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booksthatslay's reviews
213 reviews
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
There were many moments throughout this where I had to stop and just admire the gorgeous sentences before me. The writing is lyrical and poetic. I have many quotes written down from this book in my journal. At the heart of this is a coming of age story about the spaces we create and live in. I really admired we were able to explore the spaces created for family, friends, religion, culture, and ourselves, and how all of those spaces come together to form a person's reality. There were moments that were a little repetitive when it didn't feel necessary to the story. I wish there had been more time spent diving deeper into how the spaces we create interact with one another, and the ways in which those spaces force us to grow in new and challenging ways.
Thank you so much to the publisher for a copy of this book!
Thank you so much to the publisher for a copy of this book!
Root Fractures: Poems by Diana Khoi Nguyen
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Such an incredible collection of poetry. In this, Nguyen shows us the moments in time where a family fractures and the lifelong impact those fractures have from generation to generation. This is a collection I urge you to really lean into the format and, if you are able to, read this in physical/digital format. The use of photos, spacing and overlapping text to help tell the story was slightly confusing at first but by the end of the collection, everything clicks. It's beautiful. It's devastating. It's worth it.
Thank you so much to the publisher for the advance reader copy!
Thank you so much to the publisher for the advance reader copy!
Come & Get It by Kiley Reid
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
3.0
There's a lot happening in the words and actions exchanged between characters about class and race - both subtle and blatant. Reid's writing is smart and the dialogue feels fully realized. I really admire when a writer is able to say so much without having to say too much. This was a very character driven story in a way that didn't totally work for me. There were elements I really enjoyed but I did feel like there were too many characters with not a strong enough background plot to hold my interest through the entire book. I didn't particularly care for the way things were wrapped up in the end either.
Thank you to the publisher for an advance reader copy on NetGalley and thank you to Libro.fm for the advance listening audio.
Thank you to the publisher for an advance reader copy on NetGalley and thank you to Libro.fm for the advance listening audio.