philip_bonanno's reviews
232 reviews

Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara

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challenging reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Collection of short stories. Some were def stronger than others! I liked Survivor a lot and enjoyed Playing with Punjab
The Morgesons by Elizabeth Stoddard

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

5.0

This book is so funny, and is such a good satire of a marriage plot.
The Garies and Their Friends by Frank J. Webb

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

3.75

My main beef with this book is that there are like 25 characters and they all have such similar names
Youngblood by Addison Gayle Jr., John Oliver Killens

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

4.0

I liked the book a lot and the ending is quite moving. I wish some of the characters had more depth and the pacing was off at times. Otherwise it felt like a good description of southern Jim Crowe life
Passing by Nella Larsen

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

4.75

This book is so good and I don’t want to spoil anything but I think people should read it
The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson, Arna Bontemps

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

3.75

The last 20 pages are really good. The rest is kinda mediocre and boring.
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

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

1.25

Just boooo
Benito Cereno by Herman Melville

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

4.5

Amazing. Ending is so good. Love the use of the law at the end 
Black Disability Politics by Sami Schalk

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informative

4.75

Really good and informative! I LOVED the first two chapters and the praxis interludes
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

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

4.0

Do you ever go to italy and fall in love with a working class lad and then it leads to all sorts of issues with your high society life?