sam_the_librarian's reviews
149 reviews

Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.

I was extremely excited to read this book with it being advertised as "a subversive and feminist take on Sleeping Beauty". What it actually is, is absurd and a combination of fairy tales- I saw bits of Alice in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz, the Princess and the Frog...along with Sleeping Beauty.

When I receive ARC copies, I try extremely hard to read them to completion but once I hit the 50% mark with this one- I skimmed the rest.

I think Andrea Portes was perhaps trying to cover too much ground with this one and there was no depth. Bitsy is an unlikeable Goody Two-Shoes protagonist. There are so many opportunities to discuss rascism, classism, etc. but I feel these things were used for sensation rather than anything more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC copy of this book!

Unexpecting by Jen Bailey

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I love the premise of the book but it began to really feel like a slog around the 60% mark- just repetitive narration about the protagonist's struggles without any real progress or communication in a way that I wanted to see. I got bored and ended up skimming the rest- just not for me in the end. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Daska Slater has a way of storytelling that draws you in. Utilizing real words from the people impacted by these events, I was left to think about many issues including justice, shame and guilt, and of course, racism- institutional, internalized, overt, microaggression, etc. A fantastic read that I will be recommending to many others.

Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi

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hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Saving Sunshine is a very sweet middle-grade graphic novel that does a good job of bringing up some tough topics like sibling rivalry and racism in a way that is age-appropriate. It shows ways to deal with overt, covert, and "accidental" racism through the parent's lens but also allows us to see how the main character boy and girl deal with it in different ways. It shows how the siblings' relationship has and does develop as they age. It was well worth the read and I would recommend it! Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC!

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

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challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I have enjoyed several books by Riley Sager so when I saw this Lizzie Borden-style thriller I knew that I had to read it! I will say that it kept me in suspense and I had to finish it to find out how it all played out but, I thought the twists and turns that were made were made simply for the sake of it and not in a logical or even thrilling way. I was disappointed with this one. I found our main protagonist to be a bit irritating, blaming everyone at every chance she got but yet, things were often solved quickly for us through the narration or she gave up quickly on the blame game just to pick it back up again. I will say that I enjoyed the bits of sing-song style poetry but overall, I was so tired of being thrown around at the end I was glad to see the last page. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced