fluoresensitive's reviews
477 reviews

The Solution by K.A. Applegate

challenging dark 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

Sometimes you'll start a book series you missed when you were a kid thinking that the books about morphing kids would just be them going on cutesy Scooby Doo adventures, and then it's 22 books later and a teenage girl is coming to terms with the fact that war has ruined her. She can no longer be a child; she trapped a boy in the body on a rat, she is capable of extreme violence, and not only does she know it but her friends know it too. Um. She still has a calculus test tomorrow, btw.

The Threat by K.A. Applegate

dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Another cliffhanger....I am in the depths of insomnia and SCREAMING, what do you MEAN 

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

It feels ridiculous to call this an insightful read because it almost feels patronizing to go wow omg saur insightful and interesting, thank you fiction for explaining things to me but also it was insightful and piercing and very reflective. I actually really do like the way it ends with James having to figure out his own way and gender story, and I like that Maria had a moment of trying to control James's narrative as a way to avoid her own problems. Also, I like Maria period, but I think I just have a think for super pathetic, super-sorry women who don't do things right, it's kind of iconic. 

I don't know about the prose, tbh— it's not my favorite style of writing, and it almost has the contemporary issue of staring into the camera too hard. um... yeah! 4 stars, I had a good time.

Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.

Idk if I can stand it...you can tell when a book about the south or about impoverished people is written by someone who's scared of the south/grew up comfortable, and you can tell when a Black person has been brought up about white people, it's a vibe and that vibe is radiating from these pages

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura

3.5

Twas cute! On the lower end of novels I've read by Japanese women about late-stage capitalism 

The Overstory by Richard Powers
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.

Just not ready to read it rn!

Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey

challenging reflective 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

3.75

Hmmmmm. Yeah. The writing is very good and I like the way Popkey chooses words/structures her sentences, but the inner machinations of white womanhood bore me, and I thought what she was trying to say about desire and fantasy and eroticism was a little two-dimensional. An episode of Fleabag is more concise, and I was ?? When she mentioned James Baldwin as an influence. Girl, I guess. 

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Cataclysmically moving, but not in that bland way a tearjerker is moving. I saw a mirror in Janet, and it made me so sad that her life was snuffed out before she ever got a chance to find community, understand her brilliant mind, and come into her own. 

The writing was phenomenal, the pacing and choice of words, the structure of the sentences was DIVINE. At several points in my reading journal, I wrote "oh my god I want to eat this book", and I stand by that. I also ordered a copy for myself off pangobooks just after reading the introduction by Maggie O'Farrell so that's great!

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.75

Oh my god. So I thought it started a little slow and some of the early chapters were VERY full (especially the Daenerys ones...) But then, it ramped up BIG TIME, I swear I've never gasped so much reading a book!!??? Like, hello! Everything is different, everything is changed, and now ... Now what????

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Other than the Daenerys chapters which make me nauseous and uneasy and not in a pleasant way...banger book! A lot of big moves in this book, a lot of huge changes, and I'm very much excited for book three!