bringlaurasnacks's reviews
196 reviews

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

adventurous inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.75

The Women by Kristin Hannah

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

This took me a long time to read because it was so infuriating and heartbreaking that I could only stomach short bursts at a time. It reads like a lot of short stories rolled into one. You learn about the history of a tribe. A little detail of the rich natural landscape they inhabit. Get emotionally invested in their people and leaders. Inevitably the U.S. army or Indian agency decimates them in a supremely unfair and horrific way. Over and over again. Almost no one responsible ever seems to get their comeuppance.

Such is America.

This book should be required reading for every American. The true and shameful history of how America was stolen through genocide, betrayal and broken promises. The hardest thing about this book was that it’s over 50 years old. The content is still not widely known by the American public the way many other genocides are. Despite us walking on the very land where it happened. It’s a tough read, but probably one of the most important books I’ve read in my life.

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

5.0

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

This book was... weird. Probably the most creative and unique take on extraterrestrials and the apocalypse that I've ever read. The world building and xenology was fascinating. I was hooked in the first half.

However, the second half was disturbing. This book is basically about aliens trying to repopulate the earth with human/alien hybrids after the a nuclear apocalypse so they can use them as "trade" partners. They understand consent even less than the very one dimensional and stereotypically misogynistic human males in the story. I found the human characters, other than the MC, to be somewhat unrealistic or overly simplified. Everyone was frustratingly bad at communicating to the point where it caused the social collapse of the human group.

I've loved everything Octavia Butler thus far, but it's impossible to overlook the general glossing over all the alien rape. Call it what it is. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault