akhcreates's reviews
390 reviews

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Pew by Catherine Lacey

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The Call-Out: A Novel in Rhyme by Cat Fitzpatrick

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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

3.25

This was an enjoyable, though heavy, read. I really felt for our main character, though less so for the man she is involved with. If you don't have some background with the troubles you might be a little lost.

Rikers: An Oral History by Reuven Blau, Graham Rayman

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

2.75

This is an important and informative book, but unfortunately it doesn't really work as a book. I think the structure did a huge disservice to the information, reporting, and subjects of the interviews. It felt very disjointed, and I wish we had gotten full stories of individuals rather than partial stories from a lot of different people grouped by topic.

This Boy We Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown by Taylor Harris

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

Appreciated how vulnerable and open Harris was. It’s a lot to share, and I think she shared a lot that others would hesitate to; that maybe doesn’t paint her in the best light

Felt like I got a glimpse into generalized anxiety disorder, and how that would permeate parenthood. And how that affected how she received news of the BRCA gene - very different than my experience. 

Lots of mentions of faith and religion but didn’t go much into it - wish we got more

Bargain Bin Rom-Com by Leena Norms

funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

3.0

This is a very fun collection with a few moving moments. I loved the poem Rachel and a few others. Overall I had a lovely little afternoon reading this one.

Boulder by Eva Baltasar

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-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

4.5

I loved this book, but I didn't always love our narrator, Boulder. Or her partner Samsa. They were both incredibly flawed, but that is definitely what made this book interesting. Something I kept returning to throughout the book is that if Boulder were a man, I would likely have rolled my eyes and dismissed him early on. This exploration of hesitancy around having kids is more palatable, I suppose, when the hesitant person is a woman than a man. And despite the fact that I think Boulder often does the wrong thing, I do understand why she makes those choices, which I think is an impressive feat by Baltasar.

I did feel proud of that I picked up on the fact that Baltasar is a poet. It definitely shows in her writing, and major compliments to Sanches that it shows so well in the translation. I happened to pick this up because it was nominated for the International Booker and I'm so happy it was longlisted because I don't know if I would have picked it up otherwise.