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onceandfuturereads's reviews
277 reviews
The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
5.0
Brilliant from the first word to the last. I’m genuinely surprised more people aren’t all over the internet singing its praises.
My Heavenly Favorite by Lucas Rijneveld
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
I couldn't get through Lolita so I'm not sure why I thought I could read this. I liked the dark and disturbing vibes of the author's first novel, but I can't stomach this now. Plus, the paper in my library copy is too bright white and the never-ending paragraph is headache-inducing.
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
A lot of the stories started off well-paced and then just ended abruptly with an ominous one-liner. It got annoying. Maybe dark/horror shorts just aren’t for me.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
I got too annoyed reading lines like: “But that August we haunted the midway like ghosts.” Too many try-hard similes I guess? I decided to just watch the movie.
Sleeping Dogs by Sonya Hartnett
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Granted, it may be because of the short length, but to me this book reads like an immature parable. Because we never really get to know the characters beyond surface descriptions, the stakes are never known, and that makes for a monotonous read. Some of the important plot points appear to contradict themselves. At its base, this is a story about a group of precocious siblings who are so attached to their strange home that they can hardly imagine leaving it. And yet, they have a moved around a lot - a detail seemingly added in order to intensify their strangeness. I am definitely going to read more Sonya Hartnett - I like her dark themes and soft prose - but this story could have been constructed more thoughtfully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Incest
The Leavers by Lisa Ko
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
I was impressed with this on audiobook. It really held my attention and I felt that I got to know the characters by the end. I really loved the story, but wasn't crazy about some of the writing - specifically the use of random details and the timeline structure. Some important events were described in passing while Deming's gum was described with all five senses. As for the timeline, it was just a tiny bit confusing when the narrative would shift without warning and it had the effect of taking me out of the story.
In the end, I didn't cry, but it was a very emotional and important story about a person finding themselves and figuring out what "home" means to them. I LOVE who Deming/Daniel ends up living with.
IYKYK.
In the end, I didn't cry, but it was a very emotional and important story about a person finding themselves and figuring out what "home" means to them. I LOVE who Deming/Daniel ends up living with.
IYKYK.
The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes
dark
informative
slow-paced
2.0
I guess it's the book Billy approved of at one point, and I guess I'm glad the story is out there, but I can't say I loved or even liked this book. For one, I think it should have been structured differently, especially the three parts (ordered poorly) and the ways in which Billy is referred (sometimes it's just Billy and sometimes it's by his alters' names). It seemed like Keyes thought he was doing something really special here, but it just ended up missing the mark. Also, it felt misogynistic. I don't know if he really interviewed the victims for this work, but it certainly seemed like the women in the story were generally brushed off. It was also homophobic and fatphobic at points, and NOT just when Kevin or Phil were talking.
I don't know - maybe a "non-fiction novel" is not my thing because it is so clearly sensationalized. It does make good points about how the media can affect court cases, so that was a interesting rabbit hole to go down. Overall, I liked the Tom Holland show a lot more.
I don't know - maybe a "non-fiction novel" is not my thing because it is so clearly sensationalized. It does make good points about how the media can affect court cases, so that was a interesting rabbit hole to go down. Overall, I liked the Tom Holland show a lot more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey by Toi Derricotte
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Index under: double consciousness
This is a memoir about Toi Derricotte's experiences as a light-skinned Black woman in America. It is also one of the best descriptions of depression and loneliness I have ever read. She attempts to go beyond mere survival and actually heal. I am eager to read her poetry now.
This is a memoir about Toi Derricotte's experiences as a light-skinned Black woman in America. It is also one of the best descriptions of depression and loneliness I have ever read. She attempts to go beyond mere survival and actually heal. I am eager to read her poetry now.
We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book so freaking much and I don't give a flying saucer who knows it! This is just one of those reads that cuts right to the heart of things - it reminded me of how I felt reading "Be More Chill" for the first time. More than just a fast-paced page-turner, it's a brilliantly narrated tale about video games and true friendship - true community. But, no, it is nothing at all like "Tomorrow x3."
I picked this up for the StoryGraph genre challenge "a book about video games" prompt because I didn't know what else to read for it and I wanted to get it over with. I scoured book lists and became disheartened because when you've already read "Ready Player One" it's easy to believe you've exhausted that category entirely. But this book was on the shelf at my library and the premise seemed interesting. Chapter One didn't immediately draw me in and I was a bit wary about the narration style and my lack of WoW knowledge. But with the short, choppy chapters and the voice-like narration, I was very quickly sucked in. Osworth truly has a gift for the chorus-style narrating. When the two groups were trading narration duties, I literally had different tones of voice in my head as I read, and they were able to do that with some simple punctuation and capitalization changes! Mind-blowing!
I encourage everyone - gamers and haters alike - to read this book. So many of my notes just end with hearts. I'll be buying a copy so I can put the hearts on the actual pages. And PLEASE A.E. OSWORTH, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME PLEASE RELEASE A NEW BOOK SOON PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.
I picked this up for the StoryGraph genre challenge "a book about video games" prompt because I didn't know what else to read for it and I wanted to get it over with. I scoured book lists and became disheartened because when you've already read "Ready Player One" it's easy to believe you've exhausted that category entirely. But this book was on the shelf at my library and the premise seemed interesting. Chapter One didn't immediately draw me in and I was a bit wary about the narration style and my lack of WoW knowledge. But with the short, choppy chapters and the voice-like narration, I was very quickly sucked in. Osworth truly has a gift for the chorus-style narrating. When the two groups were trading narration duties, I literally had different tones of voice in my head as I read, and they were able to do that with some simple punctuation and capitalization changes! Mind-blowing!
I encourage everyone - gamers and haters alike - to read this book. So many of my notes just end with hearts. I'll be buying a copy so I can put the hearts on the actual pages. And PLEASE A.E. OSWORTH, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME PLEASE RELEASE A NEW BOOK SOON PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, and Stalking
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, and Sexism
Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View by Richard Tarnas
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
This was recommended to me years ago by a wonderful tarot reader.
I found roughly the first and last chapters fascinating and visionary. The middle made me grumpy. While I can appreciate the amount of effort and research it took to write a book of this magnitude, I do think more charts and less echoed words were necessary for proving the thesis (and I LIKE the thesis, so imagine how the skeptics feel...)
And while I understand that ideas are formed within the culture they are conceived in, and that Tarnas admittedly chose to include subjects which he knew best, it made me sad how masculine everything was. Tarnas managed to take something as magical, shape-shifting, and feminine as the orbit of our planets and make it boring, hierarchical, and masculine. One can imagine that there are so much more than white men that fit his archetypal ideals, and yet hardly any were included. At best, he chose to include what was easiest and most convenient for him.
I did learn a lot about random bits of history, and I really like Tarnas as a person, but I won't be revisiting this book.
I found roughly the first and last chapters fascinating and visionary. The middle made me grumpy. While I can appreciate the amount of effort and research it took to write a book of this magnitude, I do think more charts and less echoed words were necessary for proving the thesis (and I LIKE the thesis, so imagine how the skeptics feel...)
And while I understand that ideas are formed within the culture they are conceived in, and that Tarnas admittedly chose to include subjects which he knew best, it made me sad how masculine everything was. Tarnas managed to take something as magical, shape-shifting, and feminine as the orbit of our planets and make it boring, hierarchical, and masculine. One can imagine that there are so much more than white men that fit his archetypal ideals, and yet hardly any were included. At best, he chose to include what was easiest and most convenient for him.
I did learn a lot about random bits of history, and I really like Tarnas as a person, but I won't be revisiting this book.