bloomed's reviews
132 reviews

My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin

challenging dark 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

4.25

I’d wandered into this encounter the way you wander into a dark room: with one hand outstretched, feeling your way as you go, unable to see what’s on the walls or how exactly you might get out.

this is almost the thesis of the book; my last innocent year follows isabel through her last year of college as she fumbles through life, growing up, etc, and all of the mistakes and missteps that come along with that. overall, it really worked for me—i thought she felt really relatable and concrete, and i liked that florin was so willing to deal in shades of gray instead of making everything black and white—but it’s not a story for everyone, since it does get relatively heavy at points! definitely mind the CWs before you read it.

my only real issue with it was in how predictable the resolution to the main conflict was, but even that feels like a nitpicky criticism, since i don’t think it was meant to be a twisty, turny thriller so much as a character study and an examination of girlhood, feminism, and so on.

Content Warnings

Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“For so long I have lived like the woman in the parable, looking back to see whatever ruins lay behind me. If I had remained at Sailors Beach and had a child with Jude, if I had married him, as I once imagined I would, my bridal train would have been made of salt and sand.”

no plot, just vibes, but in a really beautiful way! this might be in my top 5 for 2023; it was a great, quick read.

the prose was light and delicate without ever tipping over into sounding floral, and the actual content was really beautiful. the main character was relatable in the best way, but she was still a flawed, nuanced person. i really enjoyed how nostalgic the story seemed, too. the relationships (between the main character and jude, but also between everybody else, especially the main character and her mother) were really lovely and had a realistic push-pull to them that made them tangible—honestly, if someone handed me this book and told me it was a memoir, i’d probably believe them!

the story got a little bit heavy toward the end, so be mindful of content warnings, etc. nothing ever feels like it’s being injected for shock value, though, which is a huge plus.

Content Warnings

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

“Books are letters in bottles, cast into the waves of time, from one person trying to save the world to another.”

a really quick, poignant read with pretty, delicate prose. it wasn’t what i was expecting (i’m not 100% sure what i was expecting), but i liked it a lot!

the best part of the book was how clever it felt; there’s a lot of witty wordplay and it’s basically built on the back of watching two characters banter back and forth with one another. if you like dialog-heavy books that focus a lot on one-on-one character interaction, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot! it’s relatively light on the plot and worldbuilding, but in a way that really, really worked for the story that the book was trying to tell. i think any extra time spent on trying to establish the universe it takes place in—or trying to flesh out what’s happening beyond red and blue—would’ve detracted from watching their lives unfold, for lack of a better way of putting it.

the worst part, tbh, was that it had to end. even though the ending itself was really gorgeous in itself, i would’ve happily read another hundred pages of red and blue sending letters back and forth to one another!

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories by Agustina Bazterrica

Go to review page

dark reflective tense fast-paced