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hannahleelovestoread's Reviews (635)

The Other Side of the Road

Andrea Bartz

5.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Talia Hibbert

4.25

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

Content Warnings

First Love: Essays on Friendship

Lilly Dancyger

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger is a seemingly unfiltered look at — and ode to — the author’s experience with the dynamics of female friendship throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Drawing on parallels to both cultural references such as the riot grrrl movement and personally definitive events like the untimely death of her father, Dancyger examines girlhood friendships built on foundations of cocaine use, a love of Sylvia Plath and Janis Joplin, and a sort of depressive folie à deux.

I enjoyed every essay in this piece immensely, finding myself at turns in fits of laughter and overcome with tears. Even when the experiences described were not part of my personal history, the descriptions of friendship and camaraderie, of conflict and growing apart were utterly relatable. Dancyger has a striking and irresistible way of describing unsavory behaviors and situations using the loveliest of language, and her cultural knowledge and allusions are effortlessly fascinating. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any and every girl or woman. All opinions expressed here are my own. Thanks to The Dial Press at Random House and to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Content Warnings

Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544

Kathryn Lasky

3.75

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective 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: Yes

Content Warnings

The Return of Ellie Black

Emiko Jean

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

In the new thriller The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean, teenager Elizabeth Black makes a shocking reappearance two years after being mysteriously abducted. Ellie, as she is known to her friends and family, is clearly ravaged by the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder; she sleeps in a crawl space instead of her bed at night, refuses to bathe or cut her long, matted hair, and is repulsed by physical contact with other people. Little by little, readers learn the horrifying story of her capture and forcible induction into a repressive cult on a deserted, rural property. Meanwhile, in alternating chapters, Detective Chelsey Calhoun works against the clock to find Ellie’s captors. She has worked the case since the earliest days of her career, motivated by a tragedy involving her sister during their teenage years. But as more information about other victims comes to light, Chelsey begins to suspect that Ellie herself is hiding something sinister.

To me, this book is a masterpiece. As a voracious reader of mysteries and thrillers, I repeatedly thought I had this book’s plot and its characters’ motivations all figured out — and every time, I was wrong. Author Emiko Jean managed to keep me guessing until the last pages. This book touched on some incredibly dark but important topics: survivor’s guilt and the freeze and fawn responses are only a few. I highly recommend this book. The opinions expressed in this review are mine. Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for access to the advanced reader copy.

Content Warnings

The Ghost Writer

Loreth Anne White

4.25

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

Rough Magic: Living with Borderline Personality Disorder

Miranda Newman

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

Rough Magic: Living with Borderline Personality Disorder by Miranda Newman is an unflinching account of a young woman’s battle with what is perhaps the most stigmatized mental illness in the Western world. Bright, charismatic, and temperamental, Newman gives readers what appears to be an honest look into what her life has been like before, during, and after recovery from borderline personality disorder. Her recollections of the horrific trauma of her early years are difficult to read, and I must warn anyone who also has a mental illness or a traumatic past to be aware of potential triggers. I was struck by how much I learned about borderline personality disorder (BPD) from this book, as Newman took pains to cite reputable sources extensively in teaching readers about the disorder as she tells her own story. Overall, this was a truly unforgettable read which I would recommend to nearly anyone. My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and to NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Content Warnings