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jamgrl's reviews
176 reviews
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Another one knocked out of the park; I am not at all surprised and I am excited for Book 3!!! {If you haven’t checked out The Broken Earth trilogy yet, CHECK IT OUT!!}
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
So, I enjoyed this book- it was silly and fun and pretty much what I expected in terms of level of romcom cliche- but I also was kind of cringing at parts of it, particularly related to several “romantic” gestures from our male lead, Nathan. Maybe I read this too soon after watching You season 1 😂. I just kept thinking about how creepy some of his behavior was (paying Brie’s lease without her knowledge or consent, buying her apartment building, keeping a box of her stuff). Also, the absurd wealth was a turnoff for me. I think I would have liked this more if it were a college romance; the football-ballerina stuff was cute, and Nathan’s teammates were super fun, but I didn’t like the way money was handled (it’s tried to be waved away by Brie having always struggled with money and Nathan feeling guilty about his privilege- but that doesn’t change the fact that he keeps buying a ludicrous amount of ludicrously expensive dresses??). ON THE OTHER HAND- Nathan deals with panic attacks throughout this book and I did like the way this/mental health was handled. That was a cool thing to pull in that didn’t feel ham fisted in. I went back and forth over whether I liked this book and I think ultimately it was an okay book with some fun and good parts and some not great reproductions of bad cliches.
When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
I kind of loved this book? I picked it up totally randomly, mostly because it was super short, and then my biggest complaint became that it wasn’t long enough!
Some mild spoilers ahead
It hits a lot of normal romance cliches except on top of that we are getting to know a specific queer/lesbian community and we have a character discovering and exploring her sexuality- not just her attraction, but sexual pleasure (there’s a sex shop visit??).
The characters both have interesting self explorations about their own sexualities or genders and what is super interesting is that by the end of the book, we don’t get labels for either of them. That’s really cool; I really respect the choice to skip the labels, they are them and that’s what matters- this is emphasized pretty strongly in the book and it is definitely not a case of shying away from queerness.
Overall, a fun, sweet, and thoughtful book.
Some mild spoilers ahead
It hits a lot of normal romance cliches except on top of that we are getting to know a specific queer/lesbian community and we have a character discovering and exploring her sexuality- not just her attraction, but sexual pleasure (there’s a sex shop visit??).
The characters both have interesting self explorations about their own sexualities or genders and what is super interesting is that by the end of the book, we don’t get labels for either of them. That’s really cool; I really respect the choice to skip the labels, they are them and that’s what matters- this is emphasized pretty strongly in the book and it is definitely not a case of shying away from queerness.
Overall, a fun, sweet, and thoughtful book.
La uruguaya by Pedro Mairal
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Pedro Mairal is an Argentinian author who won a Spanish literary award, el Premio Tigre Juan, for this book. Pretty cool for a book I picked up based on spine thickness and knowing nothing about! I wasn’t sure if I would like this book since cheating is a central theme of the book (this is not a spoiler, it’s pretty clear in the summary) but I really liked it. It is a thoughtful analysis of marriage and co-parenting and love and desire and financial struggle and class expectations. It also contains surprises! It is very poetic in style, which was challenging for me at times, not gonna lie, but there was plenty of dialogue easy for me to follow- this was a good stretch for my Spanish reading comprehension ☺️.
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I adore these little novellas!
If you haven’t heard of them, they take place in an alternate east Asia full of magic and legendary stories. Our main character is a young cleric whose job it is to record stories for their abbey’s historical archives (with the help of their talking bird companion who has photographic memory). They travel and meet people and hear their stories, so as a reader, you follow both the real time story and the stories being told. The stories are adventurous and exciting and the real time gives this sense of sitting together with people which is very slice of life (though they have obstacles and events of their own).
This one I felt leaned the most into the story telling idea of these books, with the characters telling multiple stories while on a journey together. It was a very comforting read, even if violence was a central theme 😂. It felt very much about catching moments in people’s lives and snapshots of who they are and people sharing time together and forming community for a short period. Like the temporary friends you make at weddings or on trips who you know you’ll never see again. I don’t know, I just really liked it!
Each novella is stand alone!
If you haven’t heard of them, they take place in an alternate east Asia full of magic and legendary stories. Our main character is a young cleric whose job it is to record stories for their abbey’s historical archives (with the help of their talking bird companion who has photographic memory). They travel and meet people and hear their stories, so as a reader, you follow both the real time story and the stories being told. The stories are adventurous and exciting and the real time gives this sense of sitting together with people which is very slice of life (though they have obstacles and events of their own).
This one I felt leaned the most into the story telling idea of these books, with the characters telling multiple stories while on a journey together. It was a very comforting read, even if violence was a central theme 😂. It felt very much about catching moments in people’s lives and snapshots of who they are and people sharing time together and forming community for a short period. Like the temporary friends you make at weddings or on trips who you know you’ll never see again. I don’t know, I just really liked it!
Each novella is stand alone!
Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
This is very much The Ex Hex with a triwizard tournament in it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t read both ex hex books already; it mostly felt very samey to those. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, obviously, and it’s a cute witchy book with two bisexual leads and a sapphic romance, which is something I am totally on board with.
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
adventurous
funny
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? It's complicated
4.0
When I started listening to Space Opera, I got nervous! Because it was reminding me a lot of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and I am so sorry to say that I do not like Hitchhiker’s Guide. Of course, then I read the summary, which said “Hitchhiker’s Guide meets Eurovision!” But it was for a book club, so I stuck it out- and ended up enjoying it much more than I expected!
Basically, this book goes back and forth between Hitchhiker’s style comedic/absurd world building of the outrageous aliens/alien worlds and the plot of the book- which is following our two washed up rock stars who find themselves representing Earth in an intergalactic music competition with dire stakes.
Once the book gets going, it settles into a pattern of plot chapters and comedic chapters detailing past competition performances by various species, which, I found out at Book Club, are all Eurovision references! I have never watched Eurovision, so this all went over my head. At first, I struggled a lot with these chapters because it was impossible to remember all the species names and what they when like etc, but when I realized it didn’t really matter that much for the plot, I just allowed myself to laugh and move on. The plot itself was what kept me invested- it was very character focused, slowly unraveling backstory on our two main characters that made them feel grounded even amidst the chaos that was this book 😅.
Heath Miller did an excellent audiobook performance (and his voice for Decibel Jones could make me fall in love… 😂). There is singing and lots of energy in the audiobook- this book seems to really benefit from the audio format!
Overall, this book is both fun and full of heart.
Basically, this book goes back and forth between Hitchhiker’s style comedic/absurd world building of the outrageous aliens/alien worlds and the plot of the book- which is following our two washed up rock stars who find themselves representing Earth in an intergalactic music competition with dire stakes.
Once the book gets going, it settles into a pattern of plot chapters and comedic chapters detailing past competition performances by various species, which, I found out at Book Club, are all Eurovision references! I have never watched Eurovision, so this all went over my head. At first, I struggled a lot with these chapters because it was impossible to remember all the species names and what they when like etc, but when I realized it didn’t really matter that much for the plot, I just allowed myself to laugh and move on. The plot itself was what kept me invested- it was very character focused, slowly unraveling backstory on our two main characters that made them feel grounded even amidst the chaos that was this book 😅.
Heath Miller did an excellent audiobook performance (and his voice for Decibel Jones could make me fall in love… 😂). There is singing and lots of energy in the audiobook- this book seems to really benefit from the audio format!
Overall, this book is both fun and full of heart.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Can I just insert that Lady Gaga gif? “Brilliant! Incredible! Amazing! Showstopping! Spectacular! Never the same! Totally unique!”
The world building is smart and fascinating and rich and so detailed and creative; this is some top-notch world building. I loved the way information was revealed bc I started to realize that if I payed close attention, I could pick up bread crumbs for later reveals, which is always so satisfying! I am someone who loves trying to connect the dots, like red string on a cork board, so this kind of book is great for me. I’m already formulating theories for Book 2 😂.
I was also invested in the characters and their relationships. This book is brilliantly tragic because you can know something terrible is inevitable and still be pleading for it not to happen bc you care so much about these people.
It definitely starts out dark and fairly cryptic/difficult to comprehend, AND it is 100% worth continuing past that initial strangeness (the prologue is a great reread after you have finished the book).
Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I have to admit I was bit underwhelmed by this collection. I would have loved more information about the myths the stories were based on, more of an exploration of different stages or types of love, and more development in each story. I know they are meant to be short, but I felt like the stories kept ending right when I was getting invested! For a lot of them, I felt like I would have enjoyed them more if there was more interaction between the love interests/dialogue, more back story/world building, and a greater feeling of time/relationship building between love interests.
That being said, there is a lot going on in this collection. It was really cool to see mostly stories based on non-western mythology and with mostly black protagonists. Each story had the start of something pretty interesting, and though I didn’t feel all the stories were fully realized, they span a huge variety of settings with a lot of potential and got me wanting to explore what a longer story from Bolu Babalola is like. She published a romance novel two years after this anthology, Honey & Spice, so I will have to check that out!
That being said, there is a lot going on in this collection. It was really cool to see mostly stories based on non-western mythology and with mostly black protagonists. Each story had the start of something pretty interesting, and though I didn’t feel all the stories were fully realized, they span a huge variety of settings with a lot of potential and got me wanting to explore what a longer story from Bolu Babalola is like. She published a romance novel two years after this anthology, Honey & Spice, so I will have to check that out!