gracescanlon's reviews
747 reviews

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Racism

The Godmothers by Camille Aubray
Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.

Just lost interest, and didn’t want to fall into a reading slump. 

Remember Me by Chelsea Bobulski

dark mysterious tense medium-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? N/A

5.0

Whizzed on by! I kept making the mistake of picking this up within an hour of my self-imposed bedtime, but at least that meant I enjoyed it longer. Today, though, I sat and read more than half this book. What a ride! Honestly, the only thing I can think would improve it would be more depth, specifically into the complexities of Lon and his vendetta. Eerie, tense, and heartwrenching, with a main character who isn't insufferable - a tendency that's unfortunately too common in YA (and other fiction too, honestly).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Vomit, War, Pandemic/Epidemic

The Home Edit Life: The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything by Clea Shearer, Joanna Teplin

informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.

Yawn.

The main character, Selin, could be interesting — there are moments in the book that mirror Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot. However, unlike Dostoyevsky’s work, Batuman’s version lacks any emotion from the main character and evokes none in the reader. Selin tells and tells us every tiny detail of her freshman year at university, without expounding upon anything interesting about it, if she mentions anything interesting at all. 

I struggled with how Selin got into Harvard, as I didn’t see any evidence of particular intelligence, talent, or originality that would’ve made her an attractive applicant to the university. She was naive and literal, and so passive that unless the book contained major character growth or even some kind of character arc, it was bound to be dull — a whole lot of nothing in too many words. 

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

In Focus Auras: Your Personal Guide by Joylina Goodings

informative fast-paced

3.75

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

challenging dark tense slow-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

Deliciously eerie throughout with a wonderful ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Violence

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

Review to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders