jroberts3456's reviews
465 reviews

In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Hard boiled noir oozing with psychological insight and dark, dark underpinnings. 

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

It be like that sometimes. 

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow that was messed up *immediately starts second book*

The Between by Tananarive Due

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

….or do I hate it? This is the question that haunts the entire experience of reading Dhalgren. It’s a book that actively attempts to keep you from its secrets, not just by hiding them but by burying them in quotidian banality that makes it feel like a slog, even as you find yourself enraptured by the prose. It’s a book of answers without questions, questions without answers, a nightmare of structure, a dream of prose, a book dense with mystery that will either pull you in or shut you out. It’s like New York City—Dhalgren either welcomes you in or shuts you out. Either way you’re cursed. Either because you’ll never experience the mysteries or because you experience them all too well. It’s all too much. It’s beautiful and ugly and boring and rapturous and I cannot tell: do I love it or…

You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston, Genevieve West, Henry Louis Gates Jr.

challenging informative medium-paced

Nova by Samuel R. Delany

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What if Captain Ahab sought the Golden Fleece in space?

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

challenging reflective slow-paced

5.0

A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery and Resistance by Stella Dadzie

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0