bookishfoxes's reviews
405 reviews

Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgwick, Chie Kusuwada
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

Can't get into it and it is not what I expected 

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

hopeful 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

4.5

Great book! Definitely going to check out the rest of this series. Did wish the ending was a bit longer though.

This is a middle grade but also felt a bit like a YA to me. But I listened to the audiobook so maybe the physical copy has more middle grade features? I don't know. But this is definitely interesting for all ages.

Also, it's great reading a book with sports that isn't hockey or football.

Gray Fox in the Moonlight by Isaac Peterson

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. Wowowowowowow.

You know when you love a book so much, you never want it to end?

A few years ago I read Far From the Tree by this same author and it is still my favorite book of all time. So I was a bit nervous starting this one. How can anything live up to that one?

But wow. It has the same beautiful writing and amazing characters with multiple layers. And So. Much. Emotions. I cried, I laughed, I gasped, I kicked my feet. 

This story was absolutely beautiful. That's all I can say right now. Beautiful. I can't put it into words. Please read it.

The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a very interesting read. The moment I saw this book in a video recommending books from all over the world, I knew I needed to read it. Which is interesting because this is definitely out of my usual reading comfort.

Reading these stories felt like reading a dystopian book and every time I had to remind myself that while fictional, these were all based on real life situations.

I normally don't enjoy short stories very much, I've often struggled getting through collections, so it was very surprising that this book was easy to read for me and I never lost interest.

The last 3 stories weren't as strong as the first ones, the endings felt a bit confusing, as if I missed some information.

Then the afterword interested me a lot. Almost my favorite part of this book.

I definitely recommend reading this book!


Ratings per chapter:
Record of a Defection - 4
City of Spectors - 4.5
Life of a Swift Steed - 4.25
So Near, Yet So Far - 5
Pandemonium - 3.75
On Stage 3.75
The Red Mushroom 3
Afterword: 4.75

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini

informative medium-paced

3.75

Beautifully illustrated! Though sometimes I got a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information, and the reading order of the text wasn't always very obvious. Still, this was a good read! 

A Short History of Queer Women by Kirsty Loehr

funny informative fast-paced

1.0

Hmm. Okay.

So, I listened to the audiobook at 2.0x speed and originally enjoyed it, though it felt very chaotic and over the place with so many names and years that I could hardly keep up. It went so fast that some things slipped by me that I didn't notice at first.

While it was really good to learn more about queer history, the way transgender people were mentioned was... questionable, to say the least.

I didn't know much about these historical figures. It wasn't until I read the reviews that I learned that the author kept referring to what would now be seen as a trans man as a woman. 

I'm lowering my original rating because of this. Transphobia does not deserve a place in our community and overshines the things I did enjoy before knowing this.

I'm very disappointed. I hope the author will learn from this and not misgender people in the future, though I don't think I will be reading anything else.

Een ongelooflijke kerst by Nadine Swagerman

emotional inspiring fast-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

Nogmaals een geweldig boek van Nadine Swagerman dat mijn hart sneller laat kloppen. Ik heb hier ontzettend van genoten! Het zit vol humor en emotionele scenes, een perfecte mix dat je altijd kan verwachten. En ik vond het leuk hoe anders dit was dan de meeste kerstboeken, ookal houd ik zelf van de kerst. Prachtig ❤️

Set the Record Straight by Hannah Bonam-Young

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHYYHHHHWJWJWJSJWJSNSJJSNSJSNSJSJSNDNSNSNS

I AM SCREAMING. OH MY GOD. OH MY- I LOVED THIS SO MUCH

This book had me crying. I have NEVER felt so seen before???? A sapphic HAPPY love story with autism AND adhd rep?? 

This was so freaking beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ink Girls by Marieke Nijkamp

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

A great graphic novel! 

Sadly my copy was misprinted which caused for some confusion until I realized this, but I won't remove any stars from my rating because that isn't on the author but on the publisher. Though if you have an unread copy or are about to buy one, check if chapter 4 has all its pages in the right order. Around page 80-90 it suddenly goes into page 120-ish, then later goes back.

I liked the story and the characters, and the illustrations were absolutely amazing!