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justabookishreader's reviews
156 reviews
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
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? Yes
4.0
two things:
1. fuck gretchen
2. im very gay and i liked this book
1. fuck gretchen
2. im very gay and i liked this book
We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Princess Princess Ever After by K. O'Neill
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Soft Landing Collection: Sapphic Fantasy and Science Fiction Stories by Jacquelynn Lyon
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie Liu
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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
4.5
The Moth Keeper by K. O'Neill
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I absolutely adore this book. I read it for the first time almost two years ago. I was still in college. This was my first time reading my physical copy. I had decided to try to see if a student I work with as a special education assistant, would enjoy it, and she straight up asked to keep reading it and told me "I like it. Wait, no I don't. I love it."
This book is so important to me. The diversity, the representation, the gorgeous artwork. But especially the theme. The way that depression and the feeling of not belonging or being important enough being made accessible for middle grade readers.
I am not exaggerating when I say I almost cried reading and describing the artwork to my student towards the end. (She has limited vision - can still see up close but I liked describing the panels without words!). Honestly this just reinforced that I want to do something to do with reading for the rest of my life.
I mean ideally I would like to finish my own writing and be an author, but in the meantime this experience is still a wonderful reminder of why I am so torn between being a cross-cat small group english teacher in my alma mater high school (where I work now too), being a reading specialist, and/or being a high school media specialist (librarian).
Unfortunately I am very aware of the fact that there's a decent chance that none of these jobs will be around much longer (thankfully I am in a majority blue state at least for now), but my god the way these sorts of books make children happy and understand the world around them, the people and the unique individuals around them, and the way that they just light up.
I asked my student if she wanted more from the author and gave her the option between Tea Dragon Society and Princess Princess Ever After (we will do both but not at the same time of course). She chose the latter. It was hella on sale for hardcover and I had a gift card for amazon so I ordered it. I told her "alright, it'll be here in time for class on Monday." And she just silently grinned and asked for a snack. That grin made my heart so happy. Honestly its why I love doing what I do.
(Also seriously can someone be in love with a publisher cuz if so I am - Penguin Random House - I know they're a big five but as far as I can tell they are the most ethical and the most out spoken against right wing politics and publish such beautifully diverse books I could cry)
This book is so important to me. The diversity, the representation, the gorgeous artwork. But especially the theme. The way that depression and the feeling of not belonging or being important enough being made accessible for middle grade readers.
I am not exaggerating when I say I almost cried reading and describing the artwork to my student towards the end. (She has limited vision - can still see up close but I liked describing the panels without words!). Honestly this just reinforced that I want to do something to do with reading for the rest of my life.
I mean ideally I would like to finish my own writing and be an author, but in the meantime this experience is still a wonderful reminder of why I am so torn between being a cross-cat small group english teacher in my alma mater high school (where I work now too), being a reading specialist, and/or being a high school media specialist (librarian).
Unfortunately I am very aware of the fact that there's a decent chance that none of these jobs will be around much longer (thankfully I am in a majority blue state at least for now), but my god the way these sorts of books make children happy and understand the world around them, the people and the unique individuals around them, and the way that they just light up.
I asked my student if she wanted more from the author and gave her the option between Tea Dragon Society and Princess Princess Ever After (we will do both but not at the same time of course). She chose the latter. It was hella on sale for hardcover and I had a gift card for amazon so I ordered it. I told her "alright, it'll be here in time for class on Monday." And she just silently grinned and asked for a snack. That grin made my heart so happy. Honestly its why I love doing what I do.
(Also seriously can someone be in love with a publisher cuz if so I am - Penguin Random House - I know they're a big five but as far as I can tell they are the most ethical and the most out spoken against right wing politics and publish such beautifully diverse books I could cry)
Murder Ballads: Illustrated Lyrics and Lore by Katy Horan
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
god why did I think this was going to be about women killing people and getting ballads written that are "good for her" kinda songs? for what it actually was it was ok. anyway someone write this please.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust is a book centered around a pair of incredibly complex and well developed characters - even with the secondary characters nearly as developed alongside them. From a surface level, of course, this is a story of a snow white and the ice queen merged together and darker. But there is so much there in this little 370 page book underneath the retelling itself.
I picked up pretty quickly on the theme of trauma put on daughters. For both Mina and Lynet, most of their trauma was actually inflicted by their fathers (though they had very different fathers) and the trauma caused by their mothers were only through words told to them about their mothers. Completely different circumstances, but oddly similar. One thing that stood out to me the most was how early on we see that Lynet is most concerned with disappointing or making her father sad. That can be waved off, sure - until we see much later, a chapter from Mina's point of view, seeing her father say "you don't want to make me sad" in response to acting out, and with other interactions within that same chapter, it seems to be implied that this is his go to response. Alongside that, she is then constantly not only compared to her late mother, but also told that she would become her mother as she grew up.
Still, this isn't the only serious topic tackled. As some of my review readers may know from prior reviews, I sorta have a thing for stories about mortality and what makes you human, especially when told in unique ways. Bashardoust does this here too. Not just mortality but about the mortality of beauty as well, the interactions between older and younger women. This goes hand in hand with the fear Lynet has of becoming her mother, Mina being convinced that Lynet will eventually replace her.
One of my favorite quotes: "He knew that if he raised his daughter without love, and that if he told her often enough that she wasn't capable of it, she would soon start to prove him right, if only because it was all she'd ever known" (334).
in my opinion, this quote does a damn-near lyrical job of showing Gregory's manipulations and the trauma as a result, the trauma she then inadvertently caused Lynet. So at the very end of the book, it feels like this cycle of trauma among women has finally shattered.
As far as the actual craft of the novel, the pacing was absolutely phenomenal. While yes, I was waiting for the so-called "Bloody Chamber" aspect of the story, upon arriving to that part of the plot, I understood the author's decision. It seemed like a perfect three act structure, and the much darker part of the plot - in my opinion - marks the beginning of the third act. Not for a single minute did the previous acts feel boring or slow or like they dragged on too long. Instead, Bashardoust perfectly writes a very clear image of Mina's past and how it lead to her present and the rest of the book. She does similarly with Lynet, making the pair incredibly well-rounded, complex, flawed, and developed characters. I think though, above all else, what mattered the most was the way she developed and showed the interactions and relationships between characters - especially from the different points of view from Mina and Lynet both.
Alongside the pacing, the way that many important events were described, was in a way that I swear I could almost feel. In particular, when Lynet and Nadia are in the North Tower and Lynet is feeling restless and suddenly like she could jump from the ledge to the tree. Nadia, of course, is terrified, telling her to come back inside but Lynet simply responds with "you'll just patch me up." And it isn't until Nadia says "not if you're dead" that reality seems to sink in for Lynet. In that moment she seems to not even trust herself to go back inside, and her voice is described, in her own point of view, as sounding quiet and far away as she tells Nadia that she is ready to come back inside.
There is so much longing and yearning between Nadia and Lynet, it's ridiculous (positive). It is a perfect example of a true slow burn, their first kiss happening twenty pages from the end. I love how Bashardoust reminds us of the unsettling dream she'd had when she wakes up, but points out how things are still different, that she is not dead like her mother. Overall, this was absolute perfection. And to think, this was Melissa Bashardoust's debut - I aspire.
Quotes:
"maybe Lynet was enough without it"
"I should have been the one to show her the South, she thought. That was mine to give her."
"-too late to push her away, too late to hold her at all"
I picked up pretty quickly on the theme of trauma put on daughters. For both Mina and Lynet, most of their trauma was actually inflicted by their fathers (though they had very different fathers) and the trauma caused by their mothers were only through words told to them about their mothers. Completely different circumstances, but oddly similar. One thing that stood out to me the most was how early on we see that Lynet is most concerned with disappointing or making her father sad. That can be waved off, sure - until we see much later, a chapter from Mina's point of view, seeing her father say "you don't want to make me sad" in response to acting out, and with other interactions within that same chapter, it seems to be implied that this is his go to response. Alongside that, she is then constantly not only compared to her late mother, but also told that she would become her mother as she grew up.
Still, this isn't the only serious topic tackled. As some of my review readers may know from prior reviews, I sorta have a thing for stories about mortality and what makes you human, especially when told in unique ways. Bashardoust does this here too. Not just mortality but about the mortality of beauty as well, the interactions between older and younger women. This goes hand in hand with the fear Lynet has of becoming her mother, Mina being convinced that Lynet will eventually replace her.
One of my favorite quotes: "He knew that if he raised his daughter without love, and that if he told her often enough that she wasn't capable of it, she would soon start to prove him right, if only because it was all she'd ever known" (334).
in my opinion, this quote does a damn-near lyrical job of showing Gregory's manipulations and the trauma as a result, the trauma she then inadvertently caused Lynet. So at the very end of the book, it feels like this cycle of trauma among women has finally shattered.
As far as the actual craft of the novel, the pacing was absolutely phenomenal. While yes, I was waiting for the so-called "Bloody Chamber" aspect of the story, upon arriving to that part of the plot, I understood the author's decision. It seemed like a perfect three act structure, and the much darker part of the plot - in my opinion - marks the beginning of the third act. Not for a single minute did the previous acts feel boring or slow or like they dragged on too long. Instead, Bashardoust perfectly writes a very clear image of Mina's past and how it lead to her present and the rest of the book. She does similarly with Lynet, making the pair incredibly well-rounded, complex, flawed, and developed characters. I think though, above all else, what mattered the most was the way she developed and showed the interactions and relationships between characters - especially from the different points of view from Mina and Lynet both.
Alongside the pacing, the way that many important events were described, was in a way that I swear I could almost feel. In particular, when Lynet and Nadia are in the North Tower and Lynet is feeling restless and suddenly like she could jump from the ledge to the tree. Nadia, of course, is terrified, telling her to come back inside but Lynet simply responds with "you'll just patch me up." And it isn't until Nadia says "not if you're dead" that reality seems to sink in for Lynet. In that moment she seems to not even trust herself to go back inside, and her voice is described, in her own point of view, as sounding quiet and far away as she tells Nadia that she is ready to come back inside.
There is so much longing and yearning between Nadia and Lynet, it's ridiculous (positive). It is a perfect example of a true slow burn, their first kiss happening twenty pages from the end. I love how Bashardoust reminds us of the unsettling dream she'd had when she wakes up, but points out how things are still different, that she is not dead like her mother. Overall, this was absolute perfection. And to think, this was Melissa Bashardoust's debut - I aspire.
Quotes:
"maybe Lynet was enough without it"
"I should have been the one to show her the South, she thought. That was mine to give her."
"-too late to push her away, too late to hold her at all"