crum_93's reviews
233 reviews

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

This started incredibly slow for me. I was frustrated by the cadence and the repetitive nature of the writing. I realize this was written to be a first person account by the main character, but yeesh, I felt like as the reader I was expected to be a dummy. ANYWAY, I loved the story once I got into it, and ended up really enjoying the back 2/3.

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
Did not finish book. Stopped at 37%.

This is a beautiful book. It’s (maybe obviously) dark, and I’m just not in an emotional space at the moment where I want to experience that in my reads. 

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was so incredibly lovely. It was cozy but not syrupy-sweet, and just a nice hug for book lovers. Come for the talking cat, stay for the heartwarming story. 

This Winter by Alice Oseman

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.75

Not my favorite of the heartstopper world books, but as always, it was sweet and I just love Nick and Charlie. Tori is so lovely. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Eating disorder

The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell

challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

4.25

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

emotional funny inspiring slow-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

3.5

I loved Elizabeth and Mad, and Six-Thirty is the best. The 50s/60s misogyny was too much. 

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

emotional funny hopeful informative slow-paced

4.25

Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories by Garth Nix

emotional funny lighthearted tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I started this for the Old Kingdom story and generally enjoyed this book of short stories. The middle stories were less interesting for me, but the Old Kingdom story and the stories at the end were excellent. The Hope Chest is possibly one of my new favorite short stories. It has serious historical fantasy Annie Oakley energy and gave me serious nostalgia for one of my favorite early/first chapter books as a kid about her. The ending of that story also left me in a similar energy as The Lottery (one of my other favorite short stories). 

The satire article at the end about his new epic fantasy series had me cackling. 

I was a little disappointed at his misguided approach/feelings toward feedback that he should not write about (real) cultures not his own, but hope that maybe he has grown in his perspective since this was published almost 20 years ago.