labyrinth_witch's reviews
549 reviews

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

Anytime I need to laugh really hard and remember that there are incredible people in the world, I pick up India Holton. As a professor in training, I laughed so hard with this novel that I could barely breathe. Academics as the cutthroat world is really is, just way more obvious and fun. It was the perfect combination of wit and sighing heart and tearing up all rolled into two absolutely lovable characters. It had all the swashbuckling of her first series, a wonderful world where adventure exists, and a desperation for quiet with a spot of tea. I just finished it this morning and already I want to read it again. 

Night of the Highland Dragon by Isabel Cooper

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

As the third installment of this series, it was as equally delightful as the other two. This time actually set in the highlands (lol) it took a more old-time murder mystery vibe with a metaphysical twist. Love how the author used this era, so rich in all the social things going on, to set the books in related but unique context. 1940s archeological adventure, seances and ghosts, and now murder mystery. The characters were all progressive and egalitarian, each valuable and respected. The mien of the dragons perfect for creatures that have lived hundreds of years and yet still mingled with contemporary times (not on easy feat for many authors). The whole series was delightful and I highly recommend. 

The Anti-Social Family by Michele Barrett, Mary McIntosh

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Barrett and McIntosh provide a very succinct theoretical explanation of the family as ideology as opposed to the family as institution. Taking on the conservative and socialist arguments of the time (1981) to show how the ideology of familialism supports oppression, they nevertheless note that the concept of “patriarchy” doesn’t fully capture the social processes at play. Nevertheless, by critically engaging with leading psychoanalysts and socialist pundits, they demonstrate that the family defined as bourgeois nuclear Christian form is anti-social. By this, they mean this it is anti-socialist in the sense that it is a barrier to collectivism and shared responsibility by emphasizing the privatization of care, which is really a collective responsibility. At the end they offer some clear strategies to fight towards collectivism and ways to support social experiments constructively. 

There are some portions of the text that date itself. Though the postscript, written in 1991, offers a great example of reflexivity and academic humility by noting the limitations and their growth since the original publication. Interestingly enough, certain arguments are now being asserted on tiktok- nearly 45 years later. I wish this material was more widely disseminated and critically engaged with so it doesn’t feel like we have to constantly start over. 

Legend of the Highland Dragon by Isabel Cooper

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a delightful read. Very 1930s/1940s adventure genre. If you like the Brandon Fraser The Mummy movie, this book echoes it wonderfully. And the female protagonist! Ach, Mina is the kind of heroine I want to grow up to be. Compassionate, competent, practical, witty. He describes her at some point as having a “mind like a scalpel.” *hearts* right from the beginning he sees and values her competency. And while he wants to protect her, he recognizes they are stronger as a team. I loved everything about this book and her writing. 

The Mental Load: A Feminist Comic by Emma

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Emma Clit was a turning point for me. With her accessible cartoons, she writes about division of labor,  violence and oppression, work, and helps us switch perspectives on critical issues. Of course, like many women, I was captivated by her “you should have asked” comic, which I still refer to any friend who is struggling with overwhelming and division of labor issues. I love having all her comics in a bound copy for reference. If you haven’t read it, it will make you go “huh.” In the best way possible. 

Never Cross a Highlander by Lisa Rayne

adventurous informative fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a very satisfying read. I LOVE the grit of the female protagonist and the slow-burn growth of the male protagonist. And I love that he loved her for her fight. I won’t spoil the ending, but I loved that for once, the “natural” evolution of the story ended with female leadership. Love love love. 

The Last Highlander by Claire Delacroix, Claire Cross

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

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

5.0

Written in 1997, she writes with the sensitivity of a contemporary understanding of masculinity and what it is to be noble. Also, she does a great job of following Scottish history and how the absence of one life could change the course of time. And it’s so fascinating that she finished book on the eve of Scotland regaining independence. I always feel kind of sad at the end of time traveling stories though, because one or the other has to let go of their entire life. 

Wild Embers: Poems of Rebellion, Fire and Beauty by Nikita Gill

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Every time I read a volume of her poetry I think I have found my favorite and then I read the next one. But I did dog-ear nearly every other page in this book. The retelling of fairytales and the goddesses were particularly enjoyable. Alice in wonderland and Athena were my favorites. 

I think k the only thing that sometimes fatigued me is the encouragement of a woman who has experienced trauma to give as good as she got. And I sometimes wish it was more of a refusal to perpetuate that abuse. A different force than becoming a war, an army, or a battlefield. 

Wild Hope by Donna Ashworth

emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

These are good poems/stanza to include in cards and such, but they didn’t move me to tears. There was a little too much heaven in some of them. But overall, it was a good volume. 

Where Hope Comes From: Poems of Resilience, Healing, and Light by Nikita Gill

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I don’t remember when I originally started this book. But since I started it on page 38 today and finished on page 145 an hour later, I’m tracking time that way. 

Why did it take me so long to read it? When I originally started it, it triggered too much of COVID feeling and I couldn’t keep reading it. This is, after all, Nikita Gill’s COVID poetry collection. 

But today I was sad. Very sad. I was thinking about the three genocides going on right now. The water wars that are about to start. And I was thinking how I have that same sense from COVID- that desperation of feeling like you’re about to die, that the world as you know it is about to combust, and there is still so much you haven’t done/seen/said/felt. And my brain felt itchy- like I needed to do everything all at once before the clock runs out. And yet, so tired that all I can do is curl up in bed and hope nobody asks me for any effort today. 

So I picked up this volume and started at my bookmark. And I cried. And I dog-eared nearly every other page. And I felt. I felt the tiredness. I felt her trying to find a reason for the madness, for the cruelty, for reasons to stay, for kindness making small yet cumulative changes. I felt her trying to find meaning out of a meaningless pandemic. And I cried some more. I think I needed to cry. Because my body was tense as if bracing for impact or trying to hold myself up. My jaw was clenched because anger is so much easier than sorry. And my head felt fuzzy and achy and throbbing. Like a storm breaking, I cried. There is something about poetry that unlocks the pain in just the right way. And like when a story breaks, you feel a rush of release and relief. 

So if you need to - want to- cry right now. Reach for poetry. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic