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rachel_from_avid_bookshop's reviews
923 reviews
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The main character in Holly Gramazio's book The Husbands wakes up one day to find a husband coming down the steps of her attic but she's not married. Lauren is pretty sure she wasn't married when she went to bed the night before, slightly tipsy from her friend's hen party, but she finds herself very much married to a stranger the next morning. The Husbandsexplores the bizarre and confusing world where a magic attic causes husbands to turn into different husbands anytime Lauren convinces them to go to the attic to fetch something. This funny & bizarre book has Lauren cycling through men hoping to find the perfect one while examining the nuances of being married. As her life slightly changes each time a different husband descends from the attic (different paint colors, missing things), this is a wild ride.
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The protagonist in Yasmin Zaher's The Coin is a Palestinian woman living in New York City who, even with financial privilege, is haunted by her lack of country, distance from family, and intense need to feel exactly the right type of belonging and connectedness. This book makes statements about class, morals, and those who are underprivileged in ways that are at times funny and definitely bizarre.
Smothermoss by Alisa Alering
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A lyrically beautiful Southern Gothic story set in the Appalachian mountains, Smothermoss is an edge-of-your-seat yet gorgeous read. Two very different sisters exist in communion with the flora and fauna where the mountain plays a pivotal role. Both Sheila and Angie are trying to figure out their place in the world as kids in the 1980s. When a double murder in their small community put everyone on high alert, Angie is certain she can catch the killer. Smothermoss reads like a fairy tale with thrilling moments that could lead to devastation. Highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
In The Anthropologists Ayşegül Savas gives us a portrait of a marriage and a life built by two who feel the pull of their home country even as they view apartments and imagine the commitment of owning a home. This slow reflective book was divided into perfect sections that I found mesmerizing.
Our Long Marvelous Dying by Anna DeForest
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Author Anna DeForest's work as a palliative care doctor qualifies her as well-positioned to write a literary fiction piece regarding one new doctor's experience practicing during the pandemic. Our Long Marvelous Dying shares human struggles those in healthcare encounter with the backdrop of a floundering marriage and dying houseplants. Our narrator finds exquisite beauty in the layers that are shed as we die and pushes back against the traditional way to care for those at the end of their life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Animal death
The Secret Dead Club by Karen Strong
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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? N/A
5.0
While Karen Strong's previous two middle grade books have had ghosty elements, The Secret Dead Club is a full-fledged haunted ghost story. After Wednesday Thomas moves back to her mom's hometown in Georgia she realizes she's not the only middle school girl who sees ghosts. This exciting mystery uses themes of friendship and grief to help the reader know themselves better. This story masterfully includes (what can be seen as) delicate topics such as getting your period or how emotions can manifest physically in your body to create an extremely relatable and readable book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
See Loss See Also Love: A Novel by Yukiko Tominaga
4.0
Yukiko Tominaga's novel may be the most frank and unusual take on a widow's grief you've read. Kyoko's young husband dies in a freak accident and rather than move back home to Japan, she chooses to raise their young son alone in San Francisco. You'll come to love her Jewish mother-in-law Bubbe, a delightful break from the horrible MIL cliché. Kyoko is furious with Levi for dying but also fairly happy raising Alex alone. I love Kyoko's unfiltered frankness and emotional honesty.
The Skunks by Fiona Warnick
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Newly graduated from college, Isabel is home for the summer house-sitting and working reception at a yoga studio. Feeling the need to move on from obsessing about boys and friendships, she becomes more than enamored with three baby skunks in the yard. As much as Isabel feels stuck, there's a calmness to her time outdoors exploring while babysitting Cecelia. Fiona Warnick's peek into the dreams of the baby skunks, the fairy tales the oriole tells the oldest skunk, and how squirrels talk about the color green lends a dreamy dual-worlds quality to this funny, quirky, and sweet book about beginning to figure out how to adult.
Women and Children First by Alina Grabowski
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Alina Grabowski's Women and Children First is a stunning debut focusing on the death of a teenager at a house party in the tiny coastal town of Nashquitten, MA. This book is a study in loss and grief as ten different women and girls tell their version of what led up to the tragedy. Grabowski's graceful prose builds deep characters who all cared for Lucy in their own way. Addressing class, bullying, and the complications of existing in a small insular town, the structure and way this book is organized is impressive and fascinating to experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Bullying
Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Suicide
All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow's protagonist Sunday Forrester in All the Little Bird-Hearts is a mother, a gardener, a daughter-in-law, and an ex-wife whose world is ordered in specific ways that make sense to her alone. That is until new neighbor Vita moves in and delights in Sunday's neurodiversity such as only drinking liquids with bubbles and eating white foods on certain days. Sunday's friendship with Vita causes great delight that short summer but also a wedge in Sunday's relationship with her daughter. This book aches with longing, miscommunication, and the desire to be understood. A fascinating read.