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readbyryan's reviews
836 reviews
Doubting Thomas: A Novel by Matthew Clark Davison
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thomas’s life is upended after cleared of accusations of touching a student inappropriately. Thomas works for an elite private school in Portland teaching fourth grade. His brother was recently diagnosed with cancer. His boyfriend of two years left. Thomas is aimless in a world that seems to be accepting until it’s not.
At first, I had a hard time following the writing of this book. The author flips between present day to the past from paragraph to paragraph. I wasn’t sure when these events occurred and would have to reread passages. Eventually, I got into the groove of the structure and I really enjoyed it. This book explores the life of Thomas, and the way it’s written puts the reader directly in the head of the main character, so we get a full and complete view of Thomas.
Though the book starts with the accusation, which changes Thomas’s life, this book is about more than that. The book explores Thomas’s relationship with his two brothers, their wives, their children, their parents. We also learn about past friendships and relationships that have ended and been revived. The book is also haunted by the specter of HIV that affected his early years. It also explores race, sexuality, and the hypocrisy of woke liberal parents.
I really liked this book and it was like nothing I read before. At the end I felt this novel was the exploration of a flawed but complete life.▪️
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
THE SENTENCE is a book for the moment. Set just before and into Covid, Tookie is just released from prison after 10 years and gets a job at a bookstore. One day one of her most annoying patron’s, Flora, passes away and starts haunting the store. Her step-daughter Hetta returns home one day with a baby.
Set in Minneapolis during Covid and the George Floyd protests, this book feels so present and real, written and published while we are still processing many of these events. Tookie is the heart of this book and a great character. She’s Native American and works for an indigenous bookstore. I love her relationship with her husband, Pollux. The cast of characters who work at the bookstore is fantastic. Tookie’s interaction with her grandson made me smile.
This book is about many hauntings. Sure, there is the haunting of the bookshop. But Tookie is haunted by her past in prison. She’s haunted by her heritage that she has an uneasy relationship with. At the same time, the country is haunted by the lingering effects of Covid (on the body and society.) While Minneapolis, is haunted by the brutal murder of George Floyd.
Though heavy at times, there were many moments that made me laugh from the humor or from the delightful interactions of the characters. I thought that this is a brilliant book, for readers, from a bookstore owner, capturing the zeitgeist of a society in turmoil.▪️
The Latinist by Mark Prins
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Tessa is on the verge of receiving her Ph.D in Classics from Oxford University when she gets an anonymous email informing her of a scathing letter of recommendation from her mentor, Chris. Her boyfriend has left her, she’s running out of money, and her only prospect is staying on at Oxford with her untrustworthy colleague. Chris tries to convince Tessa to stay at Oxford. But Tessa may have made a discovery about an obscure Latin poet that will change the course of her career.
This book is described as a modern retelling of the Daphne and Apollo myth. The symbolism of this store is woven throughout as Daphne flees Apollo only to eventually be turned into a tree to avoid him raping her. While intellectual and full of references to Latin, Greek, mythology, and classical antiquity, this book is a page-turner. I couldn’t put this down and read the last two-thirds of the book in a day. The characters of Tessa and Chris are placed in a dance of the politics of academia. Both characters are richly written, both with flaws and redeeming qualities. I could feel sorry for both of them but still frustrated with their choices. The author somehow takes the most mundane events (a conference speech on the classics) and makes them so compelling and suspenseful.
I really loved this book and I hope more people have a chance to read it this year. Anyone who is a fan of mythologies, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, dark academia, and suspense will love this book.▪️
Idlewild by Jude Sierra
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
IDLEWILD is a gay romance novel published in 2016. Asher is trying to revive his failed restaurant in downtown Detroit in the wake of his husband’s sudden death. Tyler is a recent graduate and needs money while he decides what to do next with his life and starts to work at the resurrected Idlewild. Tyler is in a relationship and and Asher is grieving but they become friends and work hard to reopen the restaurant as the tension between them grows.
When I first heard about this M/M romance novel set in a restaurant in Detroit, I knew I had to read it. I grew up in Michigan and spent many years in the Detroit area. I knew the downtown location on Woodward well, since I worked for a time at the bankruptcy courts downtown. I also love restaurants as a setting for fiction. This book checked all the boxes for me. I loved both Asher and Tyler as characters. The novel explores the age differences and the race differences between them. I thought the author did a good job highlighting some issues without preaching or ignoring the problems in Detroit. The book has steamy moments but they’re not prolonged or detailed. The book is well written. I found the use of the present tense a bit distracting while reading and think that past tense would be easier to read. Overall, I recommend this book.▪️
The Maid by Nita Prose
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In THE MAID, Molly Gray works at an upscale hotel in an unnamed city in housekeeping. She loves her job but has trouble reading social cues causing awkward interactions with guest and other employees. On a Monday, she finds one of the hotel’s most prominent guests dead in his bed. With difficulty navigating social situations, Molly becomes involved with a murder investigation.
I enjoyed this novel of a neurodiverse character who is passionate about her job and who works hard. The author does a great job presenting situations that the reader understands while Molly doesn’t. The reader will want to yell at the page “Molly, you’re in danger, girl!”
This book gave me vibes of “Convenience Store Woman,” the story of a woman passionate about her job and also socially challenged. And clearly this novel references Clue with last names like Gray, Black, Snow, Rosso, Green. The book is fast paced and a compelling murder mystery without much gore and a protagonist you can root for.
The ending was a little too tidy, a little too trite for me to find it believable. I can’t say more without giving it away, but I felt like it was too neat of an ending. However, I recommend this to any mystery lover who wants a low-violence book with a wonderful main character.
Intimacies by Katie Kitamura
dark
sad
tense
slow-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
4.5
“It is surprisingly easy to forget what you have witnessed, the horrifying image or the voice speaking the unspeakable, in order to exist in the world we must and we do forget, we live in a state of I know but I do not know.”
The unnamed main character of INTIMACIES is a woman working as an interpreter at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. After starting a relationship with a man, she learns he’s married but separated, all while working on a high profile case at the court. She is forced to decide what to do with her life.
Intimacies is a quiet, but powerful book of literary fiction that explores a women at a turning point in her life. Aimless, yet competent, she finds herself in a very difficult job listening to testimony of horrific crimes and repeating them back in another language. Her only friend in The Hague is Jana. She’s seeing a married man who steps back to deal with his family. This book is not plot driven but an examination of a character at a point in her life.
I loved the writing in this novel. The sentences are strung together beautifully to say so much without pages and pages of prose. This book is almost more about what’s between the lines than what’s on the page. I found it readable and engaging and I highly recommend it. I didn’t love the ending and I thought it was a bit inconsistent with the rest of the book. I think this would make for a great book club discussion.▪️
Chef's Kiss by Jarrett Melendez
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Chef’s Kiss is a new graphic novel from Oni Press. Ben Cook and his friends recently graduated from college and moved in together to start their careers. Ben majored in English in college and after applying to a number of writing and editing provisions becomes discouraged. After seeing a restaurant was hiring with no experience necessary he applies. His mentor, Liam, ushers him through three weeks of challenges to determine if he’ll get the position. While trying out a position at the Cochon Doré, Ben develops a crush on Liam.
This graphic novel is beautifully drawn and written with such heart, full of tender and funny moments. From the opening pages, this novel seemed to tell my story. Ben is moving into his apartment and his roommates make fun of all his books. I immediately fell for all of the characters, though some could have been fleshed out more. We didn’t get a lot of story for the roommates and the people at the restaurant. I have been in a similar position after graduating from college and trying to find work. This book really captures the uncertainty of post-adolescence but an era defined by strong friendships. I loved the marriage of a gay coming-of-age story with the culinary world. If you’re looking for something a little more mature and grounded in present day culture, check this out.
Preorder Chef’s Kiss, available on March 1, 2022. Thank you to @NetGalley and @OniPress for an advance copy to review.▪️