gillyreads's reviews
1198 reviews

Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling (First Nations Classics). by Larissa Behrendt

Really excellent, love non-fiction that examines storytelling.

Steam Pigs by Melissa Lucashenko

Melissa Lucashenko is an excellent writer 

Cactus Pear For My Beloved: A Family Story from Gaza by Samah Sabawi

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

Beautiful and moving writing. As a reader you feel so deeply emeshed both in the lives of individual characters as well as the historical moment. I really liked how Samah Sabawi approached the concept of memoir, and I think the undercurrents of how carefully this was approached (as she mentions in the authors note, as part of a phd) really elevate the story. 

Naag Mountain by Manisha Anjali

absolutely glorious writing. 

The Runaway Duchess by Joanna Lowell

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

I really enjoyed this one. Loved the complexity of Lavinia's character and the premise. I particularly enjoyed the writing, very vivid.

Artfully Yours by Joanna Lowell

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Really great, I think this series each book improves upon the last. 

The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell

emotional funny medium-paced

I found this quite enjoyable

The Midwatch by Judith Rossell

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

A lovely story with brilliant worldbuilding, delightful cast of characters and an intriguing mystery. I loved the illustrations. Additionally, it is a beautifully designed book, the publisher did an incredible job.

A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell

Quite delightful

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

 When done well, I think ‘how do we fix our marriage’ books are one of my favourite kinds of romances and I have mostly liked Hannah Bonam-Young’s previous books so I was hopeful that I’d enjoy this. It did take me a bit to get into, I had to push myself a bit to get through the first few chapters and would say I probably didn’t start really enjoying it until about halfway through. I found Sarah to be a frustrating character to relate to initially, and I was concerned this was going to be one of those books where you’re just yelling at them to just have a conversation the whole time. However,  I think that the author actually did a really good job of exploring the communication issues, and once the book got started it was obviously something she really thought through rather than a plot device. She did a great job navigating the more complex, trauma-related aspects of it, and also working through what it means to grow into adults together when your relationship dynamic was set up as teenagers.  I loved that they were both committed to working things out from the beginning, but were unsure of what exactly they were going to be able to do. 

The thing I found almost unbearable was how much money they had. I don’t think this was thought through in an interesting or compelling way. It was sort of acknowledged but I think a lot could have been done with the dynamic that just wasn’t. She kind of tacked on the end that they could downsize and try and run a more ethical business.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent