caseythereader's reviews
1765 reviews

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Thanks to Scribner Books for the free copy of this book.

 - THE SERVICEBERRY is a meditation on community reciprocity. Kimmerer uses the serviceberry as a jumping off point, exploring how the ways the berry is woven into the ecosystem can teach us to do the same.
- Kimmerer talks about not only how a gift economy can benefit humanity at a large scale, but also the many small ways we are already doing it: Buy Nothing groups, Little Free Libraries, sharing extra garden produce, and more.
- I think if you are really committed to getting involved mutual aid and your community, this is a must read. 

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The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thanks to Atria Books for the free copy of this book.

 - THE PALACE OF EROS is maybe one of the queerest books I’ve ever read, and I was enraptured by it.
- This is very much a character-driven vibes book, with lots of long conversations (and lots of very spicy scenes). But I found the ruminations on freedom, desire, womanhood, and more to be quite compelling.
- I also love a retelling that casts Zeus as the rampaging horrorshow that he was. 

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Whenever You're Ready by Rachel Runya Katz

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emotional funny reflective sad 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

5.0

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the free copy of this book.

 - It’s hard to even find the words to talk about WHENEVER YOU’RE READY. Yes, it’s a romance novel, but it’s also about grief, friendship, love, platonic love, sibling love, Blackness, Jewishness, queerness, and so much more.
- Nia, Jade, and Jonah are all fully formed characters, filled with flaws and bursting with emotion.
- I particularly loved that so much of this book was about how non-s3xual love can be just as all encompassing and as important as the traditional romantic partner relationships we place above all else.
- I’m not qualified to speak on the Black and Jewish representation, but I did appreciate how Katz did not shy away from the hard truths and emotions of what it means to consider the history of being both those things with roots in the American South. 

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Kisses, Codes, and Conspiracies by Abigail Hing Wen

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adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Thanks to Macmillan for the free copy of this book.

 - KISSES, CODES, AND CONSPIRACIES seems like it’s going to be a YA romance, and then it takes a left turn into a thriller.
- I had a good time with it, but you need to suspend a lot of disbelief. The bad guys are trained fighters with high end technology but teenagers beat them at every turn. A nun running a teen shelter has everything they happen to need. A teenage boy is better at decrypting things than said bad guys or adults who work in crypt0currency.
- All that said, it was still a fun ride. The kids were sweet, especially the side characters who rallied around the main crew. I’ll definitely try more books by Wen in the future.
 

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Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.25


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Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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The Most Wonderful Time: A Novel by Jayne Allen

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
The premise doesn’t make sense. Chelsea needs to rent her house to pay property taxes, and I guess one week of Ramona AirBnBing it will pay whatever that is for a beachfront house in Malibu? But also she’s negotiated to go stay in Ramona’s Chicago condo…for free? 

But I stopped when Ramona’s best friend - a man - just lets himself into Ramona’s condo KNOWING she is away and a guest is staying there. 

Finally, this book is two hetero romances but the cover is just the two women, making it look like a sapphic romance. 
A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

4.25

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the free copy of this book.

 - A WELL-TRAINED WIFE might be the most harrowing book I’ve ever read, period. Even knowing that Levings gets through it to write this book, I was clutching the book and mentally screaming the whole time.
- For most of the book, Levings is simply relaying events without much extra commentary. Even so, one can see exactly how this theology and worldview has infiltrated mainstream life in large and small ways.
- The last section, where Levings is out and in therapy, remarried, etc., feels a bit rushed and that’s where she crams in the lessons as well. It reads like it may have benefited from a few more years of distance and healing, but I do understand her sense of urgency in telling her story. 

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Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

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adventurous funny 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? No

5.0


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