jessicaxmaria's reviews
1022 reviews

Audition by Katie Kitamura

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

Oh the roles we play. Another outstanding work by Kitamura. Review to come...

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

A remarkable audiobook that jolted me when it started; the familiar accented English of my mother came through the speakers and I was immediately all in on Cara Romero's story. The conceit is that Cara has lost her factory job, and she is going to sessions with a social worker through a placement program, trying to find her another job. She's a Dominicana living in Washington Heights, and she has stories and charm for days. The voice actor, Rossmery Almonte, is incredible! The reader (and social worker) gets to know Cara over the sessions, and by the end it felt like an old friend (or honestly, one of my mom's friends), telling me about her day. 

This is wonderful on audiobook--I highly recommend it!

Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg

emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Death Takes Me by Cristina Rivera Garza

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.5

The Book of George by Kate Greathead

funny medium-paced

3.0

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

fast-paced

4.5

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

4.25

The Book Censor's Library by Bothayna Al-Essa

reflective fast-paced

2.5

A fine enough book that was just not for me; I'd put it in the category of books like Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, or some movies I've seen recently that are very fable-like and blur that line between true homage and straight copycatting. Probably would fit great in a high school classroom these days. 

A Feather on the Breath of God: A Novel by Sigrid Nunez

dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Profoundly connected to parts of this book, and not necessarily the ones I thought I would. There was something about reading this on a vacation to visit family in Panama, while also seeing the couple who lived next door to me in elementary school (a Japanese-Portuguese couple with three boys we always played with), that brought a certain prism on my life from Nunez's words. A favorite book, and one I know I'll be returning to.

The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

adventurous challenging funny reflective medium-paced

4.5

 A very fun book for a reader who loves to juggle many layers of a narrative at once (ME).