bea_reads_books's reviews
343 reviews

No Escape by Maren Stoffels

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Bullying and Blood

The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women by Anushay Hossain

challenging emotional informative

3.75

This book has a lot of important information, and a lot of things I did not know. I do wish that trans and indigenous people hadn’t felt so much like a footnote though, and I don’t think disability was mentioned even once that I remember.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

The Seventh Perfection by Daniel Polansky

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3.25

Woven of the World by Katey Howes, Dinara Mirtalipova

inspiring reflective sad

4.25

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, and Car accident

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

challenging informative reflective

5.0

This book is so important to me, as someone who was raised in evangelical conservative Christianity (specifically Calvinism and Sovereign Grace Churches - iykyk). It addresses how the convergence of race, gender, religion, politics and the military has shaped our country in the hands of white men. If you’re going to read this book, I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you pick up “Mediocre” by Ijeoma Oluo either immediately before or immediately after. They talk about so many of the same issues but from two distinct and different perspectives that compliment each other so very well. I genuinely believe they should be sold together with a study guide.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Sexual harassment, and War

Worlds of Ink and Shadow: A Novel of the Brontës by Lena Coakley

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

The Witchery by S. Isabelle

adventurous mysterious tense

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I struggle to read physical books and usually default to audio, which was a bad choice here because the narrator was not a good fit. She sounded like she was reading the script of a Disney channel original movie, which did NOT suit the tone of the book at all. There was also just way too many POVs - six total, with no real rhyme or reason as to how often each character got a chapter. This made it very difficult to follow the action - something that was not helped by the fact that SO MUCH was going on constantly. I’m disappointed because I really wanted to like this book, and the characters themselves seem great. It just feels unpolished. I was also disappointed because this book was sold to me as sapphic, and while there are characters who are sapphic, the only romance in this book is between a girl and a boy. However, I’m awarding an extra half star because the dog did not die, and the focus on the main characters’ friendship was nice.