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leahrosereads's reviews
1035 reviews
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
Holy shit what a book to start the 2025 Trans Rights Readathon with. This is the second book I've read by White, and I genuinely can't imagine ever giving his works anything other than 5 stars.
The Trans and Autism rep, the horror, the history, the settings - it was all so, so fucking good and horrifying. Because the historical elements of illegal surgeries done on marginalized identities, while recorded, was worse than what was in here. And what was in here was a disturbing, brutal piece of what happened.
This was haunting, and I flew through it. Started and finished in the same day, like under 5 hours.
Highly recommend but please be in the right headspace. There's a lot of triggers to note, and I'll do my best to mark them all.
The Trans and Autism rep, the horror, the history, the settings - it was all so, so fucking good and horrifying. Because the historical elements of illegal surgeries done on marginalized identities, while recorded, was worse than what was in here. And what was in here was a disturbing, brutal piece of what happened.
This was haunting, and I flew through it. Started and finished in the same day, like under 5 hours.
Highly recommend but please be in the right headspace. There's a lot of triggers to note, and I'll do my best to mark them all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-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
3.75
While i thoroughly enjoyed so much of this novel, especially around the reimagined West African setting and the politics surrounding Yorubaland and its rivals, I really wish this was written in third person.
The Persephone remix was incredibly interesting, and kept my intrigue even when Òdòdó’s naivety, immature thinking, and sometime outright selfishness irked me. But she was young and captured and brought into such a lavish world that the selfishness could be seen as self preservation.
Which is why I'd have loved this to be third person POV. Because the narration stayed only with Òdòdó, the politics and knowledge gained was intentionally disjointed. It made sense, but I think giving the reader a break from Òdòdó’s thoughts would have given a nice change of pace.
The novel moved slowly being only with Òdòdó until the last couple of chapters.
That said, I dug the ending. I'll always root for women's rights AND wrongs!
The Persephone remix was incredibly interesting, and kept my intrigue even when Òdòdó’s naivety, immature thinking, and sometime outright selfishness irked me. But she was young and captured and brought into such a lavish world that the selfishness could be seen as self preservation.
Which is why I'd have loved this to be third person POV. Because the narration stayed only with Òdòdó, the politics and knowledge gained was intentionally disjointed. It made sense, but I think giving the reader a break from Òdòdó’s thoughts would have given a nice change of pace.
The novel moved slowly being only with Òdòdó until the last couple of chapters.
That said, I dug the ending. I'll always root for women's rights AND wrongs!
Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott
fast-paced
4.5
This was an outstanding collection around Black women, girls, and femmes that should be read by everyone. I highly recommend it, and then working through the works Zetta Elliott was inspired by.
Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
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
5.0
This was so freaking good. I loved the writing, the characters, and the fantastical magic realism elements. Audio narration was absolute perfection too!
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
When Samira met Horus, I knew what heartbreak would come. It happened differently and without poetry for me, but it happened. Like it's happened to so many other young folks. Like Samira, I didn't know any better.
But adult me still sees the scars and my soul cracked again with the same old hurt for a moment for teenage me.
Elhillo wove this story and Pesephone retelling with such haunting beauty. I'm going to read everything by her - I've fallen in love with her storytelling.
But adult me still sees the scars and my soul cracked again with the same old hurt for a moment for teenage me.
Elhillo wove this story and Pesephone retelling with such haunting beauty. I'm going to read everything by her - I've fallen in love with her storytelling.
Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger
adventurous
hopeful
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
4.0
I wish I had read this in tandem with a physical or digital copy vs. only audio. I enjoyed it but, i think, especially near the end, I got a bit confused about what was fully going on. Then it ended kinda abruptly.
A fun read nonetheless with a ton of cultural conversations that were necessary to read and recognize.
A fun read nonetheless with a ton of cultural conversations that were necessary to read and recognize.
Twenty-Four Seconds From Now by Jason Reynolds
lighthearted
fast-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
Black boys deserve love stories, and Jason Reynolds gave them one of hopefully a million to come. This was a fun, stream of consciousness story surrounding first love, first times, and graduation. It was cute!
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
This was an absolutely stunning companion prequel to Pet. There was so much important commentary on monsters, humanity, revolution, and art explored on these pages. I can see classes reading this book and discussing it for years to come. This, like Pet, are modern classics that need to be protected from bannings and shared widely.
Emezi truly excels not only at strong storytelling narratively but connecting the reader to every aspect of the characters' struggles, desires, pain, and triumphs. The empathy that these kids have is inspiring and also a reminder so that we don't become the monsters we're fighting to stop.
Emezi truly excels not only at strong storytelling narratively but connecting the reader to every aspect of the characters' struggles, desires, pain, and triumphs. The empathy that these kids have is inspiring and also a reminder so that we don't become the monsters we're fighting to stop.
The Bookshop Sisterhood by Michelle Lindo-Rice
Skimmed the last 30ish pages cause the drama got to be too much for me. So first DNF of the year, and I'm ready to move on from this.
If this was only about one of the friends going through what they did, it'd have been a solid story. But all 4 made it disjointed and most things didn't get resolved at all.
If this was only about one of the friends going through what they did, it'd have been a solid story. But all 4 made it disjointed and most things didn't get resolved at all.
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.75
If you've dealt with any form of Christian religious trauma and want it exercised out of you in the most horrific way, this book may be for you. Holy fuck with this a rough read.
Predictable but poignant with some incredibly important conversations around cults, conversion therapy, and what evil really looks like.
Predictable but poignant with some incredibly important conversations around cults, conversion therapy, and what evil really looks like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, Torture, Violence