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mesy_mark's reviews
749 reviews
True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News by Cindy L. Otis
informative
fast-paced
3.0
This is a quick read through fake news. I loved the history part of how long fake news had been going on. I also learned some media literacy tips in a more detailed way albeit I knew many of the tips. The narrator's voice is pleasant to listen to and easy to understand. It is not a literally medal book but a nonfiction book giving out basic information to avoid falling for or perpetuating fake news.
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
hopeful
- 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
4.25
There is something about this book I really enjoyed. It is not so heavy on romance. Shizuka has made a deal with a demon to deliver seven souls to damnation. When she hears Katrina, a transgender woman runs away. playing on a violin she has her seventh soul. Shizuka also meets Lan an alien refuge with four children and running a donut working on building the stargate.
this is a book that switches POV frequently within the same change, Every now and then I would lose track of which POV I was in as I listened to the audiobook. The characters are lovable. Katrina is bogged down by the transphobia she endures. Lan just wants to protect her family and starts having feelings for Shizuka. Ane Shizuka is running out of time to deliver her student's soul to hell. We even get a view of a string workshop named Lucy as she tries fixing Katrina.
This book has two elements that I didn't think would work but it did. We have space aliens for some science fiction rep and then the fantasy component juxtaposed of The Queen Of Hell and demons. The narrator's voice is plenty to listen to and is on the feminine side. Overall I like the way the book flowed and the overall plot of it.
this is a book that switches POV frequently within the same change, Every now and then I would lose track of which POV I was in as I listened to the audiobook. The characters are lovable. Katrina is bogged down by the transphobia she endures. Lan just wants to protect her family and starts having feelings for Shizuka. Ane Shizuka is running out of time to deliver her student's soul to hell. We even get a view of a string workshop named Lucy as she tries fixing Katrina.
This book has two elements that I didn't think would work but it did. We have space aliens for some science fiction rep and then the fantasy component juxtaposed of The Queen Of Hell and demons. The narrator's voice is plenty to listen to and is on the feminine side. Overall I like the way the book flowed and the overall plot of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Deadnaming
The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation by Kate Kelly, Robin Pogrebin
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
Kavanaugh joined in times when being pig to women was the norm. His fancy upbringing with his mind led to a blackout drunken state where his actions became questionable. He sexually assaulted Dr. Ford in high school and when she learned he was nominated to the Supreme Court she wanted to break her silence.
This is a dry read over Brett in his school day and the culture he grew up to the case at hand. How right-wingers pushed him through. It was interesting to get more details of the story behind a disgusting man. It's a slow paced book but a rather quick read.
This is a dry read over Brett in his school day and the culture he grew up to the case at hand. How right-wingers pushed him through. It was interesting to get more details of the story behind a disgusting man. It's a slow paced book but a rather quick read.
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Mary Ann moves to San Francisco and so the journey of her and others in the apartment complex shows us their lives. I like the flow of the book jumping from character to character as they go about the city. Be it with dame sex lover or opposite sex. It is an easy read where you don't have to think hard. I listened to the audiobook for this read and the narrator's voice was good to listen to and did the book justice.
The Loophole by Naz Kutub
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Sy and Farouk broke up when Farouk was off somewhere in the world while Sy is in America. Then he meets Reggie who offers him three wishes and it is his chance to get his love back.
This is a fast-paced book. Ubfortuebtly I think the pacing was too fast as it only allowed surface-level stuff of some very traumatic shit just to occur and then be moved on with like it was a change of the channel. We're talking abuse and riots. But I was able to lose myself in the book as it was interesting to see what next big thing would happen next. Reggie, a problem drinker, with connections everywhere, is our Jinn for this book takes on a mathyology approach having some chapters telling the story of the Jinn.
I can see where this book isn't for everyone where the traumatic situations are way too glossed over and believe me they are, but I was looking for a book to just have fun in. And while this book is more of going from event to event without any depth for this time point of my listening to it it was what I needed.
This is a fast-paced book. Ubfortuebtly I think the pacing was too fast as it only allowed surface-level stuff of some very traumatic shit just to occur and then be moved on with like it was a change of the channel. We're talking abuse and riots. But I was able to lose myself in the book as it was interesting to see what next big thing would happen next. Reggie, a problem drinker, with connections everywhere, is our Jinn for this book takes on a mathyology approach having some chapters telling the story of the Jinn.
I can see where this book isn't for everyone where the traumatic situations are way too glossed over and believe me they are, but I was looking for a book to just have fun in. And while this book is more of going from event to event without any depth for this time point of my listening to it it was what I needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Islamophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Police brutality, Alcohol
Minor: Domestic abuse, Car accident
Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
dark
tense
- 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
3.0
This is transgressive horror, a genre I don't know much about and heard of in another book in the same genre reviewed by Jessie Gender. It was in short a grossly weird ass book that I liked even if I was confused at times by the text.
Listening to this book, the narrator sounded androgynous and was present to listen to (even if the content was any but). I like the description of the house and how it festers through time-changing motives but always has the same result in the end. Ila, our terf, Alice, our trans friend, and Hannah, the third, go into the house abandoned and hunted and only Ila and Alice come out. Now both women need to return home after some years of hard life.
This is my first foray into transgressive horror and to say it is interesting genre is lacking the depths of the graphic nature of this text. Heave handed in the fascism of Britain weave through the people that in turn are all tied to the house. It festered and you want to come home. Besides being graphic and jarring to get through that I did have some difficulty at some points seeing what the author included and what scenes. Some of that confusion was cleared up by the end but a couple lingered out.
In short I think this is a weird ass book that does intrigue me to try this genre again.
Listening to this book, the narrator sounded androgynous and was present to listen to (even if the content was any but). I like the description of the house and how it festers through time-changing motives but always has the same result in the end. Ila, our terf, Alice, our trans friend, and Hannah, the third, go into the house abandoned and hunted and only Ila and Alice come out. Now both women need to return home after some years of hard life.
This is my first foray into transgressive horror and to say it is interesting genre is lacking the depths of the graphic nature of this text. Heave handed in the fascism of Britain weave through the people that in turn are all tied to the house. It festered and you want to come home. Besides being graphic and jarring to get through that I did have some difficulty at some points seeing what the author included and what scenes. Some of that confusion was cleared up by the end but a couple lingered out.
In short I think this is a weird ass book that does intrigue me to try this genre again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Murder
Minor: Animal death
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a fast paced action filled book of monster hunter Maggie who teams up with Kai to figure out who or what is creating flesh eating monster. I enjoyed the fast pacing and plot of the book and did not see the ending coming. A good stater to the series.
An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere by Mikita Brottman
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
Rey River died at the Belvedere and Brottman spent ten years looking into his death obsessed with whether it really was a homicide or suicide. A neat fact is the author lives in the building the man died in and so she connects his death to the other deaths that have happened in the old building since its opening. I recorded the case from the Netflix TV show Unexplained and knew it was suspicious circumstances around his death. The author rails away through every trail that is believed to answer her nagging question. Because she is obsessed with true crime, she looks into other deaths at the building, which pads this book. It is interesting to listen to a building history of homicides/suicides as I listened to this book through audiobook format. Because it was a focus on River. we looked into his history of business as it believed his business is what killed him, It was interesting. The author made it personal by incorporating her prevalent feelings of being invisible throughout the text and how she believed it impacted her work. It did get a little confusing between jumping from one set of deaths to another and when in the timeline things were. Overall it is more than a look at one body at Belvedere although it is fully investigated but the many bodies at the building.