readwithshiggy's reviews
243 reviews

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

reflective medium-paced

as a (attempting to recover) perfectionist, I was recommended this book to work through that part of me-but a lot of this felt like things I already knew in my heart. I agree with other people's reviews that I might have enjoyed more of a deep dive into the research or testimonials outside of Brown's own life? I also think this is a book that could be super beneficial to be read in a group or for book club to explore some of these topics deeper. will be trying some of these DIG deep recommendations before I completely write it off though

Exposure by Ava Dellaira

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

beautiful gorgeous writing. it sucks you in so immediately with its simplicity, and you feel every emotion from hope and longing to deep grief with the characters. there is a twist in the latter half of the book that I didn't expect from this book and didn't particularly like that made me detach a bit to the story. when the books focuses on grief, it soars.  I preferred those aspects of the book when we were really deep into the character’s relationships with one another or reflection on themselves than the exploration of moral ambiguity/multiple perspectives on a traumatic situation/“there’s multiple sides to every story” theme 

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

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

Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh

adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen

hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm

reflective slow-paced

1.5

some nuggets of wisdom sprinkled into a very dated/rigid analysis of love along the gender binary and from a Christian lens. sorry but I do think I skimmed through all the Frued discussions and did not end up absorbing any of that 

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

5.0

Sunny by Sukh Ojla

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I think fans of Maame will love this book! This had a lot of heart— I fell in love with + felt for Sunny as she waded through this tough standstill rite of passage point in her 20s. The interactions with her mother were my favorite parts and often made me laugh at loud at how much I could see me and my mom in it lmao. Refreshing, sweet, nostalgic, reflective— truly loved reading it!