kyriannaj's reviews
114 reviews

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Kidnapping, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Such a Good Wife by Seraphina Nova Glass

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Odd start, took a while to get into it and catch up to where the book should’ve started. Honestly I didn’t care about most of the characters in this book as they all flat. It seemed both obvious and out of nowhere, who did it. The character from the beginning to the end just didn’t feel real. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Infidelity, Dementia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, and Classism

Maame by Jessica George

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn

lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.5

It wasn’t bad, I just wanted to like it more than I did. Most of the characters felt flat and one dimension, relationships felt somehow too honest while so secretive, and there was a lack of building tension within the story. Isla and Bonnie’a friendship has an odd path throughout. Rowan seemed so hot and cold and at times like he was just toying with Bonnie more than teasing her. Combining that with Bonnie’s brazen behavior one moment and scared withdrawal the next and Rowan’s intense secrecy, their relationship just felt off. Bonnie as a character was someone I wanted to relate to, but couldn’t. She’s new to town and everyone is talking about stunning and beautiful she is. She’s incredibly open in conversation, at times to a fault, but also doesn’t read social cues the greatest. She’s supposed to be scared of confrontation with anyone but Isla, yet the whole beginning of her relationship with Rowan was sarcasm, sass, and confrontation? There were also no real stakes. It’s very clear from the beginning how things will end up, which is fine, but I want to feel like there was at least a bit of a fight to get the happily ever after. Everything felt predictable, with the plot moving along until the last 50 pages when everything happened at once. And frankly, Bonnie got the short end of the stick. I wish there was more after the implosion of everything because it felt resolved far too easily. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

A virgin for the highland beast: a highland historical romance by Eloise Madigan

fast-paced

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

2.5

It’s one of those books you pick up when you want something incredibly specific, and as you read it fills that hole despite knowing it’s not  the best. But once it’s over, you realize all the flaws you overlooked. So if you’re in the mood for what the books promises, go for it

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

The Hellion and the Highlander by Lynsay Sands

lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

Easy fun book. Nothing too tense or deep. Two characters who like each other and fall in love, but the chaos around them keeps them from fully embracing it, while giving them more reasons to love each other. Some of the writing got repetitive and the characters at time acted like idiots, but overall a fun summer read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Confinement, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction and Death of parent

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.

I went in having been told this book was horror, but upon others explaining the premise and plot to me, it didn't feel like the time to read such a heavy topic book. It's one I might revisit in the future though.

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

2.75

This book felt like the beginning part of a journey, not the whole journey. There's little hope or encouraging parts to hold on to in all the lonely darkness this book deals with. It's clearly an incredibly well researched piece, but with how heavy and dark the content can become, I wish more research was done to show us how to reconnect among this loneliness. Many times I felt it was building to something, or there was the start of a beautiful concept, only to be abruptly cut off and the topic changed leaving the book feeling disjointed. While this isn't the fault of the author's, due to it being written pre-COVID there is no mention of it other than the beginning author's note. Which left the whole book feeling very 'small scale' compared to what the world had just experienced.
The last 100 pages or so were incredibly difficult to read, especially with imagery. It's about Harry Harlow's monkey experiments, which I struggle to understand why they were necessary to include in the first place, at such a graphic level.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Abortion, and Pandemic/Epidemic

the non-graphic summary of the study is that Harry Harlow was researching isolation, what it does to those isolated, how those isolated react upon joining a group, and how that group reacts. However as it went on he became more and more sadistic and abusive towards the monkeys. And around 100 pages are spent on this, in detail, with an attempt to humanize and explain what he did

Community Board by Tara Conklin

reflective slow-paced

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

2.5