readingmermaid's reviews
340 reviews

Fences by August Wilson

reflective fast-paced

4.0

The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

Good Women: Stories by Halle Hill

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

medium-paced

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

2.75

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Passing by Nella Larsen

funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Reckless by Selena Montgomery

emotional mysterious tense 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? No

3.5

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood by bell hooks

dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

This memoir is less a play-by-play of growing up, and more so captures the feeling of being young and feeling like you belong. It covers topics like sexuality, race, age, and class through the eyes of a young bell hooks. In some chapters, bell hooks is speaking in first person and in others, she switches to third person. The third person chapters took a little getting used to, but also allows bell hooks to comment on her past from an adult perspective. (Example: lines like "We did not know we were poor" or "The girl didn't understand why her mother was angry.") Overall the writing style feels nostalgic and poetic even with her use of mostly simple, demonstrative sentences.