historyofjess's reviews
2116 reviews

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a fun romp. I'm intrigued that such a long, expansive series came out of this first book and I'm interested to delve further (since I own all of them thanks to a Humble Bundle purchase). Pratchett has a very airy and entertaining writing style that is really enjoyable and makes for quick reading.

On Tyranny: Expanded Audio Edition by Timothy Snyder

informative

3.5

I feel like a lot of these books messages have made it into the mainstream in the last eight years to where it's not nearly as revelatory as it would have been had I read it back then.

A lot of the lessons are useful, but it's also good to recognize and acknowledge that Snyder is approaching this as a white, cis, man who's spent a lot of time in academia. This is particularly noteworthy when, in talking about propaganda and news sources, he gets into a weird print vs. screen tangent in which print is always good and screen is always bad. This is such a foolishly reductive argument that he fails to really grasp the nuances of. (E.g., I was literally listening to this audiobook on a screened device in my bed as he was telling me I shouldn't have screens in my bedroom and should chuck them for books.) Lots of misinformation assholes have written books. Not all books are good, sir. Not all information on screens is bad. This is just dumb.

And, as for the extended edition material, I tapped out early on it (I would've checked out the shorter version from my library to avoid it entirely, but they only had the extended edition). The whole pitch of On Tyranny was that it was a lean and mean approach to battling authoritarianism, so it's very strange to me to increase the runtime of the audiobook five times over. By Snyder's own admission, this added content isn't scripted, it's just him talking about the history of Russia and Ukraine in light of the war and loosely tying it to the bones of the initial text of On Tyranny. If this sounds interesting to you, have at it, but for me, it's not why I came to this book and, much like the initial text, I've learned a lot about the history of Ukraine and Russia in the last three years that I didn't really feel I was benefiting from an off-the-cuff lecture about it.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

The pacing made this a bit of a tough read for me. There are aspects of it that I enjoyed but I think there were a few too many deep internal spirals from the narrator and long scenes of people talking about very little. In general, there was just a little too much of a lot of little things and that let the tension loose in the story. The reveals in the last act of the book were too many and came far too slowly. But the core of the book is very interesting and that's probably why the film is much more successful (even with the morality edits).

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

This was an interesting concept, but I was a bit bummed when that resulted in a fairly standard murder mystery. That part wasn’t as engaging for me. I would have preferred spending more time with these kids and their unusual experiences. 

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a quick, fun read. Clark is a master at world building and its often the best thing about his books. I am, however, always a little less invested in his characters. But in this books, I really liked the main character right from the beginning. She's a lot of fun and I enjoyed following her journey. The third act got a bit muddled for me, but this was still a good time.

The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor

inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

I wish more self-help books had this energy. It's optimistic and inspirational, but not in a cloying way. A huge part of this is that Taylor isn't just here to build you up and make you feel better about yourself, she's also here to challenge not just the way you think about your own body, but the way you think about everyone else's. And that means confronting the misogyny, racism and ableism that we are all raised with.

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

emotional 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? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed going on this journey with Morgan and Keltie, but boy would I really love to see where they are in seven years, as well (and more from Keltie’s perspective). This was such a lovely story of finding oneself and I’d be delighted to spend more time with these characters. 

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.25

This was kind of fun, but I was definitely missing the depth from the other Harrow books
I’ve read. Everything just moved so quickly and resolved so neatly that I felt like I could see through the seams of the storytelling, rather than getting absorbed in it like I usually am. 

The Binding by Bridget Collins

emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

What a beautiful book. It took me a bit to get into it, but that's largely due to the way Collins manipulated the stolen memory aspect of the world she created as a way to slowly roll out the development of the characters and their relationships to each other. She has an exquisitely well-done handle on giving the reader the right amount of information to increase tension and pacing in the story. Also, it's just a really sweet love story.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This was a rough read for me. I had a hard time getting invested in the characters and the complexities of the plot kept everything at a distance for me.