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clairebartholomew549's reviews
707 reviews
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
medium-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
I loved this book so, so much - it had me both laughing out loud and thinking out loud, which is a great combination in a book. Nadia is a recent PhD student who takes a job at the UN "deradicalizing" ISIS brides in Iraq, even though she has no experience in deradicalization and knows very little about the conflict in Iraq or the complicated political and societal dynamics. Without giving anything away, her woeful unpreparedness, the unending bureaucracy, and colorful cast of characters make for an incredibly entertaining and impactful read.
The very first sentence of this book sets the tone in an amazing way. This book is so witty and shrewd, and it really takes aim at the white savior industrial complex and the complicity of "well-meaning" aid workers in enabling further discrimination and oppression, without feeling heavy-handed or overly preachy. The book deftly explores Nadia's own relationship with being Muslim and her own difficulties fitting into society, and the bond Nadia forms with one of the women in the camp perfectly encapsulates how easy and seductive it is to project our own beliefs on someone else, and how we can flatten people to the barest facts about them and ignore their inherent complications. That was maybe a bunch of gobbledygook (what a great word lol), but I thought this book really powerfully depicted messy human relationships and how hard it is to understand anything about each other when we only have preconceived notions to go off. This book is hard to explain - just know I found it so much fun and also deeply interesting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
The very first sentence of this book sets the tone in an amazing way. This book is so witty and shrewd, and it really takes aim at the white savior industrial complex and the complicity of "well-meaning" aid workers in enabling further discrimination and oppression, without feeling heavy-handed or overly preachy. The book deftly explores Nadia's own relationship with being Muslim and her own difficulties fitting into society, and the bond Nadia forms with one of the women in the camp perfectly encapsulates how easy and seductive it is to project our own beliefs on someone else, and how we can flatten people to the barest facts about them and ignore their inherent complications. That was maybe a bunch of gobbledygook (what a great word lol), but I thought this book really powerfully depicted messy human relationships and how hard it is to understand anything about each other when we only have preconceived notions to go off. This book is hard to explain - just know I found it so much fun and also deeply interesting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia, Grief
Moderate: Kidnapping, Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Trafficking, War
Death Takes Me by Cristina Rivera Garza
challenging
dark
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
If you've ever read a book with a furrowed brow the entire time, wondering if you're missing something or if the book is deliberately obtuse, you'll be familiar with the experience of reading this book. This is nominally a story about a spree of gruesome murders (you should probably know going into this book that there are some graphic depictions of men dead who have been castrated), but it's more like a blend of genres - with poetry dominating by far - with shifting perspectives and perhaps purposely disorienting prose.
I debated between giving this book two or three stars because I was profoundly disappointed with it. The premise really gave me a lot to think about - flipping the prevalence of violence against women on its head, delving into the way society simultaneously glorifies and dehumanizes victims of horrible crimes, the power of language to create our own reality, etc. But unfortunately, really none of that came from the book itself. I felt like I was grafting my own meaning onto the book, and I don't always mind doing that, but the way this book was written felt almost condescending, as if I was supposed to be a sleuth understanding all the references and just following wildly as the book just careened around. This book had so much promise, but it really didn't have any sort of impact on me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
I debated between giving this book two or three stars because I was profoundly disappointed with it. The premise really gave me a lot to think about - flipping the prevalence of violence against women on its head, delving into the way society simultaneously glorifies and dehumanizes victims of horrible crimes, the power of language to create our own reality, etc. But unfortunately, really none of that came from the book itself. I felt like I was grafting my own meaning onto the book, and I don't always mind doing that, but the way this book was written felt almost condescending, as if I was supposed to be a sleuth understanding all the references and just following wildly as the book just careened around. This book had so much promise, but it really didn't have any sort of impact on me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder
Moderate: Violence
The Boyhood of Cain by Michael Amherst
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is a slow, meditative book about a precocious boy growing up in England with a father who is distant and a bit useless, a mother who smothers her children, and a complicated life at school. When the book starts, Danny's father is the headmaster at a private school and they have a comfortable life, (the book is written in the third person, and Danny almost exclusively refers to himself as "the boy"), but Danny's father soon leaves his job and the family's fortunes change.
Not a ton happens in this book - we're really just in Danny's head as he tries to make sense of his family and his circumstances. That's obviously the point, and some of it did resonate: I thought Danny's growing awareness of his queerness was really well done, and the way Danny's parents and their dynamic confused and frustrated Danny felt so familiar - it's what we all feel as children. Danny's struggle to fit in at school also rang true, but I just didn't feel much as this book was going on. I appreciate a short book, but I think this one needed to pack more of a punch.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Not a ton happens in this book - we're really just in Danny's head as he tries to make sense of his family and his circumstances. That's obviously the point, and some of it did resonate: I thought Danny's growing awareness of his queerness was really well done, and the way Danny's parents and their dynamic confused and frustrated Danny felt so familiar - it's what we all feel as children. Danny's struggle to fit in at school also rang true, but I just didn't feel much as this book was going on. I appreciate a short book, but I think this one needed to pack more of a punch.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Classism
Minor: Islamophobia
Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Before a couple years ago, I had only ever read Prep Sittenfeld's first novel, which is a truly bizarre but impactful novel about a Midwestern teenager who goes to an elitist East Coast boarding school. Prep is super weird but probably responsible for many 90s' kids' sexual awakening (myself included, lmao). Then last year I read Romantic Comedy. which I LOVED. And then came this book, a short story collection, which is not normally my cup of tea. But I really enjoyed this one.
This is just a really delightful short story collection. Just like in Prep and Romantic Comedy, Sittenfeld's characters feel so real - they have the thoughts that everyone has but is afraid to voice, they have weird and conflicting desires, their past affects them in strange and lasting ways, and they make choices that don't always make sense. I especially loved "White Women Lol," which explores subtle racism in privileged communities; "The Richest Babysitter in the World," which seems to be a story about Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos before they got super rich; and "The Hug," which showcases the ways relationships change over time and how you might need different things from your partner in different phases of life. And of course, I loved "Lost But Not Forgotten," the last story of the collection, which picks up with our Prep protagonist Lee at her thirtieth high school reunion. Sittenfeld's voice is sharp and incisive in these stories, and each one caught my attention.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
This is just a really delightful short story collection. Just like in Prep and Romantic Comedy, Sittenfeld's characters feel so real - they have the thoughts that everyone has but is afraid to voice, they have weird and conflicting desires, their past affects them in strange and lasting ways, and they make choices that don't always make sense. I especially loved "White Women Lol," which explores subtle racism in privileged communities; "The Richest Babysitter in the World," which seems to be a story about Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos before they got super rich; and "The Hug," which showcases the ways relationships change over time and how you might need different things from your partner in different phases of life. And of course, I loved "Lost But Not Forgotten," the last story of the collection, which picks up with our Prep protagonist Lee at her thirtieth high school reunion. Sittenfeld's voice is sharp and incisive in these stories, and each one caught my attention.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Infidelity, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moral Treatment by Stephanie Carpenter
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.0
This book is based on a notorious hospital for psychiatric patients in Traverse, Michigan in the 1880s. The story centers on Amy Underwood, a seventeen-year-old whose father and stepmother have her institutionalized due to a history of "erratic behavior." We go back and forth between her perspective at the hospital and the perspective of the head doctor, who of course truly believes that the treatments he prescribes will work and are humane.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I feel like it was trying to communicate powerful and necessary messages about the barbaric nature of psychiatry treatment (both in the past and today), how women's valid reactions to horrible trauma were (and still are) pathologized as insanity, and how often medical advancements occur through the exploitation of vulnerable populations and condescension masquerading as charity. It's interesting to see how the head superintendent thinks his hospital is far superior to other hospitals in terms of its humane treatment of its patients, simply because his attendants are slightly less physically violent and aggressive with the patients. But all of these messages don't come all the way across, and I felt like I had to fill in the blanks for myself. This is a heavy book - trigger warnings galore - and it felt like it moved slowly for me. It's definitely well written, but kind of feels like a history book. The bright spot was definitely Amy's friendships with those on the ward, and the power they found with each other.
Thank you to NetGalley and Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity, for Central Michigan University Press, for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
I have mixed feelings about this book. I feel like it was trying to communicate powerful and necessary messages about the barbaric nature of psychiatry treatment (both in the past and today), how women's valid reactions to horrible trauma were (and still are) pathologized as insanity, and how often medical advancements occur through the exploitation of vulnerable populations and condescension masquerading as charity. It's interesting to see how the head superintendent thinks his hospital is far superior to other hospitals in terms of its humane treatment of its patients, simply because his attendants are slightly less physically violent and aggressive with the patients. But all of these messages don't come all the way across, and I felt like I had to fill in the blanks for myself. This is a heavy book - trigger warnings galore - and it felt like it moved slowly for me. It's definitely well written, but kind of feels like a history book. The bright spot was definitely Amy's friendships with those on the ward, and the power they found with each other.
Thank you to NetGalley and Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity, for Central Michigan University Press, for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Infertility, Suicide
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy
All Fours by Miranda July
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is absolutely batshit crazy, and I loved it. The plot is nominally about a forty-five-year-old woman who decides to drive from LA to New York, but really it's about a crisis of identity that is so strong it causes our narrator to - putting it politely - go off the rails.
So few books are written about the raw reality of being a mother and a partner, and this one delves deep in a hilarious, outlandish, and compulsively readable way. There are parts of this book that feel so exaggerated and heightened that it almost pulled me out of the narrative, and definitely points where you can tell the author might be going for shock value or the ick factor. But it felt like that was kind of the point: the dramatics helped get across how absolutely earth-shattering it is to undergo menopause and also to just be a woman--especially a middle-aged woman--in a heteronormative patriarchal world. The narrator is never named, which adds to the universality of the story, and although the inside of our protagonist's brain feels extremely disorienting and almost impossibly confused and depressed, she's a really effective articulator and explorer of all the forces in her life that have made her lose her mind. I also appreciated how frank July is about birth trauma, which despite the growing openness about sharing fertility and pregnancy struggles is not talked about as much as it should be.
I love a book that makes me think, and this book had me pausing every few pages to poke my fiance (who is not a reader at all, bless his heart lmao), tell him what was going on in the plot, and muse about what our narrator's antics were making me feel - which was a lot. This one will definitely stick with me.
So few books are written about the raw reality of being a mother and a partner, and this one delves deep in a hilarious, outlandish, and compulsively readable way. There are parts of this book that feel so exaggerated and heightened that it almost pulled me out of the narrative, and definitely points where you can tell the author might be going for shock value or the ick factor. But it felt like that was kind of the point: the dramatics helped get across how absolutely earth-shattering it is to undergo menopause and also to just be a woman--especially a middle-aged woman--in a heteronormative patriarchal world. The narrator is never named, which adds to the universality of the story, and although the inside of our protagonist's brain feels extremely disorienting and almost impossibly confused and depressed, she's a really effective articulator and explorer of all the forces in her life that have made her lose her mind. I also appreciated how frank July is about birth trauma, which despite the growing openness about sharing fertility and pregnancy struggles is not talked about as much as it should be.
I love a book that makes me think, and this book had me pausing every few pages to poke my fiance (who is not a reader at all, bless his heart lmao), tell him what was going on in the plot, and muse about what our narrator's antics were making me feel - which was a lot. This one will definitely stick with me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical trauma
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? Yes
4.0
I have been hearing about this book for months, and it more than delivered. Akbar explores such heavy and difficult topics: making sense of senseless tragedy, feeling like your life has no meaning in the face of state violence and horrible circumstances, existing and surviving in a country that is deeply xenophobic, Islamophobic, and racist, being unable to accept the love of those around you when you can't love yourself (cliche of course, but a universal truth and beautifully articulated here), and the power of art to expose our deepest vulnerabilities. But Akbar's voice is so witty and sharp that you never feel weighed down, and the pace is brisk and flows well. I felt a deep attachment to Cyrus right away, and getting other characters' perspectives added so much color and context to who he was. The interludes also were incredibly impactful: Akbar's poetry about different martyrs is visceral and informative, and the snippets of the US' dismissive response to their "mistaken" shooting down of an Iranian passenger plane are a searing indictment of the US' inability to ever take accountability and its commitment to seeing non-Western countries' inhabitants as other and inhuman. This book is just incredibly well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia
The Watermark by Sam Mills
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is a wild ride from start to finish. It's a little hard to review without giving away too much, but I'll do my best. Jamie is a journalist who interviews his idol, Augustus Fate. Fate tricks Jamie and traps him - along with another woman, Rachel - in the novel he is currently writing. Jamie and Rachel then careen through various novels, trying to get back to the "real" world and their "real" lives, while all the while Fate (the name is a bit on the nose, but ultimately I think it works) messes with them like they're his playthings.
This book is definitely more plot-focused than character-focused, which I didn't mind but sometimes makes it a bit difficult for me to get into a book. I was really impressed by how Mills attacked different genres - Dickensian England, Soviet-era rural Russia, futuristic America with robots, etc. - and appreciated how questions of who we are and who we would be if our circumstances are different shone through. Jamie and Rachel's push and pull of being put together in various timelines and trying to make sense of their relationship is really interesting (even if Jamie sometimes is a whiny character), and each book's world felt fully realized. This is definitely an eccentric book, but it flies by despite its page count and is wholly engrossing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Melville House Publishing for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
This book is definitely more plot-focused than character-focused, which I didn't mind but sometimes makes it a bit difficult for me to get into a book. I was really impressed by how Mills attacked different genres - Dickensian England, Soviet-era rural Russia, futuristic America with robots, etc. - and appreciated how questions of who we are and who we would be if our circumstances are different shone through. Jamie and Rachel's push and pull of being put together in various timelines and trying to make sense of their relationship is really interesting (even if Jamie sometimes is a whiny character), and each book's world felt fully realized. This is definitely an eccentric book, but it flies by despite its page count and is wholly engrossing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Melville House Publishing for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry
Minor: Torture
Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I loved this eerie, emotional, and moving book. The synopsis describes this as a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and the premise is definitely that - Birdie is a single mother living in rural Alaska, and she falls in love with Arthur, a man who lives out in the middle of the vast forest and who the community has misgivings about for various reasons. Birdie and her six-year-old daughter Emaleen move out to Arthur's remote cabin, and things . . . unfold (I really don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave this vague, lol).
I love a fairytale for sure, and this one was beautifully done. Ivey's descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness are beyond breathtaking, and Birdie and Emaleen are both delightful characters. Emaleen's childlike wonder and imagination really brings the woods to life, and Birdie's strong pull to be free is really resonant and works so well for the story. The "mystery" surrounding Arthur is revealed to the reader relatively early, which personally I kind of like in a book, and Birdie and Emaleen's slow realizations and the facts becoming clear is spooky and creeping and perfect. The writing is gorgeous, and I loved getting other characters' perspectives. I just loved this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing House - Random House for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
I love a fairytale for sure, and this one was beautifully done. Ivey's descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness are beyond breathtaking, and Birdie and Emaleen are both delightful characters. Emaleen's childlike wonder and imagination really brings the woods to life, and Birdie's strong pull to be free is really resonant and works so well for the story. The "mystery" surrounding Arthur is revealed to the reader relatively early, which personally I kind of like in a book, and Birdie and Emaleen's slow realizations and the facts becoming clear is spooky and creeping and perfect. The writing is gorgeous, and I loved getting other characters' perspectives. I just loved this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing House - Random House for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Excrement
Minor: Sexual content
The Pale Flesh of Wood: A Novel by Elizabeth A. Tucker
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm not totally sure how to feel about this book. In 1950s Northern California, ten-year-old Lyla--at her father's request--hangs a rope around a huge tree on her grandmother's property. Shortly thereafter, Lyla's father commits suicide using that same rope. The book jumps back and forth in time, going as far back as Lyla's father's childhood and as far forward as almost 30 years after her father's death.
I think this book does an exceptional job of depicting the aftermath of suicide and how each member of Lyla's family blames themselves and each other; seeks answers and explanations; and grieves in unique and non-linear ways. I felt like I really understood Lyla's confusion about her father's death and how complicated it made her relationship with her mother. But this book was very, very slow going for me. It was really hard for me to get into, and the timelines jumping around didn't work for me. Being "in the mind of the tree" was also just odd to me, and I wanted more insight into more of the characters. Overall, this was a bit of a miss for me.
I also thought that the "plot twist" at the end that Lyla's father had fathered a child while at war and that was why he committed suicide was such a copout and really undermined Tucker's thoughtful exploration of suicide in the rest of the book. It felt like Tucker wanted there to be a "reason" Lyla's father committed suicide, and although I'm obviously no expert, that does seem like a facile and flattened conception of suicide.
Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
I think this book does an exceptional job of depicting the aftermath of suicide and how each member of Lyla's family blames themselves and each other; seeks answers and explanations; and grieves in unique and non-linear ways. I felt like I really understood Lyla's confusion about her father's death and how complicated it made her relationship with her mother. But this book was very, very slow going for me. It was really hard for me to get into, and the timelines jumping around didn't work for me. Being "in the mind of the tree" was also just odd to me, and I wanted more insight into more of the characters. Overall, this was a bit of a miss for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility