kaileehaong's reviews
397 reviews

Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

3.75

Great memoir! Ashley grapples with an experience from her past that she later finds similarities with her incarcerated father. Explorations of family, self, and forgiveness are at the forefront of this memoir.

She of the Mountains by Vivek Shraya

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

4.0

This was a very cool reimagining/retelling of Hindu mythology intertwined with the story of a boy’s journey toward self discovery and queer identity in Canada. Chapters flit from the POV of deities back and forth with the human protagonist. The writing was radiant, explorative, and honest. 

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

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? Yes

3.5

This novel consists of interconnected short stories that span many decades of a family, from immigrating to the US from Jamaica, to living through the recession and through hurricane Andrew, and all of the smaller, human failures along the way. Particularly centered on the relationship between brothers Delano and Trelawny. The writing is beautiful and very vivid. Stories were interesting and varied. Speculative/future telling sort of ending which I appreciated. 

Small Beauty by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

This is a fantastic novella that flits between characters and time frames, dealing in death, loss, coming into one’s identity, and at the root of it all, tying everything back to family (whether chosen or blood). Mostly told through the POV of Mei, a trans woman who has recently come into a house left to her by a deceased relative.

In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee

5.0

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This novel was fantastic. From building up this little world to all of the incredible attention to detail in character writing, I was hooked. We swap through multiple viewpoints, Angel, a young teen mom: Amadeo, her somewhat estranged drunk of a father; Yolanda, mother & grandmother experiencing a grave medical condition, and others. It is a generational, familial tale that spans the course of about a year. They fail, they learn, they work with each other through their flaws to overcome insurmountable grief. Truly a masterpiece.

Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung

emotional reflective 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

3.75

This novel is beautifully written and insanely poetic. Each chapter is somewhere between a sentence and a few pages, and the line breaks create a stream of consciousness/poem like flow to the novel which carries us throughout. We follow our protagonist as she weaves in and out of her memories of her father—grieving his death all the while trying to keep his memory alive. 

Ephemera by Briana Loewinsohn

4.0

For Today I Am a Boy by Kim Fu

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

4.0

While it took me a minute to get into this book, I’m so glad I did. It starts as a slow burn that has such a satisfying closing—not often do I feel a book ends in a way that feels both justified and earned. Sometimes things tie up too nicely, but this was a perfect balance. We follow Audrey (née Peter) through a journey of exploration of self identity—from boyhood to womanhood (and sisterhood). Excellent novel.

We're All Just Fine by Ana Penyas

3.5

Beautiful graphics in this memoir about a woman’s two grandmothers and their experiences and lives under the lens of fascism in 1939-1875 Spain under the dictatorship of Franco. Both women led extremely isolating and domesticated lives, and are now retelling their stories to their granddaughter, Ana.