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caffeinecrow's reviews
43 reviews
The Pope of Physics: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age by Gino Segre, Bettina Hoerlin
4.0
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
Just finished reading this. The ending felt like getting decked in the face and thrown to the pavement in the best way. I shouldn’t have decided to finish this at 2:20 AM because the sheer excitement coursing through me over the sequel is going to keep me up for like a week. The exposition is very well done, you get a fantastic feel for the world without ever being overloaded or the exposition feeling forced. I personally loved the three main characters. There’s a ton of stuff I’m neglecting to mention that I might come back to edit in but those were some of the big ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Forget Me Not by Alix Garin
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Homophobia
Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Pretty good book. As some other reviewers have mentioned, it's nice to see an older woman as a protagonist. I think the character voice is very strong in this book and really comes through in Brigid's narration. I have some personal critiques; the plot takes a while to really start up in my opinion (though that may just be due to the timeline I was reading it on), and there are some quite obvious errors that editing missed; a couple places where there was 'lay' where 'lie' should've been, protagonist taking gloves off multiple times in a scene, etc. There were also some decisions the main character made that seemed to come out of left field and that didn't entirely make sense to me as I read them. I really like the protagonist's relationship with her husband and her character overall. The twists are executed quite well, and were a big part of what won me over in the end. I might actually read the second book in this series if the library has a copy available.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Murder, and Sexual violence
Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Gun violence
Minor: Car accident
The Boy in the Suitcase by Agnete Friis, Lene Kaaberbøl
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Read this book in two days and in around 6.5/7 hours. Pretty good, picked it up from the library on a whim. The plot, in my opinion, takes a while to get going but once it does it doesn't stop. There are four POVs in this book, and while the author does do a good job characterizing them and separating them, I still got a bit confused a couple times during the beginning. The plot twists and mystery overall were well executed. I'd definitely advise checking the content warnings that people have left, as this book goes to a couple of dark places. I think there are a few paragraphs/sentences in this book that suffer due to the limits of translation as well. I wish there had been more resolution at the end -- there's a little bit focusing on the main character, Nina, but I also really wanted to check in on Sigita and Mikas again, and even Anne.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Trafficking, Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Vomit, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Sexual violence
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Go Ask Alice: 50th Anniversary Edition by
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
Went into this book thinking it was going to be a decent source on what it's like to struggle with addiction because I'm doing research for a character in my book who struggles with addiction. Was proven wrong very quickly - this is a highly fictionalized 60s/70s era piece of scare-tactic propaganda to fuel the war on drugs and demonize drug users.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual assault