dummyhuey's reviews
57 reviews

Animal's People by Indra Sinha

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Beautiful. Instant classic.

The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

Oil on Water by Helon Habila

adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Straight forward journalistic petrofiction. Criticism can be said about its accessibility and the politics of that—however, as far as the didacticism of its overall argument, it’s fine. Good read, but wanted more dramatic characterization from the book’s cast; less fatphobia and women objectification. 

Cities of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif

challenging informative reflective slow-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? No

4.5

Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book wasn’t written for a review from a westerner on StoryGraph.com

Anyways, I love edgy Chinua Achebe—a must read for any serious person who considers themself a “well-read” patronage of the western canon. To that sense, this book is a decolonial sledgehammer.

White Girls by Hilton Als

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Anything I would add would be trite.  Don’t trust a majority of the reviews for this book, they are also trite. However, it’s interesting to read a book as deeply personal and quietly revolutionary as this one to not have a dedication. Hilton has gifted us, children of empire, a mirror—in the way that only books can be reflections of our “fucked up” interiority. 

Although, my signed copy says: “For Huey—a wonderful presence. Hilton Als, SF 2/25”

My Pinup by Hilton Als

emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

The Women by Hilton Als

emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry by Camille T. Dungy

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood, and History by Camille T. Dungy

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0