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reads2cope's reviews
331 reviews
Galatea by Madeline Miller
5.0
A horror story. That is usually not my genre, but like Miller’s other work, this story completely gripped me.
Though I know she wrote it before getting Long COVID, I couldn’t help but connect the rage and despair of Galatea begging the doctor to believe her with the millions having the same fight today.
Though I know she wrote it before getting Long COVID, I couldn’t help but connect the rage and despair of Galatea begging the doctor to believe her with the millions having the same fight today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Body horror, Medical content, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment
Rangikura by Tayi Tibble
4.0
Vivid and visceral. These poems tell a complete story, bridging across childhood, puberty, adulthood, and exploring many difficult and important topics, as well as fun ones.
The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
A masterpiece, just as Enter Ghost is, though wildly different. Each character has so much depth and goes through so much development, even when little happens plot-wise, there was always something that gripped me and kept me wanting more. This is another book I listened to that I hope to pick up a physical copy of someday. I especially want to analyze the parts where the story stops following Midhat and why each character get their closeup then. I loathed Jeanette, but loved the way the last third of the book handles Midhat's relfections on his time in France.
My other gripe with listening to the audiobook was the Arabic pronunciations were very strange, but otherwise it was a good narration.
4.75
“Here they all were, watching him return, gently, to this world. Ready to press him back into the shape of a person. Their impressions glanced off him like beams of light. There had been times in his life when he thought the need for them was illusory, this group of people, living in the same place, tied by their names and inherited stories. But if that was illusory, what was real? Without them, he was a body floating in the air — he stuck his foot out onto the cold tile, and struck a match to light Abu Jamil's cigar.”
A masterpiece, just as Enter Ghost is, though wildly different. Each character has so much depth and goes through so much development, even when little happens plot-wise, there was always something that gripped me and kept me wanting more. This is another book I listened to that I hope to pick up a physical copy of someday. I especially want to analyze the parts where the story stops following Midhat and why each character get their closeup then. I loathed Jeanette, but loved the way the last third of the book handles Midhat's relfections on his time in France.
My other gripe with listening to the audiobook was the Arabic pronunciations were very strange, but otherwise it was a good narration.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
4.0
The end to the Hunger Games requires so much reading between the lines and analyzing of characters choices that I wish I could interview my teenage self about how I processed it all. As an adult reader, I now realize I should be giving Collins more credit than I already did to how I developed my love for reading.
There are no winners in these books, there are no “good guys.” Katniss is clearly traumatized and is almost beyond reach while being used and abused by the Capitol and the Rebels alike. I only wish we could have seen more of her relationship with Peeta be healed in the text rather than in a montage of sorts at the end. I wish she had gone to him in the hospitals and helped him as he would have done for her, but at the same time I can’t blame her for her distance.
The ending is beautiful and scary - it reminds me of the Lord of the Rings with the Scouring of the Shire and the heartbreaking eternal separation of the Fellowship. Except that at least in Middle Earth, Aragorn is posed to be a healing King and other lands receive full autonomy. In Panem, we get a real-world resolution: Katniss is exiled, and those who masterminded and executed the worst of the war crimes are given more power.
Rather than the Snow prequel (which I will read next, of course) I want to see District 12 rebuilt and a truly changed society in the rest of Panem.
There are no winners in these books, there are no “good guys.” Katniss is clearly traumatized and is almost beyond reach while being used and abused by the Capitol and the Rebels alike. I only wish we could have seen more of her relationship with Peeta be healed in the text rather than in a montage of sorts at the end. I wish she had gone to him in the hospitals and helped him as he would have done for her, but at the same time I can’t blame her for her distance.
The ending is beautiful and scary - it reminds me of the Lord of the Rings with the Scouring of the Shire and the heartbreaking eternal separation of the Fellowship. Except that at least in Middle Earth, Aragorn is posed to be a healing King and other lands receive full autonomy. In Panem, we get a real-world resolution: Katniss is exiled, and those who masterminded and executed the worst of the war crimes are given more power.
Rather than the Snow prequel (which I will read next, of course) I want to see District 12 rebuilt and a truly changed society in the rest of Panem.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
5.0
"’What is to prevent, say, an uprising? …Do you have any idea what that would mean? How many people would die? What conditions those left would have to face? Whatever problems anyone may have with the Capitol, believe me when I say that if it released its grip on the districts for even a short time, the entire system would collapse."
I'm taken aback by the directness and even the sincerity of this speech. As if his primary concern is the welfare of the citizens of Panem, when nothing could be further from the truth.
I don't know how I dare to say the next words, but I do. "It must be very fragile, if a handful of berries can bring it down.’"
Shocked at how much Collins fit into this small book. I wish I could remember how it impacted me when I read it as a kid. I went to protests against the Iraq war with my mother, knowing more about the world and watching everything happening in Palestine, the DRCongo, Sudan, and more - and seeing the brutal response to protests from the USA, Europe, Japan, and beyond - this series has been a difficult but amazing reread.
Shocked at how much Collins fit into this small book. I wish I could remember how it impacted me when I read it as a kid. I went to protests against the Iraq war with my mother, knowing more about the world and watching everything happening in Palestine, the DRCongo, Sudan, and more - and seeing the brutal response to protests from the USA, Europe, Japan, and beyond - this series has been a difficult but amazing reread.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4.75
With all the current comparisons, I wanted to reread one of my childhood favorites. Knowing Collins wrote the book after seeing the destruction and terror inflicted on Iraq cut in with reality TV shows and other fluff while flipping through channels made this read all the more moving and terrible.
The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
2.0
Didn’t really understand it. The choice not to label the chapters when switching between characters annoyed me more than intrigued me. I hoped something more sinister would be revealed, but I guess the confusing monotony was the point.
Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson
5.0
But she has
been home and
not home
she has been
where her
memories were
–
They were never
in rooms or walls
but in person
in the living and dead
and in the words
with which she moved
–
Next time Grandma
I intend to wear
my kolt like you
The poetry flowed so well, I often got lost in the story and once almost missed my metro stop. The pain of losing traditional and family knowledge, the trauma and danger of assimilation, was so clearly but beautifully shown. I wish I had kept a list or family tree as I read because some of the jumps between characters and time became confusing, but I look forward to a doing that on a re-read in the future.
The ruling language
drizzled over us
Swedish words
impossible to pronounce
–
They penetrated
our clothes
coated our skin
–
That needling eye
–
a rain through
all that one loves
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Racism, Animal death, and Abandonment
Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust
4.75
I learned so much from reading this. I was worried that a lot of the chapters wouldn’t apply to me, but even when they didn’t, Mercury Stardust found a way to bring the repairs a bigger picture. More photos and drawings would have been helpful, and I wish there was more memoir because the personal stories she did share always made a big impact, but overall this was a great!
Pageboy by Elliot Page
4.5
Despite the high praise I’ve seen for this memoir, I didn’t think I would like it very much given how little I’ve enjoyed the past few celebrity autobiographies I’ve read. I’m so glad I gave it a read. The way Page tied together different periods of his life to create a comprehensive view into his journey of coming out and finding himself was masterfully done and made the book hard to put down.