brittanykroeckel's reviews
38 reviews

The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.75

I will begin by saying that I chose this book to fulfill a prompt for the StoryGraph genre reading challenge. Knowing it was a book for youth, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised. 

Pancholy does an excellent job of effectively intermingling multiple areas of Rahul’s development. Not only does it deal with sexuality, but includes challenges such as

OCD, racism, and being the best at something/exploring interests

. These are all presented in a developmentally appropriate manner and are not over complicated. 

The reason I docked .25 was the writing style. Even thought it’s for middle grades, it still felt too juvenile in a way. Perhaps I’m just used to reading much more complex writing, but I felt it was a little too basic and could have used more depth. I would still recommend this book to anyone despite that. 

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

I personally think I lucked out in never having watched the TV series because I feel that people are comparing the two too much and they give a bad review. I went into this with fresh eyes and I will say this was insightful and brought forth some reflection upon myself. Kerman writes in a digestible manner and does not overcomplicate things, which I appreciate. I docked it .25 of a star because I felt like almost everything was so surface level that I believe more details should have been implemented for more of an immersion. Most of it was spent on the friendships she developed (which is a great topic to touch on), that I was wanting more of the experience of prison rules, routines, and culture. Regardless, still a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

As a white woman, there is still much for me to learn regarding the experience of Black Americans in this country. Coates brings forth sensitive and important topics in a reflective and raw manner -- there is no sugar coating in this letter to his son. Reading this text both reinforced ideas I already knew while also opening my eyes to a deeper understanding of injustices. Coates is an excellent writer and I look forward to reading other works from them in the future. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. 

The use/re-visitation of The Mecca, the black body, the dream, the struggle, and other ideas brought a cohesiveness to the book despite it shifting to different ideas. I noticed some other reviews saying they did not like the writing style. While I will admit I did get lost a few times and had to reread parts over again, this is a message from a father to a son -- and we are privileged in being able to enter that intimate space. These ideas are complex and challenging -- the writing reflects as such. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I wasn't sure what to think of this book. Lately I have been reading books where I generally know the plot or theme of the story, so I completely jumping into this unknowing of everything about this story. This had twists and turns both at moments I did and did not expect it. It almost felt like there was too much happening that it started to get a little overwhelming, which is why this did not receive a full five. The flow of the story was not lost at any point and I enjoyed that there were moments in the story where it switched from third to first person perspectives. The one part that felt somewhat random to me was when

Nori was sent to the prostitution house

and felt that was left somewhat unfinished and not entirely that beneficial to the plot. 

Character development was as expected for Nori/the main character. I CANNOT believe that

the author chose to kill off Akira and in such a tragic way

. I never feel too much emotion for characters, but for the first time in a long time I felt so devastated and upset that this had happened. However, this was another reason that I did not get too comfortable with the storyline since things could change in a matter of moments.  

Lastly, I appreciate the inclusion of thought into the perspective of a mixed race character (Black & East Asian) and how others treat them because of it. An excellent read and I'd recommend to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Cursing

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

An excellent read. This has been one on my TBR for a while. Honestly, I initially thought it was a romance-based novel and was shocked when I actually took a look to see what it was actually about. This novel is intertwined with multiple plots and intricate character development while also not becoming difficult to follow along. I personally get much anxiety in topics around death and dying, but this component was present in a way that

did not focus on the death itself, but life after loss and how it can make or break relationships.

The characters all brought something of value to the table. I feel that each of them got their screen time and added importance to the plot and themes. Characters were not over complicated, which I appreciated; each person had growth and development without it taking up too much of the book. My one point that I wish was more developed on was about

Ruth's journals and her new found interest in discovering how people had left the world.

Other than that, I thought the characters were excellent and thoroughly portrayed.

The reason I docked 0.25 in my rating is because the final parts of the novel felt out of place. More specifically, the part where

Susie takes over Ruth's body and becomes her took away the realistic nature of the story and made me confused.

However, even though this part slightly ruined it for me, the bulk of this work was beautiful and the ending left me in tears (which is a very rare occurrence for me). I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Grief

Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert D. Hare

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Although I’d say this book is slightly outdated, it did present very valuable and credible content regarding psychopathy. I’ve had an interest in learning more about the minds of psychopaths and this was a great introduction to that research journey. It gave many relevant examples that helped further my understanding. 

Especially with society throwing around words like “psychopath,” I think it’s important as a future counselor to educate myself of the correct criteria for using that term. I definitely learned new things and solidified what I already knew. 

Great read — easy to digest and understand. 

Letters to a Young Therapist by Mary Pipher

hopeful informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.75

As someone entering the counseling field, I thought this was a short and lighthearted book that gives a glimpse into life as a therapist. I docked this a little bit for feeling that some of her ideas or what she said are beginning to border on being outdated. 

Being this is in a somewhat unconventional format, I felt like the letters were somewhat too personal for me to fully benefit from. Regardless, I did appreciate getting a peek into some more candid writing. 

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.

I’m not sure if it was the narrator of the audiobook, the fact I was reading it before bed, or if the book felt somewhat dry to me, but I have been dragging on with this book for like over a month now and I don’t feel motivated to pick it up. I highly doubt it has anything to do with the content as I tend to reach for these topics on the shelf, but I just can’t seem to get through it. Maybe I’ll pick it up again in the future. 

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I’ll start off with why I didn’t give a 5– the format for me was hard to follow. I often need structure in my reading cause I tend to lose track and get distracted. So it was a slight challenge and new for me but it doesn’t take away from the book. 

This was a great book and I’m glad I finally got it off my tbr!!! I liked how each of the stories was connected to a previous character in one way or another. It felt like a domino effect but not too forced either. I think this is a great book club read as it made me reflect on the challenges they were facing and how these are reflected in the lives of others different from myself. Although each was a short story, I easily felt emotions for these characters and reactions to their individual things going on. I’d recommend this to anyone!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Classism

Moderate: Child death and Racial slurs

Officer Clemmons: A Memoir by François Clemmons

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

A beautiful life story with many ebbs and flows. I never watch Mister Rodger’s Neighborhood as a kid but was always interested in knowing more about it. Clemmons give ample insight into the experience through his eyes. I did -.25 stars because I would have liked to know more about the show but I also acknowledge this was a memoir and not solely about that. 

Although I also was not quite familiar with Clemmons and his life — wow, there are so many layers to his life.

It hurt to hear that he was never able to fully live out and proud and I would have liked to know more about his experiences with coming out and anything relating to his identity, especially as a black man.

So many areas of great sorrow yet he showed resilience and perseverance that got him to where he is today. With that the ending felt slightly quick and rushed.