sillyduckie's reviews
340 reviews

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Kidnapping

The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thích Nhất Hạnh

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

Good, but very repetitive. Though I suppose that this aids in learning the principles.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Slaying the Shifter Prince by Clare Sager

tense 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.

I tried.

The main character has an eating disorder that is fueled by her skating partner constantly telling her she’s too heavy for lifts and needs to eat less. And the two guys she’s hooking up with are constantly feeding or trying to feed her. It was exhausting. The sex scenes (“spice”) were laughable. They just didn’t make sense to me and yet there are so many. They feel so medical and clinical? Also completely unrealistic. I was very puzzled by her having mind blowing orgasms and then being able to walk immediately after. Also the fact that after the first time the main characters have sex they get up and shower. He goes to his housemate’s room to get “girl stuff” which includes shampoo and conditioner??? And he insists on washing her hair but he doesn’t know what conditioner is?

There is so much needless drama. If this was set in high school and everyone was about sixteen then the drama and emotional stakes would make sense. But for twenty something year olds?? Nah.

I usually listen to audiobooks on 1x. With this I kept upping the speed to make it go faster. I got to 2x (at which this book still felt slow and natural??) and then finally gave up.

This is the first booktok rec I’ve given a chance and never again tbh. 

Also holy exposition and repetition back man! We learn so much about every single background character for reasons I can’t fathom. And every time the main characters are in the same scene and the POV switches we get to read the scene through both. Honestly if one  POV was taken out, the book would’ve been much shorter and the quality would’ve stayed the same. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

The Hurricane Book: A Lyric History by Claudia Acevedo-Quinones

challenging informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Xenophobia, Vomit, Dementia, and Colonisation

This Perfect Day by Ira Levin

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story by Monique Roffey

dark tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

How to Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail