heathero621's reviews
566 reviews

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

More: A Memoir of Open Marriage by Molly Roden Winter

challenging emotional informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

Molly and her husband decide to make their marriage open and this is her account of what happens once they do that.  This was interesting to read because I am not in an open marriage and it is very hard to imagine being in one and confirms that I do not want to be in one.  I listened to the audiobook and I thought that it was good to consume it that way.  I think the thing that rubbed me the wrong way and made me like the story less is that Molly and Stewart decide to have an open marriage, but whenever she gets broken up with she starts complaining about the open marriage and "whining" about not wanting to be in one and blaming Stewart for wanting to be in one.  But it seems like whenever she is dating someone she is okay with it.  I think if you are curious to see how one open marriage works you could check out this book, but if you aren't interested at all, then I would skip it.

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

This is a poetry/short essay book that looks at how Black people are treated in the current times.  The stories and reflection on these events are powerful and eye opening.  This is a short book and can be finished in one sitting.  I think that Rankine's words will make you reflect on the racism that is happening currently.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Cyrus is an Iranian immigrant who came to the US with his dad after his mother died after her plane was accidentally shot down by the US.  Cyrus is now in college and is reflecting on his life and wants to write a book on Martyrs.  He meets this woman performance artist that is doing a piece at the museum and going to talk to her becomes a big part of his life.  I enjoyed the novel.  I think that the first third and last third were the best parts.  I felt like it dragged a bit in the middle.  The ending was not at all expected and I was really happy with how it worked out.  

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

This book follows three people (Ida Mae, George, and Robert) that migrated from the South to the North during the Great Migration of Black people in the US.  The book also talks about the Great Migration.  Isabel's writing/research in this book is outstanding.  It was a little bit of a slow burn for me, but I enjoyed slowly learning about each of the characters and what they went through and why they migrated from the South.  I thought that she did a fantastic job in telling the stories of the three people.  I liked the extra information that she gave about why people were migrating and what was going on during the migration.  I think my only complaint was that I would have liked to know more about the great migration and hear other stories.  I know that her focus was mostly on the three people, but I would have liked to learn more about this time period.  She did write about the extra stuff I wanted to hear about, but I just wish that there was more of it.

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is about Patsy, a young Jamaican woman that is going to the US to follow her friend, but when she gets to the US, it isn't anything like how she expected.  The book also follows her daughter Tru growing up in Jamaica without her mother.

I listened to the audiobook and I liked the narrator and her accent that I think really added to the book.  The parts that I didn't like about the audiobook is that sometimes you could tell when they had stopped and restarted the production.  The volume would be different or the tone a little off from what it was.  It was a little distracting.  It is also read really slow and I had to increase the speed to 2.15-2.3, which is usually too fast for me!  Onto the book!  I thought that this book should've been edited down.  There were too many parts for me that were a bit boring and slow moving.  I would find my mind wandering a lot during the book and would have to rewind and listen again.  I did think that a lot of the story was interesting and I liked getting to know Patsy and Tru's characters.  

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book takes place mostly during WWII in Malaysia (known as Malaya then).  It follows the some of members of the Alcantara family with each chapter telling a different person's POV.  There is the mother Cecily who is spy that is working for the Japanese.  Her two daughters are Jujube and Jasmin, both at different points in their lives.  Then her son Abel, who has been caught by the Japanese and is an a POW camp.  I'm not a huge fan of WWII novels, but this one was unique in that I've never heard of one from this point of view before, which was at least something different.  The story was easy to read and follow.  I did get bored at times.  I liked the relationship Cecily had with Leni (I hope that I got that name right!).  

The Unseen World by Liz Moore

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

This book is about a father and daughter relationship.  David is Ada's dad and he works in tech and is working on this AI machine called Elixir.  David has been teaching Ada and she is a regular fixture in his lab.  David's memory starts to go at an early age and Ada has to go live with a friend because David can no longer take care of her.  It is during this time that Ada is trying to piece together her dad's life because there are so many unanswered questions and he may not be who he said he was.  The book goes back and forth in time, which worked for me and I never got confused where in time they were.

I enjoyed this novel very much.  I listened to the audiobook and I thought that it was really well done.  It was interesting how AI played a big part in the novel and then to read this backlist book when AI is a big thing right now.  I really liked the father and daughter relationship in this book, especially towards the end when things are revealed and as a reader you got a better glimpse into their relationship.  I enjoyed the characters and the storylines.  I think that the ending pays off and you get all of the answers you wanted.  Some things were predictable, but it didn't bother me.  

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.5

This book is about a group of young men that get into a lot of trouble by destroying things and beating people up.  One of the boys gets sent to jail where they work on converting him into a nice person.  This book is a classic and it is on my TBR to read.  The story isn't bad, but I wish that the author just used regular language.  I loathe the way that they talk.  I think that it really distracts from the story and made me not like the book as much.  I understood what the main character was saying, but it was annoying.

Two Women Walk into a Bar by Cheryl Strayed

emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

This is a very short story (26 pages) about Cheryl's mother-in-law Joan.  Joan is at the end of her life and Cheryl is reflecting back on Joan as a person and how she became who she was.  I could've read even more about Joan, but at the same time I thought that the length was perfect.  Cheryl is a really good writer.