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jaylyn_'s reviews
76 reviews
The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram
4.0
this book fell to the bottom of my priority list for a bit but i had a lovely time
Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
dnf at 47%
i tried but i just didnt like this book. im not exactly creating any new sentiments here but let me just say the advertisement that this book showcases "black boy joy" and is "trauma free" is a little insane to me. the title of the book is literally a reference to lynching! we are reminded from the jump that malik is a deeply traumatized child who witnessing the supposed death of his mother. it is actually trauma filled from cover to cover and to say otherwise is hilarious.
another thing is the usage of aave in this book at many points seems to be a way to extend the word count rather than add something to the passage. this is an issue to the point it took me out of the reading experience. the conjugation of aave in this story is also off and it reads unnatural at many points, even if someone actually talks like this it is most likely not going to translate to a page the same way and that is evident here. i genuinely couldn't deal with the way words were dragged out in this and started doing annotations to correct it and ive never felt the need to do that before.
i think if we were to strip back and look at the bare bones of this, there is a promising story buried in here. however from what i read, this book needed way more workshopping and the hype truly wasnt worth it.
The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
im easy to please so i had a lovely time!
Young Bucks: Killing the Business from Backyards to the Big Leagues by Matt Jackson
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
4.0
Dork Diaries 10: Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter by Rachel Renée Russell
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 stars purely because i loved the antics in this boom lol. very excited for the student exchange plot in book 11 though!
Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
real murzik.
The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall
4.5 out of 5 stars: hollis starts off trying to prove her boyfriend chris and his friends wrong by showing that she can play secrets & sorcery (D&D but legal reasons and all that jazz) she wants to feel included after being on the outside so long because of the very strict "no-girlfriend rule" implemented by chris' friend landon. also, the way she is treated by landon is honestly such an accurate representation of how a lot of boys act when girls enjoy "masculine" hobbies and it made me so fucking mad?? like the amount of times i said he needs to d word in my annotations is a little insane but hes an ass so its fine (cause why is your new gf allowed to play but now your friend's gf who you've known forever?) anyways.
hollis finds an all girl group of S&S players and from there, we see her transform into a confident and outspoken new version of herself. she also realizes she is, in her words, "not straight" thanks to one aini amin-shaw, who is an absolute darling btw. as the story progressed there were moments where it felt that the gameplay overtook the romance aspect of this story, but after reading it, thats the point is it not? the gameplay and real life begin to bleed together to the point that hollis is unsure of what she's feeling, and whether her feelings are hers towards aini? or is she getting it confused with honoria's feelings towards umber? this also plays into hollis' dynamic with chris because as she grows more confident, they grow apart and this plays a huge role in their eventual breakup. which thank god for that cause he's also an ass??? like my god dude hollis dealt with these boys for 4 years. overall this was definitely a fun read, it feels like this book is not only a romance, but a coming of age story about finding who you are with all of its difficult challenges and i absolutely loved it. an excellent debut from christen randall and i can't wait to see what they put out next!
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
hollis finds an all girl group of S&S players and from there, we see her transform into a confident and outspoken new version of herself. she also realizes she is, in her words, "not straight" thanks to one aini amin-shaw, who is an absolute darling btw. as the story progressed there were moments where it felt that the gameplay overtook the romance aspect of this story, but after reading it, thats the point is it not? the gameplay and real life begin to bleed together to the point that hollis is unsure of what she's feeling, and whether her feelings are hers towards aini? or is she getting it confused with honoria's feelings towards umber? this also plays into hollis' dynamic with chris because as she grows more confident, they grow apart and this plays a huge role in their eventual breakup. which thank god for that cause he's also an ass??? like my god dude hollis dealt with these boys for 4 years. overall this was definitely a fun read, it feels like this book is not only a romance, but a coming of age story about finding who you are with all of its difficult challenges and i absolutely loved it. an excellent debut from christen randall and i can't wait to see what they put out next!