Tangherlini

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a gem of a book; gentle and mysterious and poignant.  I feel like it's the type of book that begs to be reread - almost tempting to dive back in as soon as you're done, which feels very apt for the novel.

The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers by Stephen J. Stein

informative inspiring slow-paced

5.0

Probably the most comprehensive and informative book on the Shakers I've read (and presumably that has been written because I don't think another broad survey has been done since now).  Not a great intro (it's very dense and detailed) but once you want to learn more than the surface level, this is probably the right book to do so.

Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

This is very much just a set up for the final book but I still found it enjoyable - minus the CONSTANT fatphobia, really bizarrely out of place and unnecessary and happened almost every chapter.  WTH!  Otherwise it's fun world building, I like the inclusion of Count St. Germaine and Akashic records and other things I'm already familiar with, and I want to see how it ends!

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

adventurous funny reflective medium-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

3.5

Two quotes:

"There are two kinds of people in this world:  people who want to be desired, and people who want to be desired so much that they pretend they don't."

"No loss is felt more keenly than the loss of what might have been.  No nostalgia hurts as much as nostalgia for things that never existed."

This is a very kind, thoughtful book.  I wish I knew more of the literary references.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

This was just okay to me.  I liked the premise - I love a good conceit, and I've read other journal / fieldwork notebook type things before - but this just didn't pull me in the way I wanted it to.  I don't know if it was overhyped or what.  I won't be reading further in the series, even though there's interesting world building and science/magic systems, which are things I usually like! 

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book a lot!  I was just thinking I didn't really like YA but this kept me engaged and didn't feel like I was reading something "dumbed down" or anything like that.  The magic system makes sense so far, the characters are fun, and there's a good sense of mystery.  There's weird bits of fatphobia but not enough to make me put down the book.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

2.5

I learned a lot from this book but I didn't find it enjoyable in the least.  I can't really say why - maybe because it was audio? - but it wasn't engaging to me.  I don't know what I expected.

Stronghold by Melanie Rawn

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This is I think the worst book of the two trilogies but the last 10 pages are still breathtaking.  Slogged through it to get to the last book but this remains my favorite fantasy series!

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

dark funny 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

This was a fun family drama, although a little heavy handed at times about "money destroys you" - I don't think it needed to be explicitly said so often - but I enjoyed it overall!  I found the through line of the dybbuk to be quite interesting, an aspect of Jewish culture I'm not familiar with but the author does a good job of showing how a religious myth can really affect you (something I see in Christianity but I'm not familiar with in other religions).

This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

challenging sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I did not enjoy this book and if I weren't reading it for Storygraph Read the World I would DNF it.  However after reading the Afterword I got a better sense of it's place in world literature; I recommend reading it first (no spoilers are in it).  Here are some quotes:

"Even if for only a moment and only a little, everyone has been happy."

"Once in their lives people must take a stand.  IF not, they will never become anything."

"Everyone has been judged good or bad by a third party at some time or other."

"The older we become the more complex becomes this life which confronts us, so the more courageous we must be in facing it."