kaileehaong's reviews
423 reviews

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Notes: I stopped up and picked this back up multiple times over the course of a few months and it probably would have been better read in one “session.” I don’t read YA much, but this was a decent novel. Likable characters that you can easily empathize with paired with some gorgeous descriptions of place (the place being San Francisco). 

My qualms were mostly with the switching in and out of storylines. I wasn’t interested in the parents/aunt chapters and felt it detracted from Lily & Kath’s story, which begged to be the center of attention. 

People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami

adventurous fast-paced

3.0

Review forthcoming! 

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

dark medium-paced

3.75

Very interesting story collection—futuristic, elements of magical realism. My favorite story of the lot was one that resembled “Klara and the Sun,” if it became extremely dark and meshed itself with something of the likes of a Black Mirror episode. 

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

4.0

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

dark fast-paced

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

2.0

Brash and shocking to the point of being extremely distasteful. Never before have I read a protag who is so wholly unlikeable that not a singular thing about them could be latched onto in order to make it a pleasurable read. Grotesque with an unsatisfying finale. I read Penance first by this author and enjoyed that book quite a lot; cannot say the same for this one.

Penance by Eliza Clark

dark informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This was one of those “cultural reset” type novels. I loved the way Eliza Clark played with form, by integrating text messages, blog posts, podcast transcripts, narration, etc. into the novel. It made it fun and playful (while the tale being told at hand is anything but fun & playful). She does an excellent job of making you sympathize with really bad people, and that’s always a sign to me that an author is a good writer.

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.