eviemm's reviews
87 reviews

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

emotional fast-paced

4.5

beautiful, poetic story set in a historical backdrop that i didn’t have any background with. loved the letter format, felt very intimate and raw

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

medium-paced

4.75

my favorite novel from rooney so far, such a poetic and messy exploration of love and grief. rooney is such a master of developing flawed characters and pulling us to both critique and empathize with them.

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks

medium-paced

4.0

bell hooks is able to explain engaged pedagogy and the responsibilities that come with it in a way that i think everyone can benefit from, whether they’re a student, educator, or outside of a formal institution. this gives so much insight into how much we could be getting out of education compared to the boundaries laid out by the traditional framework.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

2.75

klune has created an endearing and funny cast of characters, it’s easy to love and cheer for the family at the center of this book. ultimately, i felt like this had less substance than the first novel though and could’ve been edited down a little. thematic messaging was pretty heavy-handed (which feels influenced by the social climate we’re living in and the need for these messages), but i felt like the first handled it with more nuance. there wasn't really any surprise or growth in this, whereas the first book had more complex character arcs.

Piglet by Lottie Hazell

medium-paced

3.0

the centering of food as a source of both embarrassment and pleasure is both intriguing and (unfortunately) not at all surprising to most women. well done development of how the tables shift between these emotions, but the book overall wasn't super memorable or outstanding amongst this genre of women breaking free from societal expectations.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

challenging dark fast-paced

4.0

such an interesting memoir format, exploring her experience through different tropes and motifs. great audiobook narration from machado

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

medium-paced

2.0

um it was alright, but felt shallow. i just didn’t really buy into the way that forgiveness played out in this book, i think that the process of learning to trust someone again went weirdly undiscussed and instead the book just assumes you’ll go along with this idea of an “inevitable” love

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

medium-paced

4.5

beautifully executed and continuously surprising, everything in this book feels so intentional and is building up to the ending. starts slow but gains momentum as more and more info gets revealed through the different characters’ perspectives.

Bad Gays: A Homosexual History by Ben Miller, Huw Lemmey

informative slow-paced

1.0

this one really disappointed me. 
first of all, i felt it was overwritten and not engaging, i don't think non-fiction necessarily needs to be flashy or exciting, but this was often boring, which was surprising given the potential for the book's concept. 
second, they should have just written a book about white cis gay men, their half-hearted effort at inclusion (one woman and one asian man) felt like they were checking a box on inclusive history rather than actually caring to delve into it. 
third, the lack of interactive analysis in this book was genuinely shocking to me. this book talked about several nazis, but primarily in isolation and feel flat in delivering a consistent discussion of the presence of white gay men in nazi circles.
i certainly learned a lot of facts, but i don't think this book really achieved the goals it set for itself.

Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids by Scott Hershovitz

medium-paced

3.0

light and interesting read, good audiobook narration. however, this is more of a philosophy 101 book to enable people to explain philosophical concepts simply as opposed to a book specifically aimed at discussing how to do philosophy with kids and why we should. there are great pedagogies about philosophy for children and i think it’s clear that hershovitz isn’t a scholar who focuses on that (though it was a pleasant read despite that).