ayay_ron25's reviews
163 reviews

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

slow-paced

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

1.0

i hate this book, i read it for book club and it was such a slow and bothersome read. the characters are introduced as stereotypes which was already annoying but i thought maybe that the author was trying to make a point about how the town is obsessed with the law and following rules, NO 

ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE JUST ANNOYING TROPES THAT DONT GET BETTER!! 

the author tries to write character development but half of the characters (trip, izzy, moody, etc) don’t really matter in the book and are tied to important characters like mia or mrs richardson but they don’t change or are only used to progress others. 

i didn’t enjoy the personalities of the characters or the plot of the book, it was very bland even when the baby trial was happening. the best part of the book was mia’s childhood, but other than that i found it somewhat boring to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Sexual content, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Classism

Minor: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman

5.0

Maus: A Survivor's Tale. My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

5.0

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

I love the idea of the story of following along different gods and figures throughout history and Gaimon does a good job at blending all the characters together. At times though, the writing becomes uncomfortable especially with how almost all the characters talk to women, especially younger girls. It is brought up many times throughout the book about sexualizing young girls with wednesday constantly flirting with girls who are described along the lines as “barely legal.” Theres a magic system on how wednesdays advances on these high schoolers or young girls make him stronger and it’s talked about many times throughout the book and it’s just very uncomfortable to read. 

The book also seemed to drone on or just over explain mundane things happening. Things that were not important to the story just kept happening and being explained in extreme detail when it could have been skipped over entirely. 

Overall, the premise of the book is really good and I really enjoyed Gaimon’s other writing but this book wasn’t it for me. Ive read other books like this such as Michael Scott’s series The Alchemyst, where they have famous figures throughout history living as immortals and it mixes real life history and magic in an interesting way. So if you enjoy the premise of American Gods I would recommend reading that series instead. 

Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia

2.0

Teen Titans: Beast Boy by Kami Garcia

3.0

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia

3.0

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Educated by Tara Westover

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0