kristenreids's reviews
32 reviews

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

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emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

As a progressive liberal I didn’t think I’d enjoy this, I judged it, but I  said shit, let me hear what he has to say. LOVED IT! He made great points about the attitudes of the white working class and while I know it’s a generalization, it opened my mind to a lot of issues surrounding classism. Would def recommend, even if you voted for someone else like I did.
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You Like It Darker by Stephen King

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I rate this collection overall a 5, but I would not have rated each one a 5 individually. I enjoyed reading this collection from beginning to end. I think The Dreamers was my favorite, but it could have been an entire novel on it's own, and perhaps should have been longer. Least favorite being Two Talented Bastids, just seemed a bit cheesey for my liking. Would def recommend, especially for people wanting to get into King.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Not typically my genre but I fell in love with this. Definitely reading more like it.
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The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of the Everyday by Sharon Blackie

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.5

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Good for its time period and I understand why it/she is a classic. Although I loved the style of writing, and it was a short book, I felt it was a bit slow for me. Took a while to really pick up. Compared to more modern day works on feminism and mental health stories it just didn’t strike me like I hoped. The included racism wasn’t offensive to me because I knew it was of the time period.

Slow, but would recommend to seasoned readers.
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Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery by Catherine Gildiner

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I have nothing bad to say about this. Great stories. Flew through it.
I included lots of trigger warnings. Each story has it's fair share of horrifying occurrences. I've been in the mental health field for over 10 years and I had to skim through some parts I found horrific. 
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The Shining By Stephen King(A)/Campbell Scott(N) Audiobook by Stephen King, Stephen King

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

4.5

I’ve never watched the movie, and I just found out that I’m a poor audiobook listener. I think I would have liked this a lot more in book format. Wasn’t the narrator or anything I just think I do best with print. Not new to King but I hate the excessive use of the N word. We get the point, it details the personality of a nasty character, or details a time period but imo it’s just overused in a lot of his works. As long as there’s overuse of the n word I can never rate something a 5. I think I’ll like this better than the movie, so I’m going to go find out.
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Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage

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

3.75

Read this immediately after Baby Teeth and can definitely say it had good continuity. It was interesting to see who Hanna became as an adult, but I was hoping that her character would be a bit darker than she was. This was an OKAY take on adults with cluster b disorders and/or attachment issues, but Stage doesn't claim to be an expert in psychology so I'll let it slide.
Overall, I thought I would like this better than Baby Teeth because it was difficult for me to read a story about a villainized child, but I actually didn't. Could have been better, but can still appreciate it for what it is. If you're looking for horror, this isn't it.
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Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

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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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The first few pages I struggled to know whether I'd finish because of the daughters disability. She is nonverbal and it was a bit ableist to make that into a horror story. Parents struggle with children with disabilities and it just rubbed me wrong, but I persisted. Once I got passed that, it was definitely a good horror story. I'm more eager to read the sequel, as the main character is an adult, but had it been more of the main character being a child, I wouldn't continue. Don't recommend if you're a new mother to a young daughter, but aside from that it was a good story & a fast read.
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