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andreiaoh's reviews
476 reviews
Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
so sweet and lovely!
Our Tower by Joseph Coelho, Richard Johnson
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
4.0
very poetic and atmospheric, and the illustrations are beautiful
Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by Elise Hu
informative
3.0
I think if you're less acquainted with Korean pop culture, this is probably a much more illuminating and interesting read. Unfortunately, I'm a loser kpoppie (😔) so I would have liked a deeper dive as a lot of this is pretty surface level for my level of understanding.
The Missing Piece by Jordan Stephens
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
firmly believe more adults should tap into picture books
(& the art for this was wonderful)
(& the art for this was wonderful)
One More Shot by Anise Starre
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.
just was not having a good time with this
Penance by Eliza Clark
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
big up(north) yorkshire! kinda loved how local this felt and it was nice hearing proper yorkshire accents during the audiobook lol. that's not very relevant to the content itself, but as someone who grew up relatively close to where the contents of this book took place, the scene setting was very realistic and almost nostalgic. i knew a lot of these characters in school/growing up and the energy was familar, maybe even comforting in a sense...which i know is a bit odd to say about a mockumentary style novel about a pretty horrifying murder lol ! i really dont like or engage with irl true crime stuff, and i tend to not read many thrillers or crime novels for similar reasons, so i was quite surprised at the ease in which i was able to read this.
i was not bored at any point while reading this. this honestly did not have a lot of ~action~, majority of it was character building work, delving into the somewhat mundane backstories of many many different characters but it was all genuinely very interesting to listen to. the mixed-media nature of this — from podcasts, to tumblr posts, tweets, articles, interview portions, and regular prose — gave some texture to what may ordinarily feel a bit dull or dense. i give a lot of credit to the author for immediately making me care about the lives and histories of characters on page for a pretty brief portion of time. considering the amount of characters included in this, it was easy for me to keep track of all the different people involved and their role in the story at large. not only that, but they all felt distinct and like their role in the story mattered, no matter how brief their part may have played or their relatively transient nature in the next.
i also give a LOT of credit for the author being able to discuss early 2010s fandom culture (on tumblr esp!) and not have it come across cringey in the slightest. homegirl really knows what she was writing about and i respect it to the max.
the pacing was pretty consistent and kept me engaged, i did not lose interest and i was not distracted at all whilst reading/listening to this novel. my only minor minor gripe was i wish that the murder did not feel like such a speed run. this is where i think the pacing meandered a tad; considering how the rest of the book was written, the big moment we were all waiting for felt oddly rushed. i didnt want any more details per se, i think we got enough detail of the act itself, but considering the gravity of the scene and what it meant for the whole story it was brushed over incredibly quickly. i dont usually want books to be longer but i think this could have done with a few more pages or so. the ending (of the fake true crime book within this novel - if that makes sense 😅) was pretty abrupt.
however, i did really like the ending of this novel. it genuinely was pretty funny and (maybe heavy handedly) summed up the themes of this book!
i was not bored at any point while reading this. this honestly did not have a lot of ~action~, majority of it was character building work, delving into the somewhat mundane backstories of many many different characters but it was all genuinely very interesting to listen to. the mixed-media nature of this — from podcasts, to tumblr posts, tweets, articles, interview portions, and regular prose — gave some texture to what may ordinarily feel a bit dull or dense. i give a lot of credit to the author for immediately making me care about the lives and histories of characters on page for a pretty brief portion of time. considering the amount of characters included in this, it was easy for me to keep track of all the different people involved and their role in the story at large. not only that, but they all felt distinct and like their role in the story mattered, no matter how brief their part may have played or their relatively transient nature in the next.
i also give a LOT of credit for the author being able to discuss early 2010s fandom culture (on tumblr esp!) and not have it come across cringey in the slightest. homegirl really knows what she was writing about and i respect it to the max.
the pacing was pretty consistent and kept me engaged, i did not lose interest and i was not distracted at all whilst reading/listening to this novel. my only minor minor gripe was i wish that the murder did not feel like such a speed run. this is where i think the pacing meandered a tad; considering how the rest of the book was written, the big moment we were all waiting for felt oddly rushed. i didnt want any more details per se, i think we got enough detail of the act itself, but considering the gravity of the scene and what it meant for the whole story it was brushed over incredibly quickly. i dont usually want books to be longer but i think this could have done with a few more pages or so. the ending (of the fake true crime book within this novel - if that makes sense 😅) was pretty abrupt.
however, i did really like the ending of this novel. it genuinely was pretty funny and (maybe heavy handedly) summed up the themes of this book!
The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
i really adored the art style, especially when it came to the outdoor and garden/nature scenes but i dont think this was a good adaptation of the story. it felt really disjointed, choppy, and i feel like the story doesnt really make sense without some prior knowledge of the original novel as novel is ever realy explained and there doesnt seem to be much of a proper plot. instead, it felt more like vignettes or scene snapshots collated together.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
i find it really tricky (and sometimes inappropriate) to rate memoirs, especially ones like these which deal with such personal and sensitive matter.
my rating does not reflect on chanel's story — it was truly a heartbreaking, powerful, and insightful account of an incredibly difficult point in her life which still reverberates throughout her own life as well as the culture at large. enjoy might be the wrong word to use here, but her story, her truth, and her words stuck with me and i think anyone who reads this would be getting a lot of out it. it was emotionally challenging at times, and genuinely caused me to stand up and stomp around my room in a rage at the ridiculously unjust legal system and the awful way women are treated by legal professionals.
however, i do think this book could've benefitted from another really big edit. it felt too long — i read this in audio format and i think the length of it really felt evident in a way that might not be reflected in the written format. i found myself glazing over towards the end where i felt the narrative got a bit too meandering and lacked proper focus. regarding the audiobook, i do kinda wish i just read this instead. this was read by the author, chanel miller, but i didnt really enjoy her narration style. i really enjoyed how you could hear the emotion in her voice during some especially difficult passages and in the reading of her victim statement at the end, but for a 15 hour journey, her tone wasn't my favourite. i think its tricky when it comes to nonfiction — i do tend to like when authors narrate their own work but sometimes it really makes one understand why voice acting is a specific vocation.
as an aside — reading this in 2024 and all these very liberal-esque positive mentions of war criminals joe biden and hilary clinton did make me cringe. of course, theyve never been the bastions of equity and liberty but with recent events, the horrors that they have engaged in are ever more evident (at least to me! a proper adult whereas in 2017-2019 i was still a teenager lol) just put a bit of a rancid taste in my mouth. i understand that these things meant a lot to chanel at the time, and probably very validating in the face of so much dismissal and outright harassment, but i just didnt enjoy this (extremely brief!! i should clarify) aspect of the memoir at all, and it probably aged it a bit poorly.
im totally willing to revisit this in its written format, and i probably will to get a deeper read on some things that probably slipped by. otherwise, this was a really powerful and evocative memoir that i just wished was written a teensy bit better.
my rating does not reflect on chanel's story — it was truly a heartbreaking, powerful, and insightful account of an incredibly difficult point in her life which still reverberates throughout her own life as well as the culture at large. enjoy might be the wrong word to use here, but her story, her truth, and her words stuck with me and i think anyone who reads this would be getting a lot of out it. it was emotionally challenging at times, and genuinely caused me to stand up and stomp around my room in a rage at the ridiculously unjust legal system and the awful way women are treated by legal professionals.
however, i do think this book could've benefitted from another really big edit. it felt too long — i read this in audio format and i think the length of it really felt evident in a way that might not be reflected in the written format. i found myself glazing over towards the end where i felt the narrative got a bit too meandering and lacked proper focus. regarding the audiobook, i do kinda wish i just read this instead. this was read by the author, chanel miller, but i didnt really enjoy her narration style. i really enjoyed how you could hear the emotion in her voice during some especially difficult passages and in the reading of her victim statement at the end, but for a 15 hour journey, her tone wasn't my favourite. i think its tricky when it comes to nonfiction — i do tend to like when authors narrate their own work but sometimes it really makes one understand why voice acting is a specific vocation.
as an aside — reading this in 2024 and all these very liberal-esque positive mentions of war criminals joe biden and hilary clinton did make me cringe. of course, theyve never been the bastions of equity and liberty but with recent events, the horrors that they have engaged in are ever more evident (at least to me! a proper adult whereas in 2017-2019 i was still a teenager lol) just put a bit of a rancid taste in my mouth. i understand that these things meant a lot to chanel at the time, and probably very validating in the face of so much dismissal and outright harassment, but i just didnt enjoy this (extremely brief!! i should clarify) aspect of the memoir at all, and it probably aged it a bit poorly.
im totally willing to revisit this in its written format, and i probably will to get a deeper read on some things that probably slipped by. otherwise, this was a really powerful and evocative memoir that i just wished was written a teensy bit better.
Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield
informative
fast-paced
5.0
really really insightful piece of work. greenfield's photography is wonderful (as usual!) and the book is constructed very thoughtfully and i can see how the narrative flows between the pictures and the interview passages.
Crumbs by Danie Stirling
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
really wish i liked the story bc the art style was really wonderful. i just found the plot extremely mediocre and the council stuff really unclear and a bit confusing (despite this being quite a dense graphic novel! as far as graphic novels go!!)