annoyedhumanoid's reviews
166 reviews

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

loved the Pioneers section—genius.

"'Zweisamkeit' is the feeling of being alone even when you're with other people." Simon turned to look in his husband's eyes. "Before I met you, I felt this constantly. I felt it with my family, my friends, and every boyfriend I ever had. I felt it so often that I thought this was the nature of living. To be alive was to accept that you were fundamentally alone." Simon's eyes were moist. "I know I'm impossible, and I know you don't care about German words or marriage. All | can say is, I love you and thank you for marrying me anyway." 

Ant raised his glass. "Zweisamkeit," he said.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

Medea by Euripides

dark inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

the number of times i, too, have said aloud "As a woman, I'm so sad" …hits too close to home 😔
Medea is perhaps the original girlboss. she's like the opposite of a pushover: she may fall down, but she falls 360º and hits you from behind. like a fucking weeble. or when Taylor Swift said "i rose up from the dead, i do it all the time." and when she

appears on a winged chariot

at the end… chills.

but all the action happens off screen and is relayed to the audience through dialogue—a boring use of the medium. what's the point of staging this except for that final moment.

Fence, Vol. 3 by C.S. Pacat

lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.75

story is fun but i'm consistently disappointed by the art… ☹️ like the bonus covers by HamletMachine included at the end 😫 a glimpse at what we could have had

Fence, Vol. 2 by C.S. Pacat

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

short and sweet, still dramatic af, kinda reminded me of Death Note, Nicholas Cox = Light Yagami and that’s all there is to say on that
also, having read the accompanying novel Fence: Striking Distance which focuses on the relationship between Harvard and Aiden, i can definitely see the yearning undertones that i didn’t catch on my first (two?) times reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Minor: Abandonment

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.25

it's like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but even better imo. i fell in love with Elizabeth Zott, whose experiences are painful to read and made me want to scream with indignation. in fact, (almost*) the whole cast was lovable—not just  "able to be loved", but rather, "no choice but to love". an engaging, many-threaded story full of heart that weaved into one for a rock-solid ending (for which i'm a sucker).

*except, to be honest, Walter Pine. i don't see how he was much better than the villainous men before him (Donatti and Lebensmal); maybe he was "just following orders", but as if that makes up for it. he's a devoted father, but what kind of daughter's role model is complicit in the mistreatment of women under his own purview? but of course he's ultimately

rewarded with a promotion—which i don't fault the writing for, it's prob the most realistic course of events unfortunately—but less believably, becomes bffs with Elizabeth at the drop of a hat

?? he may recognize the err of his ways, but did he follow that up with any significant changes, e.g. use his newfound power to uplift those he previously kept down? not that we know of. maybe i hold a grudge like Calvin but i don't really see how Walter redeemed himself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell

adventurous challenging emotional 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

3.5

i really enjoyed Everina Maxwell's first book, Winter's Orbit, set in the same universe but entirely separate, so i was of course very excited for their next one. Ocean's Echo went even more for plot and even less for romance than its predecessor, which was already notable for how plot-heavy it was for a book billed as a romance; unfortunately, i enjoyed the plot much less this time around. the whole Power Rangers combine-into-one but with minds ("syncing") became monotonous and laborious. the book could have been 20% shorter, but even if it were, the amount of payoff at the end still wouldn't feel sufficient. basically, not my favorite journey and a very meager reward for my efforts. i still recommend Winter's Orbit though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and War

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

re: ableism: people have genetically-inherited mind-reading/commanding abilities, and mind-readers are stigmatized. re: slavery: discussions of aforementioned mind-readers being conscripted into the military and basically worked to death. re: terminal illness: mcs find themselves in an untenable, rapidly worsening mental state

Through the Woods by E.M. Carroll

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

to restate what everyone else has already said, the art is beautiful. like it really popped off that hard for the conclusion??? wow. but a few of the stories were too open-ended for my liking

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore and Alcohol

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

there's something about men in the TJ Kluniverse (yes, i am proud of myself for that, thank you) that's a lot better than irl (in my experience of course), especially dads… consider it part of the apologetic parents canon: https://www.vox.com/culture/23025832/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-parental-apology-fantasy-turning-red. however, this romanticizing of characters also extends to cops, making for some strong copaganda—especially awkward given the book's release in summer 2020. one of its major themes is the myth of good vs. evil and of black & white thinking, yet this only applies to our fictional superheroes and not the institution of policing we actually live with—no no, the police are always unquestionably "the good guys" 🙃. there's even a moment where we're made to sympathize with a cop in a literal act of police brutality, punching a witness (a witness, not even a suspected perpetrator) for not cooperating. we see how much he was going through at the time; maybe we should extend that understanding to other cops who abuse their power? or, maybe a different superhero story got it right: "with great power comes great responsibility," and as such it's reasonable to expect protection from those whose job it is (supposedly) to "protect and serve". another of Klune's books, The House in the Cerulean Sea, used fantastical metaphor to make a political statement; i can't help but see as a glaring omission how The Extraordinaries falls short in that regard.
big thought out of the way, here are some scattered ones:

• there was a lot of build up and the climax seemed to drag on, but insufficient payoff. (though, at least there was any payoff at all, unlike Fence: Striking Distance. that's not relevant here, i just hold a grudge.)
• for the amount of times the narration described what teenage boys are like, i started to think maybe it was the author trying to convince us that he knew, like "how do you do fellow kids"
• it was genuinely funny
• audiobook reader was top tier 👌
• "I'm young and queer and in a fragile place right now." me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Stalking, Car accident, Alcohol, and Classism

Vision by Julia Gfrörer

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

the cover is gorgeous but the art style didn’t really live up to it. the story was good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Excrement and Alcohol

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

harrowing. i didn't find it funny aside from a few one-liners here and there, but it didn't need to be funny. i found it quite meaningful as someone who's struggled with disordered eating. be mindful of content warnings and take care of yourself 🤍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Blood, and Stalking

re: ableism: (quoted) use of the r-slur