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etosaurus's reviews
182 reviews
The Private Lives of Public Birds: Learning to Listen to the Birds Where We Live by Jack Gedney
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
4.0
The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes by Robin Lee Carlson
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Animal death and Racism
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death
Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
All I am is an empty shell. I look all right from a distance, but up close there’s nothing there, nothing behind the pretty whorls and brittle exterior.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
A central plot point in this book is a virus that attacks the respiratory system and has a high, sudden mortality rate, and the main character's mother also died of a sudden illness. Additionally, on the subject of anti-vax: while I do not believe that the author herself is anti-vax, and this book well pre-dates COVID, another central plot point involves foregoing the vaccine in an attempt to take control of one's future / no longer live in fear and to forge connectedness with the world. This was concerning/offputting to me because of the way it echo'd some antivax sentiments.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
mysterious
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Murder, and Child death
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Eating disorder, and Bullying
Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really struggled with the slow pacing of the first half of this book, and I have continued the trend of getting profoundly depressed about humans' inherent ability not to screw things up. Between Cibola Burn and Nemesis Games, we've seen two apocalyptic events on two entirely different planets, and the scale of destruction and suffering they cause is hard to shake, especially when I am increasingly spending my time thinking about the climate disaster and other ways we're messing up the earth right now. I'm starting to feel that maybe this series isn't for me despite how much I want to like it, but there's a minor nonbinary character in the next book so I figure I might as well see how that goes before I decide if I should bail or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
One character spends a good portion of the book thinking about suicide.
The Harbors of the Sun by Martha Wells
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Confinement
Moderate: Genocide and Vomit
Minor: Sexual violence and Rape
The Edge of Worlds by Martha Wells
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Vomit, Death, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Kidnapping