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leonalikesliterature's reviews
354 reviews
You, Again by Kate Goldbeck
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I had such high hopes for this book. I loved the modern spin on a classic romance and the humor was perfect for me. I saw that some readers disliked Ari and Josh, but I actually really enjoyed their flawed personalities. Although I enjoyed the banter between them and their charged chemistry, the conflict that arose between the two leads felt forced and spiteful. They both said things that crossed lines and it made it hard for me to root for them in the last bit of the book. They just seemed like such drastically different people and it was really hard for me to imagine them together realistically. As the book continued, the later time skips made the pacing of their romance feel disjointed and it was hard for me to see their relationship as anything but emotionally volatile and toxic. They just seemed so incompatible. I think Ari and Josh could be together for like three spicy years then have a messy divorce.
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
slow-paced
3.0
There were a handful of really good essays in this collection, but I am not really fond of Roxanne Gay’s writing. I thought many of the essays lacked an overall strong message or sometimes she’d share multiple examples of an idea but wouldn’t connect them together to make a wholistic argument. I also think a lot of the media references have become pretty outdated unfortunately. I wanted to give this book a try since it is so popular and I do appreciate many of Roxanne Gay’s ideas, but overall, I was underwhelmed. I think if you are well versed in feminist literature you might feel the same way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Misogyny
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I became absorbed by this book and it shook me to my core. As someone who’s had a shitty abusive ex-boyfriend, I found myself resonating with sentient enslaved sex robot, Annie, and I immediately began rooting for her. Honestly, it was almost triggering at times and the book felt so incredibly personal. Annie Bot was both a written lived experience of what it means to date men as a woman but also a warning of how much worse it can get. Sierra Greer did a phenomenal job of creating characters in a near distant world that felt so incredibly life-like down to the smallest of details. So many men like Doug exist. He was so so awful and so so real. If AI robot girlfriends ever become a reality, so many human-robot couples like Doug and Annie would exist and you could argue they already do.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Ugh, I am so disappointed by the ending of these books. Although I think all the major plot points were good writing decisions, the process to get there was so tedious and the pacing of this last book is so strange. So much of Mockingjay is just jumping from minor arc to minor arc but without Katniss having any major focus or drive.
What I loved about Katniss’s character in book 1 is how powerful and clever she is in her own unique way, but as the series continued, it felt like she lost her spark. Katniss had so little autonomy in book 2 and 3. All the characters surrounding her have strong motivations, yet Katniss is written to be so powerless, unsure of herself and passive. I can’t even count the amount of times she was just randomly sedated to move onto the next scene! And the way that her choice to kill Coin at the end of the book was dismissed as a political move and instead pacified by her being considered “insane” was an… interesting writing decision. Like she’s the mockingjay!? And I understand she’s a traumatized teenager, but the fact that her and Peeta have like no say in making the world a better place when they were THE MOST IMPORTANT ICONS in the revolution like??? Katniss just becomes like a mom basically in the longterm??? Disappointing to say the least.
There is so much build-up to this final battle with Snow that never happens, and then the ending feels so ridiculous and every event is so abrupt that it didn’t even feel believable. Prim’s death felt so shoehorned in, like Collins so obviously just wanted to kill her off. It was just forced and came out of no where! Then Katniss blacks out and misses the entire end of the uprising? What!? It was such a let down. There didn’t necessarily need to be a HUGE ending battle with Snow, but there was this continuous building tension in the last 1/3 of the book where like 8 characters die that doesn’t go anywhere! I was so frustrated and let down!
I’m glad Katniss and Peeta ended up together without Gale getting killed off, but they reconciled without the reader seeing any of it! Even though the last lines of the book were cute, I wanted so much more. I felt like this last book had so much potential to say something beautiful and uplifting about what it means to rebuild a society and community, but the ending lacked an overall message even in regards to Katniss and Peeta. It fell so short for me.
What I loved about Katniss’s character in book 1 is how powerful and clever she is in her own unique way, but as the series continued, it felt like she lost her spark. Katniss had so little autonomy in book 2 and 3. All the characters surrounding her have strong motivations, yet Katniss is written to be so powerless, unsure of herself and passive. I can’t even count the amount of times she was just randomly sedated to move onto the next scene!
There is so much build-up to this final battle with Snow that never happens, and then the ending feels so ridiculous and every event is so abrupt that it didn’t even feel believable.
I’m glad Katniss and Peeta ended up together without Gale getting killed off, but they reconciled without the reader seeing any of it! Even though the last lines of the book were cute, I wanted so much more. I felt like this last book had so much potential to say something beautiful and uplifting about what it means to rebuild a society and community, but the ending lacked an overall message even in regards to Katniss and Peeta. It fell so short for me.
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Great nonfiction book for adults who are healing from the abuse that their parents subjected them to! Genuinely great advice from this book that I will probably keep referring to throughout my life. I listened to it on audiobook, but I’d like to buy a physical copy.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Perhaps, I need to finish the last book to complete my thoughts on the series and the 2nd book, but I do think Catching Fire is not as compelling as book 1.
Although Collins did a good job of showing how the Quarter Quell contrasted with the Hunger Games and ignited further dissent among the districts, the games were repetitive so it was hard to be invested in it again. Ngl, I was highkey over the games themselves but the arena and situation was so vastly different so it was still interesting.
The world building through Katniss’s eyes is done so well, and it’s interesting as a reader to make the inferences that she doesn’t make herself. However, I was frustrated by her lack of autonomy and indecision in this book. I loved The Hunger Games because Katniss is such a clever and powerful protagonist, however she seems much more passive in the 2nd book. She doesn’t know what’s going on and feels so powerless. I get that is part of her character arc in book 2, but it read mostly flat throughout the book rather than ebbing and flowing. I’m ready for her to step it up a bit in the 3rd book.
Although Collins did a good job of showing how the Quarter Quell contrasted with the Hunger Games and ignited further dissent among the districts, the games were repetitive so it was hard to be invested in it again. Ngl, I was highkey over the games themselves but the arena and situation was so vastly different so it was still interesting.
The world building through Katniss’s eyes is done so well, and it’s interesting as a reader to make the inferences that she doesn’t make herself. However, I was frustrated by her lack of autonomy and indecision in this book. I loved The Hunger Games because Katniss is such a clever and powerful protagonist, however she seems much more passive in the 2nd book. She doesn’t know what’s going on and feels so powerless. I get that is part of her character arc in book 2, but it read mostly flat throughout the book rather than ebbing and flowing. I’m ready for her to step it up a bit in the 3rd book.