eleanor_rose22's reviews
98 reviews

Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Times of a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

Really insightful, powerful reflections about the trans experience, community, police/prisons and white cis privilege. Miss major is an incredible woman and it’s SO important for us to listen to and learn from our queer elders who have been at the forefront of action, rather than burying our heads online. Look up, speak up, get out into the world and protect your sisters!!! 

Unruly: A History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell

funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

Surprised I got through all of this and as quick as I did -   definitely owe it to the audiobook!! David Mitchell always makes me laugh and this was like getting a coffee with him while he talks about his interests - rly interesting and informative but also amusing and fun! 

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

Full review to come but right now I’m crying bc Emily Austin writes protagonists that feel like she’s seen inside my brain and it makes me feel so hopeful and so much less alone x 

salt slow by Julia Armfield

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Some really gorgeous and surreal stories about bodies, girlhood, and transformation. I loved the underlying themes of something feral and destructive lurking inside the female body, dangerously near to the surface, and the potential for rupture. My fave was Cassandra after, very haunting but sweet

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective fast-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? No

4.25

A very beautiful and bittersweet book about our human need for connection, our desire to be loved and our life remembered. Addie was such a wonderful, nuanced, defiant character who I rly adored and her relationship with Henry was so tender and genuine it just made my heart very warm. Lovely writing and sweet  reflections on embracing every day of our life, of holding close the joy and beauty through all the pain. Bit long and whimsical but it was so nice to get lost in a book and not rush through it but fully enjoy each chapter ✨

Eartheater by Dolores Reyes

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A rly intriguing book, I think I’d have got more out of it if I read rather than listened to it - BUT (even in translation) it allowed me to appreciate the tough, harsh plosive language used to parallel the gritty, dangerous life in the underbelly of Latin America. It was a fascinating insight into a culture and community I know little about, and the murders of women that go ignored and unsolved by  careless authorities. It paid tribute to the families, those left grieving and desperate for answers, in a rly bittersweet and heart wrenching way, with a complex protagonist who couldn’t even confront her own losses. Quite unique ! (Loses stars bc I struggled to follow the timings and characters appeared and disappeared but that may have been intentional and I an idiot) 

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.5

Alison Rumfitt is a master of mixing body and political horror, this was absolutely gross and made me feel so sick but the  allegory of transphobia as a parasite infesting its way through Britain was so incredible. Her writing is so compulsive and disturbing that you can’t look away, and her political commentary always feels so contemporary and so acutely British, shining a light on the grotesque horrors of uk society. Totally disgusting and filthy and subversive and brilliant 

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Not the best written book ever - very surface level dark academia tropes that felt shallow, plot was a bit flimsy, romantic tension could have been built up a lot more. But the  concept of sapphic vampires was compelling enough to keep my interest, and both Laura and Carmilla grew to be loveable (and kinky) girls I was emotionally invested in. Rly fast pace that I devoured in a few days and I liked the dual narrative. However - I don’t care how you try to romanticise it, I’m calling LADO on how obsessive and inappropriate their teacher is

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

challenging funny reflective fast-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? Yes

3.75

This book was a bit all over the place and not all what I expected!! Rly nuanced depictions of trauma and instability in relationships, of avoiding and detaching from one’s own feelings and problems. Greta was so confusing and strange but so was Big Swiss and they contrasted each other in a fascinating way, in fact all the characters were so unhinged I think that added a bit of humour to some quite dark topics! The ending let me down bc nothing was rly tied up but I guess that’s life right !! intense, unexpected, messy, raunchy, chaotic, lots to think about 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

A quite beautiful and haunting piece of writing about a woman pushed beyond exhaustion working on the children’s ward. This wasn’t my usual read but the audiobook was gorgeous to listen to, so poetic (if a little overwrought at times), a very bittersweet novella of compassion and love as well as loss and dread