ashleyreads88's reviews
508 reviews

The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The Personal Librarian is the story of Belle da Costa Greene.  It's heartbreaking but hopeful.  Belle was a young Black woman who passed as white.  The Personal Librarian tells Belle's story as the librarian of J.P. Morgan.  It's about her professional and personal life as Morgan's librarian, and the challenges she faced being a woman in a man's world.  The way Belle navigated auctions and negotiated was inspiring. Were there times when she was manipulative? Yes, but it was to get deals done for the rare manuscripts for the library.  I loved how strong and fearless Belle was, I loved watching her growth, how she loved the library and wanted what was the best for it.  She had great attention to detail in making the library what it was.  After reading this book, it made me want to go visit the library to learn more and see firsthand what Belle did.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
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The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth, by

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emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced
*Listened on audio.

This is a beautiful, honest, emotional collection of short stories and poems that were letters to the children of the authors featured about various topics including love, racism, and being a BIPOC.  The story that will stick with me the most is "Ten" by Tracey Baptise which was 10 rules to follow when getting pulled over by the police, it's heartbreaking however it's the reality that BIPOC sadly live with.  I was inspired by listening to these stories.
The Hobbit Dramatized, by J.R.R. Tolkien

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adventurous dark lighthearted fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
Having already read the book and knowing the story, this was enjoyable to listen to as an audiobook.
Veil, by Dylan Farrow

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I no way shape or form does my receiving this from NetGalley affect my thoughts and opinions.

Veil continues where Hush left off.  I enjoyed seeing Shae and her group of friends on their journey to Gondal.  I felt that Shae grew as a character, as did her relationships with her friends.  There were quite a few twists that were shocking.  I enjoyed this story and thought that it was tied together nicely with  Hush.
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Neon Gods, by Katee Robert

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I loved this book, and I loved the story.  I loved Persephone's relationship with her sisters.  I couldn't stand Demeter and Zeus in this book.  I loved Hades and how his relationship with Persephone developed, and their relationship was hot.  I loved how Hades did everything he could to protect his kingdom and Persephone.  Neon Gods was a well-written story with complex character relationships.
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Lore Olympus, Season 2, by Rachel Smythe

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dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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Lore Olympus, Season 1, by Rachel Smythe

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dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.

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Kaleidoscope, by Brian Selznick

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adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I feel like I read Kaleidoscope at a time when I needed to read it.  It's a book about grief and I felt that the kaleidoscope illustrations represented how different grief can look for people.  I loved the story of friendship.  This book is heartbreaking but beautiful and it made me feel things.
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The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
The Starless Sea is a beautiful book.  At times, I found it confusing due to the multiple storylines.  The storylines did all come together nicely.  Another thing that was confusing at times was all the different characters and their stories.  I did enjoy this book, and how much of a dark, mysterious adventure it was.
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Finding Fish: A Memoir, by Antwone Q. Fisher, MIM E. Rivas

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
I remember reading Finding Fish in, I think high school and have maybe re-read it a few times since and then watching the movie.  I think that this is a story that needs to be read.  It’s raw, heartbreaking, but at its core, it’s hopeful.  It’s also at its core, a coming of age story about growing up in a system that more often than not fails.  Finding Fish touches on some tough topics that are an integral part of Antwone’s story.  This is an emotional but great read, and I’m glad I re-read it again.
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