lavenderbutch's reviews
62 reviews

Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is mesmerizingly disturbing, and the best way is to read it all in one go. And, with the way the other draws you into the characters, their trauma, and their relationships, it’s hard to put it down. 

My ONLY grievance is

the ending of this book. Once the girls became friends again, I realized that was the direction it was heading. It was heartbreaking because of the suddenness to the death. The prose around it was beautiful. However, the plot point as it exists within the novel felt a little contrived.

That being said, it in no shape detracts from the overall message, theme, and elements of the book.

Also, props to the translator who did a fantastic job of still capturing the prose of the author. 

Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest To Hunt Down The Last Remaining Lesbian Bars In America by Krista Burton

funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

This could have been really good, but it felt very neo lib. 

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

A bit slow, but very interesting.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

what the hell. 

“At the end as at the start, and through all the in-betweens, I love you. I love you and I love you and I love you, on battlefields, in shadows, in fading ink, on cold ice splashed with the blood of seals.”

“This is how we win.”