bencaroline's reviews
55 reviews

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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emotional hopeful informative slow-paced

5.0

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

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funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed this book! One thing I want to note is that this is one case where I do not recommend reading it by audiobook; I am glad there is an audio version, but a lot of choices in the production are ones that I think detracted from my experience of the text. Character voices are well distinguished, but most children’s voices are a bit caricaturish for the subtleties that I think the text is trying to convey. And most importantly, someone decided that Linus and the general narration should have an American accent, when British coding of the character and his environment could not be more clear.

Trainwreck by Jude Ellison S. Doyle

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challenging funny informative reflective

4.75

I can't believe I hadn't heard about this book until 2020. It's an excellent book that builds on and contributes to a growing collection of works about misogyny and public shame. I am writing this immediately after finishing it--after I've processed a bit I'd like to give it a more thorough review.

Lionboy: The Truth by Zizou Corder

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adventurous hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

It wraps up a little quick and neat for my liking, but it's such a gratifying end to a wonderful series.

Lirael by Garth Nix

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Content Warnings

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I might come off the haze of finishing and lower it from a perfect 5 but GOSH am I smitten with this book! It gave me so many things I didn't know I was missing.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

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adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

This book disappointed me, to be honest! I read the series as a kid and remember really enjoying it but it didn't pull me in nearly as much as I expected or hoped.

This is one of many fantasy worlds in which bloodline is not only relevant but sacred, and can we be done with that bullshit please? And while we're at it let's abolish forced hetero romance that there's no established reason to care about, also present in this book.

That being said, I still appreciated the way this book explores death and its meaning and its fantasy possibilities, and while the heteronormativity is pretty major, this seems to be a world with very little gender bias or sexism. I'm looking forward to rereading the rest of the series.

Content Warnings