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oenophile_bibliophile's reviews
443 reviews
Not Here: Why American Democracy Is Eroding and How Canada Can Protect Itself by Rob Goodman
slow-paced
2.0
Pretentious, not well thought out arguments.
The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together As Things Fall Apart by Astra Taylor
hopeful
medium-paced
4.0
Hopeful if unrealistic ideas to change society for the better.
Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Loved the spice but the characters and plot line didn’t do it for me.
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
dark
mysterious
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
3.0
Very slow to get going and then almost too fast at the end. A big plot hole also bothered me. Lazaro had his ring in the photo with Pena and then lost it to Bolivar at some point. How does a star lose a ring so essential to an old powerless man?
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Enjoyed it but a bit slow at times.
Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A fictionalized account of a civilian woman during the Sri Lankan civil war. Told in a painfully factual way. Not an enjoyable read, but an important and deeply feminist one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Rape, Suicide, and War
The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo
medium-paced
3.0
A strange mix of advice too basic for anyone who has been a manager for more than five minutes and advice only relevant for higher level executives with multiple layers of management beneath them. None of the information was new to me or packaged in a unique way to make this one memorable.
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
medium-paced
3.75
Parts of this I really enjoyed, but I wish the author had spent more time analyzing her doppelgänger and, by extension, the far right, and how we got to this point in society. She went off on too many tangents for my liking and some chapters had very loose linkages to her central thesis. It felt a bit like she just really wanted to write about a few topics near and dear to her, but didn’t have enough content for a full book, so she forced them into this one.