moserk's reviews
102 reviews

All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

4.75

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

4.0

The Goodbye Man by Jeffery Deaver

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley

funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

Lighthearted and full of sass, I found myself laughing a lot along the way.

For example, on traveling, Sloane likens herself to "a cat who urgently need to be on the other side of the room for no apparent reason" and that's laugh-out-loud hilarious, even for a dog person.

The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

Advice from a Blob: How to Find Peace in this Messy, Beautiful, Chaotic Existence by Lennnie

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

This little 11-min audio from everyone's favorite gender neutral blob might just be you new favorite comfort read. 

Daily gentle reminders/mantras.

Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard by Tom Felton

emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

I always feel so strange at the mere idea of rating a memoir....but I found this particularly well done and hey, a 5-star rating never hurt.

Psst...Tom Felton narrates the audiobook and it has a bonus chapter not in the first publishing. Enjoy.

There's a reservedness about Tom's story where he shares while keeping certain pieces close and without oversharing or speaking ill of others. Yes, there's some behind-the-scenes bits on Harry Potter - but it's much more than that. 

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

lighthearted relaxing fast-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

4.0

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Love the premise - YA read with big themes and their intersectionality:

• immigrants/immigration
• LGBTQIA identities and their acceptance/lack thereof
• familial roles
• medical/healthcare ethics,

but execution fell short of my high hopes + left me wanting more. That said, really happy to know this exists in YA.

The pace felt rushed - just 50 more pages to shed more light, please! And some pieces really lacked clarity - although, maybe some of this is due to the focus on character/topic diversity, which again, I much appreciated. I (literally) felt like this story was all over the place - couldn't keep our location sequence sorted.

Worth noting: I had both a physical and audio copy of this and understood better during my physical chapters. At first I thought the detail disconnect was a symptom of my audio portions, but a quick peek at other reviews tells me that I'm not alone here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia