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leonidskies's reviews
108 reviews
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Something to be Proud of by Anna Zoe Quirke
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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? No
5.0
Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This was an absolutely amazing book. It's difficult to know where to sing its praises first - it was easy to read and I absolutely breezed through it, in part because of how clear it was and in part because it was an utter joy. I adored all the characters, especially the core cast, and it made me so happy to see their stories unfold.
I'll admit I was in tears for a decent chunk of the book; tears of joy, almost the whole time. That's super rare for me, but reading this book felt really special because I felt immensely seen. I've been that queer, autistic sixteen year old with a sense of justice that doesn't seem compatible with the rest of the world, and seeing Imogen grow was an experience I can only describe as healing. A book about people who want something and fight for it and get closer together because of it just feels so profoundly hopeful to me, and every aspect of that had me in pieces.
Quirke handles every difficult topic in the novel with so much sensitivity and meaning - the emotions felt incredibly real and really brought me along for the ride. In all, I utterly adored this book. An easy 5/5.
This was an absolutely amazing book. It's difficult to know where to sing its praises first - it was easy to read and I absolutely breezed through it, in part because of how clear it was and in part because it was an utter joy. I adored all the characters, especially the core cast, and it made me so happy to see their stories unfold.
I'll admit I was in tears for a decent chunk of the book; tears of joy, almost the whole time. That's super rare for me, but reading this book felt really special because I felt immensely seen. I've been that queer, autistic sixteen year old with a sense of justice that doesn't seem compatible with the rest of the world, and seeing Imogen grow was an experience I can only describe as healing. A book about people who want something and fight for it and get closer together because of it just feels so profoundly hopeful to me, and every aspect of that had me in pieces.
Quirke handles every difficult topic in the novel with so much sensitivity and meaning - the emotions felt incredibly real and really brought me along for the ride. In all, I utterly adored this book. An easy 5/5.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia and Ableism
Minor: Toxic friendship, Sexism, and Infidelity
Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This wasn't really my kind of book. It tries very hard to be literary (and succeeds) and extract meaning from its events (just about manages to pull it out from the end) but I felt overwhelmingly like it didn't quite manage to deliver on its premise.
I didn't like pretty much any of the characters, but particularly disliked the narrator. His interactions with almost everyone - but especially women - tipped over from interesting character work to infuriating relatively easily. Perhaps I'm too young, but I just didn't 'get' his various romantic attachments and non-attachments and felt like the novel slightly ran out of space to deal with that in a way that would have been satisfying. In general, I felt like the most interesting parts were rushed and crammed in at the end, which did make for a good ending after feeling like the prior 20-25 pages weren't going anywhere near resolution.
The impact of Helen as a 'being' fell a little flat for me, though it was what attracted me to the book in the first place. I didn't see the same consciousness in her that the narrator did until the end, at which point it felt retroactive. The moments when she did come out with really interesting statements or observations were some of my favourite parts of the novel, though, and I think her development towards the end was particularly interesting.
That said, I enjoyed the narration and prose. It's not my usual thing, but I found the technobabble (I have no idea how legitimate any of the science was) at the very least possible to parse, and the rest of the writing was fun to roll around in my head. I prefer slightly more direct narration, but it was nice for a change. The concept, too, was really strong, and as someone who likes to think/write about the sci fi part of AI (rather than the technical, LLM side of it, which was also VERY interesting to think about given the current technological climate around "AI").
Not my kind of book. Probably better for people who like more literary fiction/classic sci fi!
The impact of Helen as a 'being' fell a little flat for me, though it was what attracted me to the book in the first place. I didn't see the same consciousness in her that the narrator did until the end, at which point it felt retroactive. The moments when she did come out with really interesting statements or observations were some of my favourite parts of the novel, though, and I think her development towards the end was particularly interesting.
That said, I enjoyed the narration and prose. It's not my usual thing, but I found the technobabble (I have no idea how legitimate any of the science was) at the very least possible to parse, and the rest of the writing was fun to roll around in my head. I prefer slightly more direct narration, but it was nice for a change. The concept, too, was really strong, and as someone who likes to think/write about the sci fi part of AI (rather than the technical, LLM side of it, which was also VERY interesting to think about given the current technological climate around "AI").
Not my kind of book. Probably better for people who like more literary fiction/classic sci fi!
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn't really plan to read this book (for my work book club), but it happened and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected!
The core of this book being sisterhood and the complex relationships of family worked really well. I felt like I understood and had a good picture of most of the cast, which was pretty impressive for the number of characters.
I'm a little more lukewarm on a couple of the characters - I found the main 'child'/third generation daughter difficult to understand, as I didn't really see the point that the novel was very clearly trying to hammer home. Something just felt a little off about it. I also had a distinctly bitter taste in my mouth over the sole black character, whose race was only ever alluded to vaguely (and one of the characters was almost blatantly racist towards but this was never mentioned in any capacity) and whose character was unmistakeably less well-rounded compared to all the other characters in the otherwise all-white cast.
I had really complicated feelings about Julia. I'm unsure how I was meant to interpret her - I quite liked how clear and legible most of what the book was trying to say was, but she continually evaded the same kind of incisive commentary over what I felt were her most glaring flaws. Her 'girlboss' moments were abjectly lacking in empathy, but I was left with the impression I wasn't MEANT to be horrified by what she did. I'm still not sure what the intention was at all.
That said, I did really enjoy reading this book. I liked the different perspectives and the scope, the spectrum of feeling was good, and again the family relationships and mostly well written complicated and interconnected characters and contexts were really good.
The core of this book being sisterhood and the complex relationships of family worked really well. I felt like I understood and had a good picture of most of the cast, which was pretty impressive for the number of characters.
I'm a little more lukewarm on a couple of the characters - I found the main 'child'/third generation daughter difficult to understand, as I didn't really see the point that the novel was very clearly trying to hammer home. Something just felt a little off about it. I also had a distinctly bitter taste in my mouth over the sole black character, whose race was only ever alluded to vaguely (and one of the characters was almost blatantly racist towards but this was never mentioned in any capacity) and whose character was unmistakeably less well-rounded compared to all the other characters in the otherwise all-white cast.
I had really complicated feelings about Julia. I'm unsure how I was meant to interpret her - I quite liked how clear and legible most of what the book was trying to say was, but she continually evaded the same kind of incisive commentary over what I felt were her most glaring flaws. Her 'girlboss' moments were abjectly lacking in empathy, but I was left with the impression I wasn't MEANT to be horrified by what she did. I'm still not sure what the intention was at all.
That said, I did really enjoy reading this book. I liked the different perspectives and the scope, the spectrum of feeling was good, and again the family relationships and mostly well written complicated and interconnected characters and contexts were really good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide attempt, and Cancer
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I wish I could say I really loved this book (I was so excited to read something with a nonbinary main character!), but unfortunately I didn't. The premise was really strong, and I liked the characters quite a lot, but the book as it was felt distinctly under-edited. The plot was unsubtle and ended with a few unsatisfying and unresolved plot points, and the pacing felt strange. I liked the setting and adored the themes and relationship arcs, but it absolutely could have done with another 50-100 pages to flesh out what it was going for. The magic system and world building was interesting, and the prose was strong enough to keep me all the way to the end, but I couldn't help but want more.
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really, really wanted to be obsessed with this book! The concept was so exciting, the world and magic incredibly strong, and everything about it was wonderful... but I found that the characters being overwhelmingly real historical figures was off-putting. It held me back from getting really into the characters, and unfortunately made it glaringly obvious when a character was invented on top of the historical figures to make it so the entire cast wasn't men. It felt like the author was primarily interested in a couple of the historical figures and significantly less so with the others, and that harmed the balance. That said, it was a wildly entertaining read and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel!
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The Best of Assigned Male by Sophie Labelle
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Just a dash of lovely queer joy :) the concepts of the comics in this book are very simple, and none of it is especially 'deep'. It's politics and life that I've been living for a very long time, but that was part of what made it so wonderful to read - there was a distinct sense of being seen and understood through the pages of these comics, and I really adored that. This was really, really nice to read.
Queer Crips: Disabled Gay Men and Their Stories by John R. Killacky, Bob Guter
emotional
funny
informative
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault
Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma
Minor: Death