plannedandplanted's reviews
117 reviews

He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters by Schuyler Bailar

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-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

Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief: A Revolutionary Approach to Understanding and Healing the Impact of Loss by Claire Bidwell Smith

emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

2.75

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Did not finish book.

Read the first story. It’s cute and I don’t hate it and would love to come back to it soon. Just not fast paced enough for me with the move going on! 

Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby

funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? No

5.0

It feels like stories about slaves/slavery are sometimes redundant these days so I was skeptical going in. But the plot kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was a really unique perspective, taking an educated mixed salve and making her “in charge” of other slaves. The writing was great. Really would love to visit the Richmond Slave Trail the author mentions in her note before I leave the area.

Aina Hanau / Birth Land by Brandy Nalani McDougall

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

I don’t think I’ve ever connected with a book of poetry like this before. Granted, I don’t read much poetry to begin with. But I really enjoyed a lot of poems & passages in this. Especially once I started reading it aloud and feeling the words in my mouth. A lot of emotional insight into Hawaiian life but also a lot of factual things, and I feel like I learned a ton of the language by the end. The birth metaphors just made it all the more powerful. 

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

I’m not usually one for horror stories or short story collections, but I actually really “enjoyed” this. There were a lot of typical, spooky horror elements. But many of the scariest things were derived from real-world problems like poverty, police brutality, sexism, and stigma against mental health. There was a lot of covert information about Argentina dispersed through the stories that was fascinating to learn. 

I thought all of the stories were paced well and were easy to jump into. The translator did a fantastic job — the writing was easy to understand but still was descriptive and poetic at times. 

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

A beautiful and heart-breaking, yet still hopeful, love-letter to Syria. It provided a lot of  insight into Palestenian diaspora and their many customs, as well as what life is like under occupied rule. The love of country and family that Nahr displays through some horrible tragedies and traumas is truly inspiring. And the relationship that buds between her and Bilal is so precious and lovely. The scene where they're harvesting olives and having a great time, only to be disrupted, harassed, and threatened by the Israeli soldiers was such a vibrant scene.

Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

There was a lot of interesting insight into Sri Lankan immigrant culture. But by the end of the book I just feel like the main character had hardly changed at all, or made any significant changes to her life. She does somewhat reconcile with her mom, but it still doesn't feel like there's enough of a conversation between them about all of the resentment that her mom's homophobia has caused.