grimalkintoes's reviews
140 reviews

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I was hesitant to pick this book up, despite the glowing reviews from colleagues, because I was unsure if I was ready to read fiction about something that has been so very real for our collective consciousness. I picked it up regardless of these personal fears and dove straight in. What I found was a story rich with the shared thread(s) of pain, heartbreak, grief, loneliness and isolation that we all experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, some that we continue to experience. It left me feeling raw, exposed.

I have not read Jodi Picoult since her novel Nineteen Minutes, and I am pleased that this was the book that brought me back. Many aspects of Diana's story resonated with me, particularly the theme of change, starting over. I'll be ruminating on Wish You Were Here for months to come. 

 “You cannot trust perception. Falling, at first, feels like flying.” 

Read if you enjoy: fiction-based-on-fact, relationship fiction, intricately plotted storylines, and reflective tone. 

No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Crystal Maldonado’s No Filter and Other Lies is a poignant YA title. It complicates our understanding of vulnerability, authenticity, and honesty in the age of social media. The story follows Kat, a high school senior, who wants nothing more than to have her creativity and artistic vision valued and appreciated by her online community. When she fails to receive this uptake, things take a turn for the worse when Kat decides to create an online persona named “Max” using photographs of her coworker, Becca. It is through this complication that Kat learns what it means to be seen, and what it takes to heal a broken self-identity. 

“You should know, right now, that I’m a liar. They’re usually little lies. Tiny lies. Baby lies. Not so much lies as lie adjacent. But they’re still lies.”

Read if you enjoy: YA fiction, teen angst and self-exploration, well-developed characters, and a warm, relatable tone. 

Though Maldonado gives us plenty of reason to empathize with Kat’s circumstance(s), I was pleased when she still had to learn from consequence and reflect on the harm she unintentionally inflected. Happy endings are fiction, and Maldonado reminds us of this. My wish for Kat and everyone who picks up this book is that we learn to sit in our discomfort and take the time to reflect on our experiences, building strong(er) foundations of self-appreciation.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-built follows Dex, a tea monk offering a brewed cup of comfort to all who seek it on their travels, and Mosscap, the first robot to make contact with humankind after robots developed sentience and left the laboring human world to wander the wilderness, as they embark on a pilgrimage together. It is written to those of us who are unsettled by the question of our own purpose in life, to those of us who are unfulfilled, uncertain, and tired. And most importantly, it is an elegy to dis/comfort, to our reaching out to grasp meaning in a meaningful/less world. 

“When I am done with this, I will do other things. I do not have a purpose any more than a mouse or a slug or a thornbush does. Why do you have to have one in order to feel content?” 

Read if you enjoy: solarpunk fiction, lyrical prose, leisurely pacing, and reflective tone. 

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

Holly Black builds such an extravagant world in The Cruel Prince. There were countless moments where it felt like my mind had left my body behind in the mortal world to instead dance among the folk, reveling in their intoxicating beauty, no care of what I left behind. In many ways, I felt like Jude. I felt her desire to be wanted, her desire to be needed in the land of Faerie. And that was painful. Holly Black ripped my heart open, just like she did Jude and I'm not sure if I can forgive her. Yet. 

"I will make my mayfly life count for something."

Read if you enjoy: high fantasy, fae lore, enchanting world-building, and strong feminine characters. 

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

 Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me is the ache of growing pains. It is heartbreak -- and it is transformation. It is trusting your gut. It is love with(out) boundaries -- and it stings. 

The story follows Freddy as she faces yet another break-up with her girlfriend, Laura Dean, which we learn to expect (if not anticipate) as the narrative unfolds. With each page turn, the relationship becomes more distressing and Freddy more distant. But while this story, at its heart, is about the damaging affects of a soured relationship, it is also about the overwhelming structural and emotional support of friends, resiliency, and care.  

Read if you enjoy: LGBTQIA+ fiction, authentic character building, and teen angst. 

P.S. I need Rosemary Valero-O'Connell to illustrate my entire life. 

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.0

SPOILER ALERT: #bookstagram is going to hate me for this one but I didn’t like Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert. I didn’t like it so much that I think I’m going to have to sit the sequel out. Which sucks! It absolutely blows. I wanted nothing more than to be a fan of this book because fat protagonists in fiction are my JAM but the story/romance was so superficial that as a literal fat person I felt nauseous and annoyed at the fact that our struggles, our loves, our LUSTS weren’t being given an opportunity for deeper exploration. In fact, when the narrative tries to dig, it’s stifled by the characters being written in such a way that they’re unable to communicate in any meaningful way. Fluff is fun. Fluff is important. Intentionality is also important. I needed more from April and Marcus. I needed more from Olivia Dade. As a fat person begging on my fuckin’ knees, I need more. 🌶🌶🌶🌶 though, I won’t lie. 

Read if you like: you’ve-got-mail, famous flings, fan fiction, cosplay, and open-door romance. 

Onion Skin by Edgar Camacho

adventurous lighthearted slow-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

Onion Skin is a twisty, psychedelic tale of lion-girls, chance, delicious herbs, and warring food trucks. The story follows Rolando — recently unemployed and searching for purpose. When he meets Nera, the universe splits and we’re launched into past/present/future tense as the two set off on their shared adventure to spice up life. 

“An onion’s not like an apple. You can’t just bite into one by itself. The onion serves to season and enhance the flavor of other foods. I guess sometimes people are like onions.”

Read if you enjoy: atmospheric artwork, non-linear narrative, and strongly developed characters grappling with themes like burnout, depression, and isolation. 

Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

Samantha Irby’s latest release, Wow, No Thank You, is cathartic release, gut-wrenching relatability, and rib-aching humor. There was never a dull moment in this memoir and I found myself lovingly reflecting on all of Irby’s words — many of which held a mirror up to my own existence. I can’t recommend this #bookclub read more. 

Read if you enjoy: memoirs, self-deprecating humor, and realistic reflections on our human obsessions with perfection. 

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m back with another Stephen Graham Jones review, but who here is surprised? Nobody? That’s what I thought. The Only Good Indians, Jones’ 2020 release, tells the tale of 4 Native American friends from the Blackfeet Nation as they come face-to-face with the terrifying reality that no debt goes unpaid — nor does an elk mother forget.

Guilt and grief clash together in a rupture of blood and antlers, sorrow burrowing down and seeding a cycle of revenge. But from that seed, too, rises a daughter who will “…take the world in her teeth and shake until she tears a hunk of something off for herself.” 

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

funny lighthearted medium-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? N/A

4.0

It’s the week before Valentine’s Day so of course I’m in the mood for some cheesy contemporary romance! 💌 Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game DELIVERS. It’s got so many of my favorite romance tropes: enemies to lovers, only one bed/stuck together, and he falls first. Not only that, but Thorne writes such fun characters. Josh and Lucy are lovable, especially their playful dynamic as coworkers-at-war. The yearning I felt for them to finally be together was REAL. My only disappointment is that the spicy meter was a little low. I’d rate it 🌶🌶🌶.