emilybolivia's reviews
566 reviews

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

5.0

If you love this book, and even if you just like it so so, please read some Angela Davis. The factual stats and laws in the footnotes against a fictional near-term future is grotesquely disturbing. Let it radicalize you. 

The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes

5.0

Great collection! I would have liked a little longer introduction but chapters were impeccably organized and the poetry itself was beautiful and moving.

Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

3.25

Great YA though heavy-handed and pedantic at times.

Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam

4.25

Impressive in scope of timeline and cultures in just over 200 pages. It was obvious to me that the author sought out numerous sensitivity readers. As a white reader I think they did well but am not an authority with lived experience.

Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse

5.0

Fantastic wrap up to a great trilogy! The pacing was unbelievable. It was 600 pages of sprint. One of the things I have loved most about this series is the way Roanhorse wrote shifting lines of “good” and “evil”. There was no morally uncorrupted character.

Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out by Ryan Love

3.25

Way heavier than I was expected in parts and then quite cliche in others. Overall, cute and a great Pride read.

Just by Looking at Him by Ryan O'Connell

3.75

This books was so much more heartfelt, raw, and introspective than I was expecting with all the blurbs about how funny it is. The disability rep is so spot on. I just wish Elliot had gone through his awakening with a therapist.

Forbidden City by James Ponti

4.25

Great next installment. The growth of the characters and their emerging internal conflict is well paced in the series. We want more Rio though!

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

4.0

For the length and all the previously untapped resources and anecdotes, it wasn’t as personable as I was expecting. I learned so much though!

Walking With Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

2.5

Fascinating work but the author would have been well-served with a writing partner.