rainbopagn's reviews
126 reviews

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

funny informative medium-paced

4.0

I love Doughery's style. This was a reread for me and I listened to the audiobook. She narrated the book in a way that felt like she was actually telling you these stories in actual conversation. From the grim look at the eventual death of a friend to the cheeky descriptions of post mortem care, she takes you on a comforting journey through what many consider to still be a taboo topic

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.

Page 143: " Izzy was full of people who skewed toward the Asperger's end of the social spectrum and there was no better way to get them to start talking than to ask them a technical question." 

The book was published in 2015. Asperger's was merged into the ASD diagnosis in 2013. As an autistic person myself, I can't excuse the slur. There is little reason as to why the author didn't know this as it was a source of controversy.   

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Content Warnings

Page 143 contains a slur.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

This is a book that will make you rethink everything you feel and know about the American justice system. This should be required reading. The way you go back and forth between perspectives and the way they come together in the final pages... its beautiful storytelling. It is also vicious and violent, much like the real life justice system. The way the author pulls in real people and real statistics is an homage to those who have been unfairly and unjustly treated.  


SPOILERS in
3

2

1

I am more than a little pissed that Thurwar killed Staxxx. I had expected them to go out together, mortally wounding each other. I understand the meaning of the full circle moment but it still annoyed me.     

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Medical content, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Medical trauma

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I spend through this in about a day. Harpman’s prose totally drowns you in the story, a bit rambling a times and harshly blunt at others. You leave the book thinking about what makes you human. My one complaint is that we never learn our narrators name. I would have liked to see the women help name her given she was their child, whether they liked it or not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

challenging informative slow-paced

5.0

Given the current events, this is a must-read. This summary of over a century of oppression and brutality lays out explicitly who is responsible for the current stage of the ethnic cleansing- and why that answer is largely the United States.    

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.5

While this book is a bit slow to start, once it gets going it catches you. There were twists that I didn't expect (really Claire??? you did WHAT?) and when it fell together, I was floored. At first it seemed that we didn't need all the POVs, but once the climax started building, it made sense why we had them from the beginning

SPOILERS: 
I do have a few complaints. The first is that we don't see what happens the Uriel and where Ramiel ends up. The second is: where the hell is God? I realize that is probably going to be explored in the rest of the series, but it felt like the one loose end.     

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

As my first five star of the year, I am obsessed. Wendell and Emily are so damn cute, even in the beginning with the bickering. I love them. This is such a cozy story despite the cold setting. The writing framing everything as journal entries works perfectly as a way to tell an academic tale. 

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

hopeful informative medium-paced

3.5

Desmond walks the reader through practical ways to end poverty. Blunt and honestly, he looks at the biases that make poverty possible. My one complaint is that there are moments where you get bogged in statistics. I would say that you need some background in sociology or social sciences to understand some of his points. 

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell

informative fast-paced

3.5

This is an amazing primer for anyone who needs an intro to how language effects culture and vice versa. 

They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom by Dena Takruri, Ahed Tamimi

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

Ahed tells her story in terms as brutally honest as her oppressors are brutally cruel.