cass_lit's reviews
1273 reviews

Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo

3.5

We Are the Scribes by Randi Pink

4.5

I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Randi Pink so far, and We Are the Scribes was no different. Ruth’s journey was so sweet and so powerful, despite the tragedy she and her family experienced. I loved reading about her relationship with her brother and sister (even though it was also heartbreaking). The letters from Harriet Jacob’s were a little jarring to get used to in the story, but they ended up meaning so much to Ruth that I looked forward to her getting the letters too.  

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

3.75

While this book is good and such an interesting telling of a time I personally hadn’t read about in fiction before, it’s also slow and intricate and you really have to intentionally read it to understand the politics and the characters. It’s also a lot more violent than I was expecting, lol. So while I’m glad to have read it, I can’t fully say I enjoyed the actual reading experience. 

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

3.5

I’m split on this. My issue with most contemporary thrillers is that they rely on people who either 1) need therapy (Emily or Mary) or 2) are terrible people (chess, Matt, the musician bf, Laura). I was so tired of hearing Emily say that she hates Laura and calling her bestie one sentence — if you’re hoping for your friend’s downfall, you’re a shitty friend and definitely not besties.

(Also, sleeping with your bestie’s husband definitely throws the title.)

However, I absolutely loved the throwbacks and the atmosphere. This is partially inspired by the summer of 1816 and we have all the key pieces — Mary is Mary Shelley, the musician is Percy, Laura is Claire, the more famous musician is Lord Byron, and Johnny is John. The gothic classic vibes were strong and totally made my reading experience. 

Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene Carruthers

This book contained a lot of helpful and instructive aspects, but there were also parts that I struggled a bit with. Maybe they’re things I need to struggle with though, and if getting me to think about them is enough then the book did what it intended. 

Moonflower by Kacen Callender

4.25

This was so heart-wrenchingly good. Parts of it hurt to read because they’re so raw and real, but it’s also so important that these books are out there for kids who need to know they’re not alone. Hell, I needed this and I’m an adult not even facing the same struggles Moon was. At the end, there’s hope and that’s amazing. 

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

5.0

I loved this. It had everything — history, atmosphere, romance, a little bit of magic. I loved all of the characters and the supernatural aspects. I can’t wait to read more from Leslye Penelope and I definitely hope we get more from this world!

Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. by Noor Hindi

4.5

A great collection of poems. 

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

4.25

This was charming. I love books about books, and this one was full of the magic of reading and bookstores. 

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson

1.5

Before I say anything else about this: THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO USE THE R-WORD. You can make it clear that a child is being bullied in a million other ways. Reading the r-word just once will absolutely ruin my experience and opinion of a book, but Ash Davison uses it FOUR TIMES. ONE WASN’T EVEN BULLYING, it’s a kid *thinking* about his mom!!!! Absolutely not necessary and, in my opinion, reflects poorly on the author and the book. 

Now, for the rest of my review:

I hated this. I wanted to DNF, but I also wanted to be able to rate this low and explain for anyone else considering reading it. I need everyone to know that my review is fully informed. But then I decided my sanity was more important; I decided to DNF and felt great about it. Since I had decided not to continue, I went to read others’ reviews and *one* on here said if you get past the first quarter of the book then it’s so worth it. I was excited for this book, I bought this book, I wanted to like it! Now, I was already at 37%, but I thought maybe the reviewer was just estimating. I picked Damnation Spring back up, upped my audio speed a bit (not easy, the narrators are definitely trying to give rural logging community), and tried again.

Unfortunately, it never got better for me. As I said, I hated this. I did not like the writing style to begin with, and as soon as the r-word mentions started I *hated* the writing style. 

Now to my more substantive issues with the story.

• All the adults suck. Colleen bugged me more than Rich (SO whiny), but god they both sucked. You’re adults. Communicate. Or do something. Anything. We didn’t even get to read about the infidelity for something fun, it got like two mentions. I hated Ridge but god Colleen just leave him. Also, fuck you, Daniel (and that’s coming from an environmentalist). 
• The POV switches to Chub felt not super important and random and were kinda just as boring as C & R’s (more understandable for him because he’s five though). Random sister POV there at the end too?
• The “mystery” or conflict doesn’t start until 45-50%. I didn’t even know there was a mystery or that this would be the plot point it became until those reviews during the period I tried to DNF. All the first half did for me was make me hate everyone in this town so… basically nothing. 
• An absolutely individual, personal issue: I work in the environmental field; I started this while at a conference with other environmental professionals expecting it to be a fictionalized Silent Spring/Dark Waters (Exposure). I was sorely disappointed. 
• Real quote from one of the adults in this story: “fifteen’s old enough to breed her.” Also unnecessary: dog murder. 
• The end. Again, I didn’t care about these characters so it didn’t impact me too much emotionally, it just felt traumatic and draining. Writing a sad book doesn’t make you profound. 
• Finally, it was Way Too Long. So long. So much of it was dragged out incessantly, but other parts were just completely unnecessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Ableism, Death, Child death, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion