Scan barcode
ambivalent's reviews
108 reviews
The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead
this was so good... for some reason i was super emotionally overcome while reading it and literally teared up every couple of chapters like a crazy person! but whatever, it's fine. i just think the messages rebecca stead writes about -- that people can make mistakes, and grow from them, and that things can change and adjusting is hard but with support you can make it through... it's so important. everything was handled so well and i just felt so much love come through from this book n___n
Spinning by Tillie Walden
didn't enjoy this as much as on a sunbeam, and i think part of it is the "memoir" part of it--i feel weird saying like "oh the narrative didn't go more into detail in certain parts/there were things that were mentioned then never brought up again" because... well. it's someone's life! the art is still really good and it's another book i wish i read when i was fourteen TT it was an exciting & immersive peek into the figure skating world which i knew nothing about
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu by Dan Jurafsky
i'm not a huge nonfiction fan in general but this was pretty cool--it was definitely nice to learn more about the origins of different food words and how words that seem similar but have completely different meanings (for ex. macaroni and macaroon) are actually related... also computational linguistics in general seems pretty interesting TT a yummy look at WORDS!
A City Inside by Tillie Walden
i kind of decided to read every tillie walden book and didn't bother to check the page count of each one...? anyways this was a really short and pleasant read. i liked the artwork better than spinning and there's a lot of that same attention to detail/mentions of SPACE! that you see in on a sunbeam. it honestly felt more like a poem than a "graphic novel" with how short and metaphorical it was <3
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
the writing was so beautiful and the story was so immersive and flowed very easily. not going to lie i was kind of losing it at the initial descriptions of shaker heights. i recognize that same sort of privileged liberalism/"our community doesn't see race" in my own town which also has been grappling with a series of racist incidents over the past 2-3 years... celeste ng writes so vividly and conveys the concerns of each character so carefully. the reflections on motherhood and the questions it tries to bring up are so interesting to read.
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
this was such an enjoyable conclusion to the six of crows duology? after reading the shittiest trilogy ever (the poppy war) and also reflecting on my past experiences with ya trilogies i’m just really satisfied with how it turned out. the novel was so fast-paced and exciting and i loved seeing how all the twists and turns unfolded. also i wasn’t as big of a kaz/inej fan during book 1 but OH MY GOD!? literally the most dramatic hand-holding scene of my LIFE the sheer romance of it all… also i’m obsessed with kuwei’s character and his futile crush on jesper and the kuwei/jesper/wylan triangulation #GetKuweiABoyfriend. and like i know the romances are a little Too neat but there’s something so compelling about how ppl are foils for each other and Make Each Other Grow…
i love this part by Tillie Walden
i didn’t like it as much as a city inside even though i think the main concept of adolescent love being such a small thing yet feeling so large and powerful was nice? the book was so short that the whole arc of the story felt suuuper abrupt. as always her art is so gorgeous though and i really liked the use of watercolors n___n
Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden
MY SECOND FAVORITE TILLIE WALDEN BOOK (sorry on a sunbeam is still superior). actually artwise i was kind of just boggled by how good this was… the colors were so pretty and some of the panels were just breathtaking--she's definitely grown so much as an artist. it was really nice to see how she conveyed that same sense of wonder/exploration in a more realistic setting (western texas) instead of outer space/relying on “imagination” metaphors to construct elaborate scenery… also, idk, i related to the 18 y/o protag a good amount in some aspects; the whole struggle learning to drive narrative is REAL. i actually teared up at some parts and overall really enjoyed it, though i admit that it took a bit longer for me to get into the story and i wish she went more into the whole magical realism parts of the book. but yes i liked this one <3
The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar
WOW THIS IS A WAR NOVEL DONE RIGHT. well it isn't even a war novel (although the backdrop does involve a revolution) because it focuses more on the emotional aspects & the involvement of the four female protags... this is truly so beautifully/meticulously written and even if it was a little hard to get into in the beginning the payoff is so rewarding n__n quoting my gdoc commentary: "there’s so much hope and love in the book despite the devastation [of war] that occurs… there is something so powerful to me about that. T___T"