pdxpagemaster's reviews
298 reviews

The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

AAGGHAHHSHSHAHAHHHH

I am so glad to learn this has a sequel because the yell i yelled at the end of this book !!

This retelling of Mulan starts with a story that is memorable, but then twists into its own fantasy and war story covering political intrigue, strategy, commitment to found family, treachery, and grief. I LOVED these characters and boy did they make me hate them too sometimes.

I am so ready for book two WOW.

Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

3.75

while masterful in prose and skilled in creating contained stories, i prefer Baldwin’s full books and essays over this collection.

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

4.0

someone said “jurassic park for people who hate confrontation” and that absolutely cracked me up.

i loved the multiple perspectives in this very short sci-fi novella that deals with very real questions of morality and ethics. 

Open Throat by Henry Hoke

4.75

HI WOW WHAT 😭

i had no idea what to expect from a wee book about a gay mountain lion in LA but my heart is all in a twist.

moving and poignant and brilliant.

fucking helicopters.

White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Saira Rao, Regina Jackson

reflective medium-paced

5.0

Every person I know and have ever met needs to read this book.

The use of repetition to show how each chapter and each point layers on top of each other to create the argument was genius. You can’t leave this book thinking “well no one ever told me that” because you start to see the pattern as you read.

The points hit very hard and home - but in a way that is really poignant.

I am very glad to have read this book.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.

tremendously well written, but i couldn’t keep interest in it.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Never knew I needed a Jack & Jill meets Dracula and Frankenstein/Poor Things moment but here we are!

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

4.0

an easy read that immediately throws you into a very immersive setting with tender feelings

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

it is surreal to re-read this at the end of 2024 and a little hollowing.

butler is unmatched in her ability to have you emote with her characters, but the desperation you feel coming through this book is very weighty.

Lore Olympus: Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe

This feels like a lot of in between parts of many different stories, but Psyche/Eros are particularly lovely.