bookishfoxes's reviews
410 reviews

Joy, to the World by Kai Shappley, Lisa Bunker

emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

5.0

Hi. Yes, I'd like to report a robbery. They stole my heart.

Wow. This was... wow.

I listened to the audiobook and paused so many times because I burst into tears. It made me so emotional.

This book is beautiful and it is a shame I never see anyone talk about it. I will make it my personal goal to get people to read it!

Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.75

What an adorable read! It took me a moment to get into it, but once the story pulled me in, I couldn't put this down. I love the pacing of the book. It cuts right to the chase. The story starts almost immediately instead of pulling you through dozens of pages of build-up. 

I loved Theo and Dylan together. Normally I'm not a fan of insta-lovey stories, but I immediately wanted them together. They had great chemistry and I was almost impatient waiting for them to officially get together.

I also really enjoyed the side characters! Even with a book under 300 pages, those characters were solid and had a good personality of their own.

I definitely recommend this book! I very much enjoyed reading it.

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

De helft van mij by Nadine Swagerman

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

"Mijn maag voelt alsof hij gevult is met de scherven van alles wat ik de laatste dagen kapot heb gemaakt."

Sjongejone. Hallo. Nadine heeft eerst mijn hart gestolen, omwikkeld met comfy dekens en een warme kop chocomel, om het vervolgens in ontiegelijk veel scherven te breken. My therapist will hear about this!

Wouw. Wat weer een prachtig boek. Ik herinner me hoe stil ik was na het lezen van Aan de andere kant van geluk... ja dat heb ik nu weer.

Zoveel emoties heb ik gevoeld. Ik heb gelachen en tranen gelaten. Zelfs tijdens het schrijven van deze review voel ik de tranen in mijn ogen. 

Sommige dingen in het boek kwamen hard aan. Quotes die ik zo erg herkenbaar vond. Het raakte me echt.

Alright, ik ga ff janken nu... spreek jullie later 🫡

Three Tasks for a Dragon by Eoin Colfer

adventurous sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Lang leve de keizer by Britt Zwijnenberg
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.

DNF - pagina 64

Ik wou dit boek heel graag leuk vinden. Ik zag veel hype op Instagram en ken mensen die bevriend zijn met de auteur. Dus enthusiast heb ik de So Many Pages speciale editie gekocht. 

Maar helaas. Ik kan er gewoon niet in komen. De schrijfstijl vind ik gewoon niet fijn. Het is erg snel waardoor je amper iets kan verwerken of er wordt al iets anders beschreven. Ook worden dezelfde zinnen vaak opnieuw gebruikt wat best opvalt. De conversaties tussen personages voelde nogal ongemakkelijk met zinnen die meer leken te komen uit een oud-Nederlands boek. Ook zater er meerdere fouten in waar ik me aan begon te storen.

Ik ben gestopt zodra het hoofdpersonage bij het strafkamp terecht gekomen is. Ik zou eerst doorlezen ookal vond ik er niet veel aan, maar ik vond het allemaal wel een beetje extreem dramatisch allemaal. Ik merkte zelfs dat ik geïrriteerd werd, dus heb ik toch besloten om te DNFen. Ik heb al wat moeite de laatste paar jaar met lezen, dus ik besteed liever tijd aan een boek waar ik van kan genieten.

Ik vind dit heel jammer want het leek een boek die ik geweldig zou vinden. En het boek ziet er zo prachtig uit. Maar helaas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Murder

Moderate: War

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

medium-paced

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

3.0

Hmm, I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed. I had pretty high expectations for this book because I've heard great things about it. I've owned this book for a few years and decided to finally read this today.

And, look, the art is gorgeous. The artist is INCREDIBLY talented, which is why I'm giving 3 stars instead of lower.

But the story... it just felt really meh. It wasn't very interesting. It was somehow all over the place and nothing happening at the same time. There were details about other characters that were never mentioned again. And it felt a bit repetitive. I can't say I enjoyed it or the characters.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

challenging dark tense medium-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

5.0

Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews during World War II: A Graphic Novel by Ralph Shayne

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Danica Novgorodoff, Jason Reynolds

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5