theroastedbookery's reviews
175 reviews

Indivisible by Daniel Aleman

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

Indivisible gives a good commentary on how we treat people in the US that some believe "don't belong."  It shows what we already know, ICE is alive and well and taking immigrants regardless of how long they have been living in the country and contributing to society.  But it also shows how this harms children.   
This book does a great job of walking the line of showing the trauma and giving the reader more than they can handle.  The characters are all believable and strongly developed.  Mateo struggles with having to become the head of household and still being a teenager. 
Spoiler His only weakness is his inability to tell his friends.  His reasoning is understandable, but frustrating nonetheless.
Spoiler
The diversity of the characters add to the story.  While the ethnicity of the main character is a definitely  a plot point, the fact that he is also gay is not.  I love that there is not trauma surrounded by the sexuality of the characters in this story, it is simply a stated fact and then we, as readers, move on.   The romances are very high school like and follow a pretty common trope.  But again, this is all secondary to the main story, but adds a little bit of a relief from the stress that is Mateo's life.  I appreciate an author that has a center main plot, but adds some relief from traumatic events.  
I also love that this is a story from the child's point of view.  I think that another book from the parents' POV would also be very good, but I love the way that Mateo is able to talk about his family in this book.
Overall, this timely  book is an amazing way to show the damage we do to families when we pull them apart for reasons of selfishness.   I highly recommend this book. 
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The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

 
So, let me begin by saying this is an incredible book. The structure of the story, the pacing, the incredibly intriguing characters...all of it was perfectly executed. Again, much like Aetherbound, the science fiction inherent to the story wasn't the focus of the story and its complexity didn't get in the way of the storytelling. It was simply a means to an end. The science in the story was a tool the author used to explore some incredibly heavy themes.

Speaking of themes...At the heart of this story, is our main character Dr. Evelyn Caldwell. I hesitate to call her "protagonist," but you'll have to RAFO to find out why.  She is an incredibly successful scientist thriving in a world still dominated by misogynistic men. She grapples with the ideas of identity, personhood, gender conformity/non-conformity and personal agency throughout the novel. The questions of consciousness and  nature/nurture, and how trauma informs our lives are central to the story. We're also forced to confront the questions around biases as it relates to scientific advancement. How much of what we take as the natural progression of scientific achievement is tainted by bias and what might the future look like if we confront that bias head on?

**At this point, I feel as though I should offer up a trigger warning. One of the themes with which the characters grapple is grooming. If grooming is something that engenders a negative response for you then please go into this story with your eyes wide open. In terms of the plot, the antagonist's (Evelyn's former husband, its not even close) achieves his primary goal  through grooming. It doesn't go away and the repercussions of his actions are felt in every page of every chapter.**

Her training and habits as a scientist gives her an insight and perspective with which I identified. There were several times throughout the story where I paused and thought, "Well, I do that, too. Should I stop?" Her propensity for self-evaluation and asking herself hard questions is familiar though her refrain, "I'm not a monster," feels more like self-soothing as opposed to the truthful answer to one of those hard questions. Dr. Caldwell judges these things by matters of degrees, and it is deliciously difficult to tell where she might actually draw the line. It is also difficult to tell how her world would be effected if she came to the conclusion that she was, in fact, the monster.

She's seen how monsters are managed.

Grab your copy of The Echo Wife from The Roasted Bookery here or (because we're nearly sold out...again!) from our Bookshop site, here.
 
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The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

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challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

4.25

The TLDR version of this review is "I loved it." All the things I pack into the word love is astounding.  I quite honestly don't know where to begin. I had to sit with this book and these feelings for a long time before I felt I could even begin to translate what was happening in my head and in my heart into words. The long and the short of it really is that I felt seen by this book. Fish out of water, the only one in the room...absolutely, I felt every single bit of the same discomfort, heard the same questions about my right or fitness to occupy space, heard the same back-handed compliments. That's what it really comes down to for me. Yes, the book is excellently paced and the plot is structured well. It is imminently enjoyable to read because the jumps in time keep you guessing as the plot unfolds. High level of craftsmanship all around. But seeing Ray's struggles in the spaces he deserves to be in, seeing his tumultuous and fractured relationship with his family, seeing the juxtapositions of courage (Ray) and cowardice (Ray's mother) clearly illuminated a struggle I've seen play out time and again. I love this book because Ray doesn't shrink away from the light, and he let's the talent and passion he has burn for the world to see.

Things I Liked:
  • Fast paced, riveting story
  • The novel was well constructed with no wasted words
  • This was an authentically Black story - not a story with a black face on it
  • While the story explored the complications and consequences of diminished economic opportunity and racism, the characters weren't made to wallow in trauma porn to make the point

 
Trigger Warning:
  • There is one scene where the treatment of enslaved people is described. It is all the more poignant and painful because the book doesn't wallow.
 
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

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adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Bitter's story is both tragic and heroic.  It definitely takes the hero's journey and turns it on its head.  Bitter is a character you cheer for, hope for, cry for.  She is guarded for good reason but holds power of which even she is not aware. 
 This book drew me in as quickly as PET did.  Having PET as background information made some things clearer quickly that would leave new readers to the series in suspense longer.  I wasn't mad at this at all because we got to see all the things leading up to PET and I find back story amazing!
The writing was deep and beautiful.  There are so many correlations to our current world, that made this fictional world even more relevant.
This book felt as if it was written for an older audience than PET, but 100% loved it!
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Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This author came highly recommended to me by a friend who'd read their Ahsoka novel. It didn't disappoint. I like very much how grounded and real living in space and on a space station was in this book. It wasn't overly burdened with technical jargon and your understanding of the science of space travel wasn't an obstacle to enjoying this book (though I do love a good number crunching, physics explaining space adventure). I really appreciate how the magic system in this book was a portal into a discussion on bodily autonomy and choice. I also appreciate how the magic system itself wasn't overly complicated because I feel as though the point of the book wasn't the magic but the people and the choices they made with their abilities. In the end, despite the setting, this book was about the choices people make given their circumstances and I really enjoyed it.

Things I Liked:
  • Typical gender roles were swapped or abandoned altogether. This was a refreshing romance and action/adventure story because of that.
  • The magic system was not overly complicated nor was the technical jargon overbearing. This let me see clearly the characters behind the decisions.
  • The action of the book was driven by the choices of the people in the story - there were politics, economic systems, etc in the book but those things served as the backdrop against which people acted.
  • There wasn't anything about the cruelty or the romance present in the book that was gratuitous. The book was an engaging read that I didn't feel the need to take a "break" from because while the themes were hefty, the manner in which they were presented didn't knock me on my heels.
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Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Tiger Mom's Tale by Lyn Liao Butler

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

If you want a very clear antagonist that you will love to hate, this is your book.  While the main character struggles with inner agony, the main character antagonist is terribly evil!  This book switches from past to present with ease and understanding winding a web the reader can't help but want to unravel!
Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton

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hopeful lighthearted fast-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? Yes

4.5

Super cute love story with little love stories that complement the main plotline.  Even with so many writers the story flows as if one author has written the whole book.
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

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adventurous emotional sad 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? Yes

4.5

This dystopian (yet a little too not) world that Ng has created allows us to see a world of what ifs.  The main character struggles to understand why his missing mother is so hated.  This struggle leads him on an adventure to find the truth.  This story is beautifully told and is one of hope and heartbreak.
Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

This book was an amazing look at mental illness and its effects on the person who has the illness as those surrounding them.  It was relatable and informative without being preachy.  Stone has done an amazing job showing mental illness surrounding teens.  I love there is advocacy and information.