ambercchen's reviews
14 reviews

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

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5.0

genuinely one of the most beautiful books i’ve ever read! the world building is some of the best i’ve ever seen, i felt like i knew each of these characters so intimately. the politics hold up to the prose, each adding to the other. each page was electric, bursting at the seams and i was entranced the entire time. if i became a novelist, i’d want to write exactly like this.
Severance by Ling Ma

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4.0

it was really uncanny to read this in 2023 when this was published in 2018, really haunting to see what was true about human response to pandemic but the way shen fever embodied itself is something i’ll be thinking about… the structure added a lot to the story, esp with the moments when i couldn’t immediately recognize what timeline candace was in. very fascinating in an ethnic existential sense in context with capitalist realism. a lot of jumbled thoughts!
Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto by Nancy Fraser, Tithi Bhattacharya, Cinzia Arruzza

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4.0

once again, reading books i should’ve read way earlier in my academic career so now i’m just reading entry level stuff. anyways, still a great introduction to anti-capitalist feminism, including some hints of anti-imperialism, marxism, and militant activism which is appreciated. it’s not necessarily a foundational text but still a fantastic basic manifesto.
There There by Tommy Orange

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emotional tense

4.75

if a single book from the current moment should become a classic, it should be this one
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Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

davis is a genius when it comes to deconstructing the pic, allowing for such a complex topic to be digestible for many. i really should’ve read this book earlier in my academic career so i wasn’t presented with any revelations but this book should 100% be required reading for all americans!!
No-No Boy by John Okada

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.75

i wish more asian american diaspora writing was like this novel bc this is what it’s all about!!! the nothingness, the immigrant parent/american child dynamic, the double consciousness!!!!!! okada’s descriptions get lost in itself and emi’s characterization isn’t the best but by god this novel is good
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Sexile by Jaime Cortez, Patrick Hebert

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dark emotional fast-paced

4.0

a deeply intimate and honest story surrounding exile relating to gender, sexuality, and citizenship. for anyone looking for narratives surrounding lived experiences, this is an amazing one to read!
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Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

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dark reflective medium-paced

4.25

a really intriguing depiction of ptsd and anti war that literally no one in my ap lang class talked abt! the motif of interconnection and “everything was beautiful and nothing hurt” is so lovely but i fear vonnegut fell into the trap of old men talking abt young women in a weird way :-/
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Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom

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emotional inspiring

4.0

a wonderfully intimate perspective on death and life that asks us so many grand questions. i’ll always have personal bias about this book but it’s an easy read with a moving theme, what else do ya need!
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

there are some definitive flaws (one of which being albom’s gross simplification of his woman characters) but this book will always have a really soft spot in my heart that may or may not be clouded by nostalgia
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