isabelleverdino's reviews
364 reviews

Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sánchez

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

2.75

Listened to the audiobook. It’s brave to share how bad her depression got but as someone with my own depression journey it wasn’t a necessarily helpful listen. Sanchez narrated the audiobook which is always cool but man does she have a poets voice. For all the goods and bads that comes with 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

Hard to listen to sometimes. But crucial and important. 

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Crema by Johnnie Christmas

3.0

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0

“I turned Callisto into a constellation when she was killed. Ursa Major. My big bear. 

Our love is so small now 
Barely a spark. 

I can’t see it at all now
Except in the dark” (58-59) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault

Heartstopper Volume 5 by Alice Oseman

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

These books are so special. 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

Wow I would like to be a Hempstock. Even just a small piece of one- maybe I am. 

“I remember my own childhood so vividly… I knew terrible things. But I knew I mustn’t let the adults know I knew. It would scare them.” 

“I wondered, as I wondered so often when I was that age, who I was, and what exactly was looking at the face in the mirror. If the face I was looking at wasn't me, and I knew it wasn't, because I would still be me whatever happened to my face, then what was me? And what was watching?” 

“I knew only that a dream had scared me so badly that I had to wake up or die, and yet, try as I might, I could not remember what I had dreamed.” 

“I do not miss childhood, but I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I found joy in the things that made me happy.” 

Meaty by Samantha Irby

funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

It’s funny cause this is Samantha Irby’s first book but I’m reading it third. It makes me feel like I’m from the future (which to this Irby I guess I am) so in all the chapters about how men are gross I’m going 
👁👄👁 yes I know that and I also know you end up with a woman. 

The Bear by Andrew Krivak

adventurous emotional 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

I’ve realized that the book that impacted me the most when I was younger was The Island of Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. And not necessarily in a positive way, it made me quite upset at the time. 

I think this book reminds me of that one in a lot of ways. A young girl forced to grow up quickly amidst the harshness and the beauty of the wild. Honestly, I think I would have found this book more forgiving than Blue Dolphins as a child because of the voices of the animals and the trees that support her once she’s alone. 

Regardless, I wish there had been a little more about the people from before. Even just a few more remnants. And I also find myself wishing that the ending wasn’t as resolute as it was. It made me sad more than anything to learn that there were no more people for her to find in her whole life. That even though she found solace in her life and in the wild, that a bear had to complete her loop for her. I wish it had ended with her fathers burial and left the rest unanswered.