ksilvery's reviews
1126 reviews

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

funny lighthearted 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

3.5

Let’s take Merlin and Game of Thrones and write gay fan fiction about them. I’m here for it

The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

No words, just tears 

You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg

emotional 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? No

4.0

Lovely story of different people coming together and supporting each other. A tale of unlikely friendships and human connections 

The After Party by A.C. Arthur

emotional funny tense 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

3.5

Dialogues written for an 80s sitcom aside, this was highly entertaining and wholesome 

Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

So complex and well thought with simple sparks of brilliance. 

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

emotional mysterious reflective 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

This was fantastic and I couldn’t put it down. Angie swallowed a whole bunch of articles and studies on positive psychology, happiness, biases, and spit them out in the form of the is book and I’m here for it. Plus the never ending bond that I’m craving and getting out of mixed-race characters especially when they are half Koreans. This book scratched a very specific part of my brain and satisfied it fully.

A Friend of the Family by Lisa Jewell

medium-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

1.5

I don’t understand what was the point of this book. To flush out how awful the lives of privileged cis men are? How challenging it is to be a straight cis man in this world with women chasing after you and wanting to move in with you, with your parents allowing you to fuck up time and time again and letting you move back home to your untouched childhood bedroom?! 
Job opportunities just fall right into your lap and so do perfect partners that are willing to just sit there and wait for you to make up your mind?! 
What… even… was this

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

challenging dark 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

4.5

Chills, literal chills. 
To be fair, I listen to the audiobook and Bahni Turpin can read the phone book to me and I’d give it more than 3 stars - she’s just… ugh perfect.
But damn this book…

i thought I was done with unreliable narrators but I guess I was wrong because Mary got me!
What annoyed me a bit but essentially I can’t be mad about is how Mary and her perspective switches from clueless and childish to sharp and calculating, whenever it serves the plot. But I guess it was all for a reason so fooled me!

My timing in choosing two books in in a row in which the mothers are mentally unstable and off their meds and how that affected the upbringing of their daughters - the mother being from vastly different backgrounds - it was just an additional lense that I appreciated. Definitely a very descriptive and rich book.

The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I’m used to Lisa Jewel’s gripping and slightly unhinged thrillers, but this was a bit of a different direction and I’m not entirely sure it’s her calling but nevertheless it was captivating. 
My only issue was that the entirety of the book was told through Melody’s eyes and understanding (since she was a child) and that dragged a little bit, focusing on some areas for too long and not developing others enough.  But otherwise it was fascinating enough with some good resolutions.

Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America by Julia Lee

I struggle rating memoirs, especially ones that I’ve carefully selected because I was seeking a special connection with the author. 
And at the very end, Julia very nicely asks me, the reader, to be kind and considerate before judging her. 
So all I’ll say is that someone missed the “preferred “ pronouns part, either during editing or who knows when, and I would have excepted better especially because it’s written to prove a point.
And even though at the end Julia tries to show that not all immigrant experience is traumatic, for the bigger part of the book the tone is angry, very deeply angry, understandably so, but it’s heavy to read at times and it didn’t help that I listened to it in one day. She does start with that but in some places she says that her perspective has changed and I honestly can’t tell that by this book. 
But so many things were relatable for me, so maybe I haven’t let go either and she can be mad on my behalf.