joannemae's reviews
206 reviews

Love & Misadventure by Lang Leav

lighthearted fast-paced

0.5

Calling this tumblr poetry would be an insult to tumblr.

Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee

hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

1.0

Getting through this was a nightmare.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

5.0

Feels insane to only give this five stars.

Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo

dark fast-paced

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

0.5

So disappointing and poorly written that it made me want to move away from Chicago.

Every Precious and Fragile Thing: A Novel by Barbara Davis

emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

Social worker denies their obvious mental health issues and refuses to see a therapist.

Very beautifully written but so cheesy that it gave me a stomach ache. I could have done without the second chance romance-- it wasn't even compelling enough to have warranted the first chance.

The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir by Neko Case

reflective medium-paced

2.5

Lots of horses.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

challenging informative reflective 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? Yes

3.0

If you're willing to ignore the fact that the author's a terf, the book's only mid at best so...

The book had such a strong start but really peters off towards the middle and became a drag to get through at the end. Clearly Adichie is a talented author, and she definitely takes time to show off her writing and wrote a giant book that could have been so good if it got edited down. Because really... the book is this long for what? THAT ending? You're joking.

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

Another reviewer called this "The Phantom Tollbooth for adults," so why should I bother coming up with something funnier when they've already invented comedy.

Whimsical and wholesome but poorly executed. It was a BIG mistake to make the second male lead waaaay more interesting than the first... justice for Haruto.

I could have done without the romance or, at the very least,

without the happy ending. I thought the tent village scene was going to foreshadow them never finding each other again but forging their own destinies anyway and that would have been SUCH a banger.

3 stars with a bonus half star because I cried when I

tried explaining why Haruto deserved better

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

fast-paced

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

0.5

Begging StoryGraph to add “annoying” and “a complete waste of my time” as moods.

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

1.0

Gun to my head, you couldn’t get me to say one nice thing about these people.