jenwestpfahl's reviews
299 reviews

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Keeping all the characters and storyline connections straight can be a challenge, but it is an interesting novel, worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Murder

How to Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahr

informative medium-paced

5.0

It started a little slow and hard to follow but I learned so much. Everyone in the US should read this.

Passing by Nella Larsen

challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

I honestly can’t decide if I liked this book. While it does a good job of exploring the freedoms and perils of passing, when it comes to the actual characters and plot, it is “maddeningly ambiguous,” as another reviewer put it.

For all the time we spent in Irene’s head (which felt like way too much in he third act), I still feel like I don’t know her at all. And there are so many unanswered questions about the motivations and actions of the main characters. 

The ending was also ambiguous and shockingly abrupt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

mysterious fast-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

3.5

Murder mystery isn’t my favorite genre but this did keep me turning in the pages to see how it all played out. It was impressive from the standpoint of how Christy orchestrated these complicated murders to match the rhyme and never give away the murderer.

The ending explanation of the final death didn’t make a lot of sense to me but oh well. And the casual anti-semitism toward a named but never seen character surprised me (especially considering the substantial other changes that have been made since the original publishing).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Antisemitism and Alcohol

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

Classic Binchy - light, sweet, we’ll-drawn characters and settings. This is written as several intertwined short stories, each focused on a different character who visits or works at a guesthouse the same week. The format worked well for me.

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Compelling and clever but the ending was very abrupt and kind of unsettling. I even flipped the page back and forth a couple of times like “is that it?”

Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman

emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

A raw and interesting look at New York Hasidic culture - the good, bad and ugly about it. And a compelling tale of a life journey by a woman who never felt she belonged there.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

I couldn’t put this down. Each of the 5 main characters’ stories was interesting on its own. Seeing how they connected to each other and to The Ancient Greek text was a delight. And the end was very satisfying.

Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber

reflective medium-paced

3.5

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazing novel. Every character felt real and well-rounded. This made most of them hard to like even while you rooting for them to be better.