minilibrary's reviews
87 reviews

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

5.0

This was such a wonderful book. It reminds me of all the things I love from children's books: the adventure, the fun, the whimsy! I loved it through and through and I love how much of a drama queen Howl is.

Contaminated by Em Garner

4.0

I liked this one a lot actually! I won't lie, I picked it to read next because I thought I wasn't going to like it so I thought I could clear up some shelf space... but that didn't happen. It's charming and a pretty easy read, and I like that it's not a traditional take on zombies like I was expecting. I actually got invested in the characters and had to keep reading to make sure everything would end up okay for them, haha! Some parts do read a little cringy, but it's from the perspective of an 18 year old girl so it makes sense. Overall, I really liked this one and will be reading the second at some point.

Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

4.0

God, this was so much better than Authority. I really enjoyed this book, I'm glad it got back to the strange and fascinating aspects of Area X and how it all got started. I quite enjoyed reading Saul's parts in particular! Do the questions ever really get answered? Yes and no, and I don't think I would have wanted it any other way.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

3.0

This was a cute book. Arthur was a very loveable character and I loved the little moments we got to see when he and Freddy were together (though I would've liked more of that!). It's fun and pretty light hearted, but does have introspective moments about life and how we get to where we are and how to figure out where to go next. I am also super glad that by the end

Spoiler

Freddy realizes he wanted to be with Arthur and waits for him at home. I cannot tell you how stressed I was becoming by the last few pages. I really wanted them back together haha.

Docile by K.M. Szpara

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

Oh man, Oh man, this book was a ride. Honestly, I was just expecting something dark, gay, and sexy, but I got a whole hell of a lot more. Let's start at the beginning, Elisha, love him! And I love the rocky and toxic start to his and Alex's relationship. That's why I picked up the book in the first place because I'm a sucker for toxic relationships. As the story progressed it was nice to see SpoilerAlex change and begin to view Elisha as an actually person instead of a thing to use. And when he realized he couldn't handle the situation anymore, even though separating from each other was what was best for them, it hurt to read. Elisha's pain was so sad.

I loved the part when Elisha and Onyx were bonding as well and going over boundaries, verbalizing wants and needs. It was hard for Elisha, embarrassing even, and I found that very relatable. When you're so used to pleasing people it can be hard to just remain yourself and not mold yourself into what's expected or what someone else wants of you or even how you *think* you should behave. You just have to be yourself. Whatever that is. I didn't expect this book to hit so close to home.

I had 20 pages left from where I had last left off and I had to force myself to finish this book, the ending was becoming awfully stressful for me because after everything, I wanted both Elisha and Alex to just be ok, both in their relationship with each other and in their lives, most of all. And spoiler for the end: SpoilerI am so glad that Elisha decides to focus on himself, but still leaves room for his and Alex's relationship to grow and potentially blossom into real love, I was squealing, haha. Anyway, wonderful book, didn't expect to get through it that fast, didn't expect that much from it, also had some great twists that I didn't see coming, and the character development was really great too. As a standalone it's amazing, but I definitely wouldn't say no to a sequel if it can live up to the first!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

4.0

This was a cute one! It was short and very relatable to high school love and life. It's a nice lighthearted read. I was especially happy when

Spoiler

Tony stood up to his parents and decided he needs to be able to live his own life, even if it's only small steps to start.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

4.0

This was such a good book! I love how Neil writes his characters and the humor he inserts. The Marquis de Carabas is my absolute favorite in the book, I'm very fond of characters who are just a little (or a lot) full of themselves, but he also had good intentions. Vandemar is another favorite, just his little comments here and there were very amusing. And Richard! I love the growth he goes through throughout this story. Very entertaining, I would definitely recommend! On to watch the TV show!

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

2.0

Honestly, I liked what they did with the show better. The book wasn't creepy or even mildly off-putting, just boring and strange. Nothing really happened? I got a used copy that had notes from someone who had last read it and that was the best part of the book.

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

4.0

I first saw this book on my TikTok feed and someone described it as "Reading like an AO3 fanfiction" so, naturally, I had to take a look (I do love AO3). I wasn't disappointed! The visuals of this book are very gruesome and grotesque and right up my alley. It is very much about transness and Benji finding himself and becoming what he was meant to be (although he didn't have much choice). But I quite enjoyed it. His remark about feeling dysphoric with how other people view him really hit home. I think I would've liked to see more development between characters, but overall it was well done and had me wondering what the hell was going to happen up to the very end!

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

3.0

This was a pretty cute book! I absolutely love Percy and Henry is a good character too, though honestly, I would've loved the book more if it had delved into his trauma and how he shuts out his own feelings. I wanted more emotionality from the book given everything they were going through and it didn't really start to show until the end of the book, which, I mean, is good! but I would've loved more. I am going to read the second book because I'm curious as to what happens next.