biggaywave's reviews
251 reviews

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

A powerful and extro/introspective collection of poems and concluding essays that allows its words to be a bomb built in a garden. The interwoven motifs such as those of crows, jasmine, and fangs tie the collection together, weaving a story of resistance, revolution, and resolute commitment to decolonization efforts globally. Beautiful and precise in every detail. 

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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? No

4.25

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

Nothing made me hungrier than reading this recipe for humanities capability for love and connection. There were stories and narration I wish was given greater time and attention. Overall, the poetic lyricism Zauner utilizes is compelling and precise, like a mother’s recipes.

Freedom House by KB Brookins

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Using varying forms of poetry, KB tells us just what is on their mind, and it is a scathing review of the failings of cis/hetero white capitalist and colonized America. These poems give meaning and emotion to the individual and community plights that reject these structures daily. 

Confessions of a Teenage Drag King by Markus Harwood-Jones

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

Funny and an engaging plot, this book is good for a middle-grade reader. The main character was incredibly flawed, and I would have liked to see more clarity on the critic of this character by those around them in the conclusion. 

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

A powerful and informative collection of essays that are together a critical read for young adults of all identities. But this books is especially important for black queer and trans kids as they search for meaning and connection in a world that denies them. There were times I’d lose the narrative thread, but ultimately this memoir succeeds in loving its audience always, and allowing that to be the message. 

If They Come for Us: Poems by Fatimah Asghar

challenging emotional hopeful informative

5.0

A powerful poetry collection that mirrors the horrors of displacement and war alongside domestic violences and being orphaned. Questions and conceptions of gender are threaded throughout, especially apparent in “Boy”, and this boy is both an outside body of maleness, as well as a spiritual within the body. The conclusion is a rallying cry and a commitment, rounding out the collection.