kaileehaong's reviews
423 reviews

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.

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad fast-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

3.5

Very cool concept here—a society in which transgressions are worn literally on your sleeve, in the form of additional “shadows” that appear when you’ve been convicted of some wrongdoing. The visibility of the multiple shadows ostracizes and outcasts. A single window raises her child (born with two shadows) and navigates their society, finding hardship and chosen family along the way. 

Drawbacks for me were occasional moments in which the child felt older than she actually was intended to be (read: too complex of dialogue for a young child to be convincing), and some graphic sexual encounters.

Every Drop Is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.75

Really cool, innovative collection of short stories. My favorites in the collection were: Temporary Dwellers , The Love and Decline of the Corpse Flower , Ms. Amelia’s Salon for Women in Charge, and Story of Men.

General themes present involve relationships, grief, exploring one’s identity and culture (native Hawaiian culture in this case), and more. 

Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go by Cleo Qian

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

As with any short story collection, I find myself enjoying some stories more so than other, so my favorites from this collection were: Seagull Village, Messages From Earth, Power and Control, The Girl With The Double Eyelids. A great collection overall with very novel concepts, strong character building. 

No One Else by R. Kikuo Johnson

3.5