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emmacb's reviews
176 reviews
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A real adventure, I really enjoyed the parts where they were floating down the river as trying to imagine something so far out of my experience was a lot of fun. It was also an interesting peek into life at the time from an admittedly somewhat quirky kid's perspective!
However, the use of the n word was, once again, a LOT. I gave some serious thought to putting this book down but after reading about it a little I decided to finish it (mostly in private because I was terrified of someone reading it over my shoulder)!
One particularly interesting article mentioned how this book was both racist and anti-racist. Now the content is definitely pretty racist but at the time of it's writing it was controversial for being so 'abolitionist' which is one of the better demonstrations of 'context of the time it was written' I've seen.
That said, I think all the articles I read were by white people so need to try harder to find some own voices perspectives which may change my thoughts.
However, the use of the n word was, once again, a LOT. I gave some serious thought to putting this book down but after reading about it a little I decided to finish it (mostly in private because I was terrified of someone reading it over my shoulder)!
One particularly interesting article mentioned how this book was both racist and anti-racist. Now the content is definitely pretty racist but at the time of it's writing it was controversial for being so 'abolitionist' which is one of the better demonstrations of 'context of the time it was written' I've seen.
That said, I think all the articles I read were by white people so need to try harder to find some own voices perspectives which may change my thoughts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Ok off the bat, some of the language in this is uncomfortable. However, as a window into a world I have almost no connection to, it was an interesting read and the sweet, uncomplicated perspective of Tom Sawyer (as much as a proud little hooligan could be considered sweet!) was tempered with an adults longer view of his day to day life that resulted in a gentle story that really reminded me at times of how huge and dramatic things felt as a kid that I look back on now very differently.
I was also a little jealous of all the crap they got up to. I don't want to get lost in a cave, but exploring one as a kid sounds fun. And I don't want to run away for days and go back to my own funeral, but I was impressed by how well these literal children knew to survive!
I was also a little jealous of all the crap they got up to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Racism and Murder
Still Life by Sarah Winman
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Took .5 off only for the fact that it took me 2 tries to get into this book. It didn't immediately draw me in, but once I got the measure of how the story worked I really enjoyed it.
To be honest, it may be my fault I wasn't immediately drawn in, as I was expecting a more active sort of story about saving art pieces post ww2, but actually this is a beautiful meander through the interconnected lives of the main characters full of love and warmth. After finishing, I turned back and reread a part of the first section to see the characters again at the start and properly enjoy that bit that I didn't quite fall into before.
Also, I now want to go to Florence!
To be honest, it may be my fault I wasn't immediately drawn in, as I was expecting a more active sort of story about saving art pieces post ww2, but actually this is a beautiful meander through the interconnected lives of the main characters full of love and warmth. After finishing, I turned back and reread a part of the first section to see the characters again at the start and properly enjoy that bit that I didn't quite fall into before.
Also, I now want to go to Florence!
Knot My Type by Evie Mitchell
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
4.5
A really sweet book with diverse characters. Not quite as much of the shibari as I'd have liked but still a sweet, quick read.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Teenage Emma would probably have EATEN this up.
Adult Emma is less of a convert.
It's not that it was bad, it just had enough that mildly irritated me to prevent it from hooking me.
Things reducing the rating:
1) basically beauty and the beast with fae
2) didn't warm to any of the main characters, I found them all kind of selfish, even though they sort of did selfless things, it all still mostly felt done in a self-centred way!
3) the book skipped over the bit where the main characters actually started falling in love with a 'we spent lots of time together and grew closer each other' paragraph or 2 after a few hostile, then slightly less so quippy interactions. Might just be me but I wasn't super satisfied by how quickly these characters were in 'kill for you die for you' love. The process went hostile --> cautiously accepting --> LOVE FOREVER
4) really undiverse. Like, you have Fae and the most you're going for is one or two (that I spotted) brown/black people (and it seemed to be that it was a little bit 'people from that court have brown skin'), and also they have white hair and blue eyes which is cool looking in concept but a bit of a trope at this point for people of colour in mostly white books. Let's not even get into how all those Fae could have been bi and gay and trans and everything fun in-between! Why are they all so boring and heteronormative!? To be fair I haven't read any further books, maybe it improves, but start as you mean to go on!
5) the tone reminded me of fanfiction. Not that fanfiction is bad, but it had a similar tendency to overly brooding characters and OP moments for drama!
6) not as spicy as I had been led to believe. Lots of fade to black moments.
I did read it quickly, and it was engaging, but it hasn't hooked me into the series. The world building is pretty good in that I'll probably read a Wikipedia article or something to find out what happens in the rest of the series because I'm curious, but not so curious as to read several more books!
Adult Emma is less of a convert.
It's not that it was bad, it just had enough that mildly irritated me to prevent it from hooking me.
Things reducing the rating:
1) basically beauty and the beast with fae
2) didn't warm to any of the main characters, I found them all kind of selfish, even though they sort of did selfless things, it all still mostly felt done in a self-centred way!
3) the book skipped over the bit where the main characters actually started falling in love with a 'we spent lots of time together and grew closer each other' paragraph or 2 after a few hostile, then slightly less so quippy interactions. Might just be me but I wasn't super satisfied by how quickly these characters were in 'kill for you die for you' love. The process went hostile --> cautiously accepting --> LOVE FOREVER
4) really undiverse. Like, you have Fae and the most you're going for is one or two (that I spotted) brown/black people (and it seemed to be that it was a little bit 'people from that court have brown skin'), and also they have white hair and blue eyes which is cool looking in concept but a bit of a trope at this point for people of colour in mostly white books. Let's not even get into how all those Fae could have been bi and gay and trans and everything fun in-between! Why are they all so boring and heteronormative!? To be fair I haven't read any further books, maybe it improves, but start as you mean to go on!
5) the tone reminded me of fanfiction. Not that fanfiction is bad, but it had a similar tendency to overly brooding characters and OP moments for drama!
6) not as spicy as I had been led to believe. Lots of fade to black moments.
I did read it quickly, and it was engaging, but it hasn't hooked me into the series. The world building is pretty good in that I'll probably read a Wikipedia article or something to find out what happens in the rest of the series because I'm curious, but not so curious as to read several more books!
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
1.0
Re-reading this series has been eye opening, as I knew there was racism and sexism and heavy Christian imagery among other old-school viewpoints that do not stand up today (and shouldn't have at the time either!), but reading it and noticing those moments myself was different from knowing it in the abstract.
In general, my view of the series was that I wouldnt encourage, but would let my (future) kids read them if they chose but with a lot of conversation around the themes. This one however, I would actively discourage.
Very racist (brown face, calling people d*rkie a LOT, stereotypes galore), and some seriously questionable Christian religious imperialism(I.e. the 'good' calormenes were actually worshiping Aslan all along they just thought it was Tash, who is actually bad because surely no other religion could have a good deity/people 😖
In general, my view of the series was that I wouldnt encourage, but would let my (future) kids read them if they chose but with a lot of conversation around the themes. This one however, I would actively discourage.
Very racist (brown face, calling people d*rkie a LOT, stereotypes galore), and some seriously questionable Christian religious imperialism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Racism, Religious bigotry, and War
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This would have had a higher rating mainly out of nostalgia as this was my favourite book of the Narnia Chronicles when I was younger, but for one thing...
This one was interesting to re-read as it was set mostly in a middle-eastern inspired region, with characters also from that region. Unsurprisingly, the depiction is not great, but given historical context I will at least say that within the undeniably racist stereotypes, there are also characters that show the Calormens not to be homogenous.
Still, the 'white Narnia good, brown Calormen bad' messaging is pretty hefty so overall, much as I loved this as a kid, and much as it's still a good adventure story, I wouldn't be encouraging my future kids to read it without some pretty serious context and discussion, if at all!
This one was interesting to re-read as it was set mostly in a middle-eastern inspired region, with characters also from that region. Unsurprisingly, the depiction is not great, but given historical context I will at least say that within the undeniably racist stereotypes, there are also characters that show the Calormens not to be homogenous.
Still, the 'white Narnia good, brown Calormen bad' messaging is pretty hefty so overall, much as I loved this as a kid, and much as it's still a good adventure story, I wouldn't be encouraging my future kids to read it without some pretty serious context and discussion, if at all!