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garlinds's reviews
124 reviews
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
Right book, wrong time. I'll be returning to it when I can give it the time and focus that it deserves.
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
An Otherwise Healthy Woman by Amy Haddad
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
This is an emotional set of poems wasn't exaclty what I was expecting. I think would be more relatable to women who either work in healthcare or have undergone cancer treatment than they were for me. However, I did reflect on my experiences caring for loved ones while reading this. Sometimes this felt more like a collection of poems and underdeveloped vignettes. I was hoping for a more viceral reaction, given the topics.
I'm not 100% sure if this was my kindle or the actual book, but the formatting of many of these poems felt all over the place.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of An Otherwise Healthy Woman in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not 100% sure if this was my kindle or the actual book, but the formatting of many of these poems felt all over the place.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of An Otherwise Healthy Woman in exchange for an honest review.
Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much by Jen Winston
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Based in a not-so-far-away future, Frida, a sleep-deprived single mother with post-partum depression and a poor support system, has a "bad day" and leaves her toddler home alone in an exersaucer for 2 hours. After a concerned neighbor calls and a welfare check happens, the child is taken into custody and Frida is determined unfit to be a mother and sent to a new government program called "The School for Good Mothers" so that she can learn the skills needed to be a worthy parent.
This book was hard to digest, it made me uncomfortable and I'll be gathering my thoughts for a while. The whole time I was reading all I could think about was the long-lasting emotional and physical trauma that each character was going through at the hands of the "system" and those in power. As someone who works with teens who have varying levels of CPS involvement in their home lives, it was heartbreaking to think of the impact this program would have on Harriet's future, as well as her mom's
Most prominently this book critiques the unrealistically perfect standards that we put on mothers. But it also examines both race and class disparities and the stressors that come along with them. At the end of the day, many of the mothers in the "school" would have benefitted from a stronger support system from the get-go rather than a fascist system that waits for them to make a mistake and uproots their whole entire lives.
At the end of the day, this was a great debut that could have used a little bit more development to make it more of a page-turner. The pacing of the book was slower and more repetitive than I thought it needed to be, I would have loved for it to have explored some of the relationships between the characters a bit deeper. That being said, this is an amazing book for discussions and I look forward to hearing other people's thoughts.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC of The School for Good Mothers in exchange for an honest review.
This book was hard to digest, it made me uncomfortable and I'll be gathering my thoughts for a while. The whole time I was reading all I could think about was the long-lasting emotional and physical trauma that each character was going through at the hands of the "system" and those in power. As someone who works with teens who have varying levels of CPS involvement in their home lives, it was heartbreaking to think of the impact this program would have on Harriet's future, as well as her mom's
Most prominently this book critiques the unrealistically perfect standards that we put on mothers. But it also examines both race and class disparities and the stressors that come along with them. At the end of the day, many of the mothers in the "school" would have benefitted from a stronger support system from the get-go rather than a fascist system that waits for them to make a mistake and uproots their whole entire lives.
At the end of the day, this was a great debut that could have used a little bit more development to make it more of a page-turner. The pacing of the book was slower and more repetitive than I thought it needed to be, I would have loved for it to have explored some of the relationships between the characters a bit deeper. That being said, this is an amazing book for discussions and I look forward to hearing other people's thoughts.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC of The School for Good Mothers in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Infertility, Pedophilia, and Sexual content
Lying and Making a Living: Fiction with Footnotes by William Dunlap, William Dunlap
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
1.5
I received a free audiobook from NetGalley and Books Forward Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Lying and Making a Living is a collection of shocking and often jarring short stories. From a presidential debate gone wrong to a dog/man in a dream state getting hit by a dump truck, these stories are unique offer a wide variety of social commentary. Some of the stories left me cringing, while others had me laughing, and I particularly enjoyed the footnotes.
All that being said, I didn't like this short story collection. It seems well-received, so this is likely a case of me being from the wrong audience or the audiobook formatting not working for me. Dunlap was definitely trying to push the envelope and make the reader feel discomfort, but that discomfort was sustained for nearly the entire collection which made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the stories but still intrigued enough to finish listening. I also found some of the content quite triggering, so a list of content warnings probably would have deterred me altogether.
CW: Sexual violence, animal death/cruelty, toxic relationship, blood, bullying, child abuse, death, gore, gun violence, mass shooting, hate crime, misogyny, racial slurs, medical content
Lying and Making a Living is a collection of shocking and often jarring short stories. From a presidential debate gone wrong to a dog/man in a dream state getting hit by a dump truck, these stories are unique offer a wide variety of social commentary. Some of the stories left me cringing, while others had me laughing, and I particularly enjoyed the footnotes.
All that being said, I didn't like this short story collection. It seems well-received, so this is likely a case of me being from the wrong audience or the audiobook formatting not working for me. Dunlap was definitely trying to push the envelope and make the reader feel discomfort, but that discomfort was sustained for nearly the entire collection which made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the stories but still intrigued enough to finish listening. I also found some of the content quite triggering, so a list of content warnings probably would have deterred me altogether.
CW: Sexual violence, animal death/cruelty, toxic relationship, blood, bullying, child abuse, death, gore, gun violence, mass shooting, hate crime, misogyny, racial slurs, medical content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0