gxuosi's reviews
326 reviews

Down the Drain by Julia Fox

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

julia's life is quite literally unfathomable. the idea that she's alive today after all of this astounds me. and for her to be reduced to nothing more than trendsetter hardly encompasses who she is as a person and creative force. it's genuinely hard to believe all of this could be true and for her to be so well adjusted now; especially unbelievable that she remembers so many of these convos and dialogues with this much clarity after that many narcotics. i have no doubt that she's filled in the gaps with approximations and paraphrasing—none of which i hold against her. her story is fraught from the start with drugs, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, entrapment, manic depressive spirals, and death. i'd advise any reader to read acomprehensive trigger warning list before going into this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Pandemic/Epidemic

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

dnf at 11%. i don’t have the time or patience to read a story by a white author about racism filtered through the victimized and racially prejudiced white child in the 60s as a collective of black women fulfill the magical-black-character trope in efforts to save her. especially when other reviews make it clear lily never actually unpacks her racial bias, continues to be fatphobic, and rosaleen’s story is sidelined by lily’s ignorance of it happening. i do not have it in me to suffer that.

A Lover's Discourse by Xiaolu Guo

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

girl you should have left him

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Death of parent

Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

i knew at 21% that this was a 5/5 and by 30% that this was going to be one of my top reads of 2025. i was a wreck from start to finish and binged it in one sitting, despite the fact that i cried so hard a few times that i couldn't see. the entire book being told in prose from the perspective of a young teen girl navigating her tumultuous life was a perfect parallel to my childhood favorite book "keeper of the night" by kimberly willis holt. which is why it comes as no suprise to me that i connected so quickly with the format and narrative. now this book means as much to me as holt's does. i can't possibly come up with any version of a review that does this book the justice it deserves beyond saying that "home is not a county" has become a lifelong favorite. thank you safia elhillo, for this book and for what this book has done for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

3.0

really just a morbid slice of life historical fiction book with a unique perspective on women's ailments and women physicians through late 1400s to mid 1500s in china. if you're squeamish, maybe avoid this one-especially if foot binding freaks you out. updated review addition: i can’t get over the asinine way things were translated to sound more “regal.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Slavery, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Murder

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

adventurous emotional lighthearted 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? No

4.0

really just a fearful amount of longing and railing against the impossible

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Torture, Excrement, Abortion, and War

The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

this was hallucinogenic, nonlinear, multi-pov headache as we spiral down into the bunker leaving every rational thought behind on the way down. what a fucking trip.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau

reflective slow-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

1.0

reading this book felt like eating sand. 291 pages of nothing happening interspersed with gunfire and long monologues about the government. malencia’s bag of holding and the presidential gun closet… her infinite perfect access to every tool she’s ever going to need. and don’t get me started on how every single PoC character was either killed off, maimed and removed from the plot, or was described as being untrustworthy, vicious, cut throat through the WHOLE series. what a miserable fucking ending to a series i liked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Murder

Minor: War

Independent Study, Volume 2: The Testing, Book 2 by Joelle Charbonneau

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

hi again, it's me chronic middle book lover. boy this whole book sure is just a bridge from book 1 to the finale. but by GOD is the characterization we get out of cia worth it. middle books are always full of transient plans, despondent pining, and inner turmoil and i LOVE THAT SHIT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and War

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

bro i just love this series soooo bad. i know it got so much shit a whole decade ago cause complaints of it being a rip off of a bunch of other series, but those series were inspired and based on other things too. everything inspired by something else and i’ve always felt that this story had enough unique elements that the complaints were unfounded—especially now in an era of mass produced romantasy lmfaooooo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Alcohol, War, and Classism