heathero621's reviews
583 reviews

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.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective fast-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

3.5

This book is told from the point of view of Esperanza about growing up in Chicago.  Each chapter is very short and the book feels more like an essay compilation than a novel.  I enjoyed the book and reading about Esperanza's life.  I believe that I read this book back in college (about 20 years ago!) , but I don't remember it and I think in another 20 years it will not have stayed with me again.  Some of the stories were more enjoyable and memorable than others.  The book is super fast.

Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail by Andrea Lankford

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

4.25

This book is about the author's experience searching for a few men that went missing from the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail).  There is a lot of information about the trail and the different parts of it, what goes into search and rescue, and then the people that are all involved in the missing cases.  I really enjoyed the listen to this book.  I found it really interesting and captivating.  I was hoping that the ending would have been different, but that's life.  

The Wild Between Us by Amy Hagstrom

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

Silas returns to the mountains where he spent his high school days.  He is now a divorced father with two sons, who end up going missing.  The search and rescue team is brought in and Silas is confronted with another tragedy that happened 20 years before in the same place.  The book goes back and forth in time to the first tragedy and then current times.

The author of this book is someone that I went to high school with, so it was extra exciting to get this book.  The setting also takes place where I grew up, although some parts are fictionalized.  I thought that the book was really good.  I enjoyed both timelines and was surprised by a little twist at the end of the book.  For the most part, the pacing of the book was good, but there were times where it was a a little slow for me and I wanted it to pick up.  It also just so happened that I was reading a nonfiction book about people getting lost on the PCT and I thought that these two books complimented each other really well.