skudiklier's reviews
476 reviews

Heavy is the Head, by Sumaya Enyegue

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book is absolutely incredible. After finishing it I'm genuinely speechless, I don't know what to say to describe how much I loved it. Most of my notes on it are just the name of a poem followed by "!!!" or "holy shit" or "..........." There's so much I related to about girlhood and monstrosity. Sumaya's writing is a gut punch in the best way, and I'd highly recommend this book. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Blood, Cursing, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Murder, Eating disorder, and Gun violence

Minor: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Sexism

The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I enjoyed this! I was very caught up in both timelines, and at every stage I wanted to know what would happen. The mystery wasn't too easy to figure out (for me at least), and i read the second half of the book in one day because I just needed to finish it. I'd definitely read more if this became a series! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Sexism, Bullying, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Child death, Classism, Child abuse, Infertility, and Ableism

Minor: Pregnancy, Medical content, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Racism, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, and Colonisation

Lore Olympus: Volume One, by Rachel Smythe

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense 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

4.75

I'm not sure how to review this when I read the whole webcomic all at once, rather than reading just this first volume, and on top of that the story isn't finished yet.

Overall for Lore Olympus as a whole, I like it. I'm definitely engaged and I couldn't stop reading it over the course of a couple days, until I was fully caught up. I think some of the criticisms are valid, but in general I think this is a nice enjoyable read. I'm definitely invested in where it goes from here! 

And thinking about it being split into volumes like this, tbh if I'd only read the first 25 comics I feel like maybe I would think it was really slow and nothing really happened. So, idk. That's not really anyone's fault though, as the pacing for a book and a webcomic are naturally different.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Always Human - Season II, by Ari North

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.75

This is such a light lovely comic! There's drama without it being too angsty--for the most part this is just a nice, realistic (in terms of the relationship) look at a sweet new relationship. And the world and its technology is fascinating! Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a soft nice wlw romance with no risk of heartbreak <3 I especially like how this second season focuses on other relationships too, like her friendship with Rae. 

Always Human, by Ari North

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.75

This is such a light lovely comic! There's drama without it being too angsty--for the most part this is just a nice, realistic (in terms of the relationship) look at a sweet new relationship. And the world and its technology is fascinating! Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a soft nice wlw romance with no risk of heartbreak <3

Bury the Lede, by Gabe Dunn

dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.75

I really like Gabe Dunn and I've wanted to read this for so long--if I'd known how quick of a read it was I would have read it years ago! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, and Murder

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, by Emily Austin

dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Okay I'm actually obsessed with this book. Wow.

I have anxiety and I related to Gilda a lot while reading it (though she struggles with it way more than I do, and I have a much easier time asking for help). I loved the way this was written, in genuinely every way that could be interpreted. I'm amazed by how relatable and funny this was while also being so dark and existential. I was so drawn in and cared so much about what was going to happen to everyone involved.

Honestly I have absolutely zero complaints about this book. I mean...I wish maybe we'd gotten a glimpse of Eli at the end to see what happened there? But I understand why the author may have wanted to leave some things open-ended, and I'm satisfied with what we did get to see at the end. I can't recommend this book enough.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Car accident, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Outing, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Body horror, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Sexism, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Child death, Dementia, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Rape, Cancer, and Mass/school shootings

major cw for dissociation, depression, and anxiety

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, by Rosenthal, Amy Krouse

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5

While overall I did enjoy this book, I have to say that there was a decent amount of it that didn't age well. It's almost twenty years old at this point, and I was definitely keeping that in mind while reading it, but there were a couple of parts that really made me cringe. (Not to mention the whole concept of the book--"ordinary" is clearly positioned as a middle class white American's experience, which isn't great for obvious reasons.)

That said, I did like this book. It felt very nice and lovely and reminded me of Jenny Slate's Little Weirds. I appreciated this look into her life, and I'm glad I finally read it.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Death

Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Grief, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Infidelity, Child death, Eating disorder, Cancer, Racism, Alcohol, and Abortion

Old Babes in the Wood, by Margaret Atwood

emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

So I know semi recently Atwood was sharing and defending a transphobic article, which was really disappointing to see. I decided to read this anyway, while knowing I was probably going to be more critical of her work in light of that, rather than being inclined to read her more generously. And I do think I would have liked this more if she hadn't done that, because I've liked other works I've read of hers in the past, and used to probably be biased towards thinking whatever she wrote was good.

That said, overall I did like this collection. Some of the stories were more engaging than others, and the one that's just an interview between her and Orwell was by far my least favorite. But I liked both the ones about the "main character" of sorts, though her grief hit a little too close to home at times (for one of them I wrote "fuck. This one is good but I hate it. It would be good to read if. If. I don't want to ever want to read this"), and the ones that were entirely standalone (my favorite was the alien one). I'm not the biggest fan of short story collections in general, if only because it takes me longer to get through them when I'm constantly having to readjust to an entirely new story/world/premise. But overall I did like this book, all things considered. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Cursing, War, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Death, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Car accident, Infidelity, Racism, Genocide, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

The Bruising of Qilwa, by Naseem Jamnia

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

I don't really know what to make of this book. I liked having a nonbinary character, and the queernorm world in general. The world building was really good and I was invested in the characters and the plot. But the ending felt a bit.....I'm not sure how to describe it. I didn't hate it or anything but I don't feel like a lot was particularly resolved. It felt sudden in some ways. I dunno. I liked the book for the most part and think it was well-written, but I also don't think I'd actively recommend it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Medical content, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Body horror

Moderate: Genocide and War

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit