jenvini's reviews
68 reviews

Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell

4.0

Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde

4.0

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.25

Dykette by Jenny Fran Davis

funny reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

I'm always happy to read a book about messy lesbians; I think too often queer relationships are watered down and perfect in fiction to make them easier to digest for straight people. I enjoyed the writing style, and I'm always drawn to very unlikable protagonists, like Sasha. But I found myself fairly bored in some parts, and I think it has to do with the focus being zeroed-in on a white femme and the white lesbians around her, and while I understand that that's the point, it didn't really go anywhere for me. 

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Elegant writing coupled with mushrooms, my favorite. A little nonsensical, but to be honest, it's what I love about it. 

The Lights: Poems by Ben Lerner

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.25

Innards: Stories by Magogodi oaMphela Makhene

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

The Honey Month by Amal El-Mohtar

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.0

It feels strange to rate this book, it's a lot more personal than I thought it would be, although I may be biased considering I love honey more than most things. It's exactly what it says on the tin; Amal El-Mohtar's musings on the honey she sampled over the course of a month. Give it a read if you enjoy honey, and even if you don't, give it a try anyway. It's delightful. 

The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes on by Franny Choi

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

You only knew him for two years! cries the mother
of the boy we lost--sweet bedraggled flourish of a boy
who was hers and hers and hers and briefly mine and then--
out--like a swath of river, over a cliff and gone, back into
whatever name the universe calls us away toward, leaving question
after question in his unending wake, his wake shrinking
into a red horizon. Two years we fell into somehow step.

From "Waste"