readby_rach's reviews
369 reviews

A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thanki

3.0

James by Percival Everett

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

Sharp, gritty, and triumphant. James not only makes you rethink the story of Huckleberry Finn, but prevailing narratives about enslaved black people and their white masters. 

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

slow-paced

2.0

Oh my god SHUT UP

For a book about the women of the Trojan war we sure spent a lot of fucking time talking about the men. 

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

5.0

A love letter to basketball, to Columbus, to community. Hanif weaves together his own coming of age with the rise of LeBron James and in doing so teaches us about ourselves and the beloved community. 

The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Such interesting world building — I love the idea of the Interstellar Web and species so ancient they have forgotten much of their own history and technology.

The book asks really interesting questions about ownership and colonization and inter-cultural relationships (on the individual and systemic scale). A diverse cast of humans and other species, and I love that the main character Maya is good/true representation of living with migraine

And yet…the book just didn’t quite work for me on the whole. I think it was the writing style; the prose didn’t flow for me and felt jumpy. I often felt like I had missed connecting information. The prose wasn’t quite “filled in.”  

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Throw together a spinster, a fourteen year old girl, and an evil horse and you’ve got yourself the perfect little cozy horror-tinged fantasy. 

Cordelia and Hester were excellent protagonists, and I loved the entire house party of supporting characters.

The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

A slight feel of author fan fiction to it, but I loved diving back into the world of All Souls a couple years after the end of the original trilogy! With the introduction of higher magic and the expansion of the creature world, I thought some of the world building and magic system was a little shaky. But Harkness is at her best when she uses magic as metaphor, which is very obvious in Black Bird. We’ve been set up for more books, and perhaps my lingering questions will be answered there! There’s clearly so much Diana doesn’t know about the magical world, but I’m excited to continue adventuring with her, Matthew, the twins, and the entire Proctor-Bishop-Clairmont extended family. 

Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus

funny hopeful informative fast-paced

5.0

Now that I’ve read Raw Dog twice this year, I feel confident saying it is the most perfect to exist. It’s a hot dog with a good snap and a grilled bun and the ideal mix of toppings. A delightful blend of sharp wit, thoughtful commentary, and horny chaos deconstruct the American dream via hot dogs and gender pickles. Listen to the audiobook.