damalireads's reviews
216 reviews

Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up by Charish Reid

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

The Loneliness Files by Athena Dixon

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

3.75

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

1) the cover of this book is so good. truly love it. if it wasn't a mid book for me I'd buy it just for the vibes.

2) as mentioned in 1, the book was mid! I'm afraid nothing new or interesting was said about the horrors of corporate America and silicon valley and capitalism in this book. and the form + black hole element didn't make up for that

3) BUT let me tell you, I read this book so fast. Engaging, readable, atmospheric. I was vibing the whole time and only near the end did I realize I'd be walking away with very little. Have to give this book props for that.

4) the bleak look at SF was interesting since I just visited. I did like that element, and the feeling that there was also a lot that Cassie did not see about the city bc of her job/salary/self absorbed nature (no offense cass!).

5) ending on 4 is weird so, I'll add that the visceral imagery in the book was very well crafted, but felt disruptive to the storytelling at a certain point. Cassie was often imagining these metaphor filled scenes that were sometimes interesting, but mostly unnecessary for me.

⭐⭐⭐.5

Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.5

Probably the toughest book I've read (content wise) in awhile. Bates is very meticulous in how she walks readers through the world of incels/the manosphere and introduced me to language and ideologies I truly still can't believe are real. But they most definitely are! The depths of violence, fear, anger, and hate within extreme misogyny was so foreign to me so reading this was a huge revelation. The links between extreme misogyny and domestic terrorism were especially enlightening to me. 

4.5 stars truly bc i felt like things did get repetitive within chapters, but it's really negligible. The final chapter on potential ways to try and curtail how much access these communities have to young men was good, but I do wish there were more innovative ideas introduced.

Overall, it's a masterfully crafted book that I'd recommend to everyone. Just definitely take your time, there's a lot to take in.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love by Huma Qureshi

emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.5

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Yellowface by RF Kuang | 3.5 stars

I told myself I wasn’t going to read this book. I didn’t really have any interest and I just had a feeling it was a tad overhyped. But I put a hold on Libby for it and got it surprisingly fast so I gave it go (the FOMO kicked in). Although it wasn’t a bad book, and I read it pretty quickly, I truly don’t think I gained anything by reading it.

June Hayward loves writing, but hasn’t had much success as a published author. She finally gets her chance in the spotlight when her friend, wildly successful author Athena Liu, dies suddenly with her latest manuscript on Chinese laborers ripe for the taking. After publishing Athena’s book under her name, June soaks up all of the glory and praise, and tries her best to drown out the voices accusing her of cultural appropriation & whitewashing of Asian history. Through many tense moments and close calls, it becomes clear that June will go to any length to hold on to her time in the spotlight – no matter the cost.

I love an unreliable and unlikeable narrator, but I got tired of June very quickly because there was no subtlety in her character at all. She is cartoonishly characterized as a Liberal White Woman Who Thinks She Deserves What Someone Else Has, and the lack of nuance meant that there was very little to decipher about her intentions or motivations. Her casual racism that she doesn’t have the self-awareness to recognize is a bit ridiculous (& unfortunately made me bark out laughter) but believable. The one-note characterization is somewhat offset by the propulsive nature of the book as you wondered if she was going to get caught, what was she going to do next, and the ghost of Athena that seemed to torture her guilty conscience. While that was done very well, I often found myself a little bored each time June found a new and awful way to assert that she Did Nothing Wrong as she continues to exhibit blatant disregard for anyone other than herself.

The commentary on the publishing industry felt very basic to me? I have definitely been overexposed to the hot topics of the industry that this book covers – cultural appropriation, lack of diversity, who gets to tell what stories?, etc. – so that may be why I feel like I’m not walking away with anything particularly new or interesting. . I think for the average reader who is not terminally online & surrounded by hot takes on publishing, this would probably hit more. The discussions this book would spark are more valuable to me than the book itself. To me, a book like If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English finds a more creative and compelling way to answer that last question. Yellowface felt very blunt and straightforward about the entire ordeal. RFK does well to add more color to Athena’s character by casting some shadow across the bright light of her talent, and I wish there was more exploration of the gray areas in publishing to give readers a bit more to chew on.

I think this book was just OK! I’m not really sure why people were losing their minds over this book as if it was life changing, but that’s what I get for jumping on the hype train. I am forever a RFK fan because of Babel though, so I look forward to reading her next foray into dark academia or fantasy – and away from satire.