redcapediver's reviews
31 reviews

Angela Davis: An Autobiography by Angela Y. Davis

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Misogyny, Racism, Classism, and Sexism

Minor: Colonisation

Super Late Bloomer: My Early Days in Transition by Julia Kaye

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

4.5

I wish there was more but it’s probably selfish to ask for it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia

An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States by Kyle T Mays

challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Don’t read my dumb lil white boy review go read the book it’s a great starting point for learning about black and indigenous issues my gosh!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Genocide, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Murder and Misogyny

God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Took four books to get to the weird homophobic themes and incomprehensible eroticism but I made it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Death, and Misogyny

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant

dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

3.25

I thought it would be a lot more of a cool mysterious killer story about a vengeful tiger but ended up being a lot more packed full of information about the economy of that particular area of Russia in the 90’s

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

4.0

There’s way too much to unpack here. It’s a super good book real funny and sad and philosophical and surreal and good. Lots to think about in terms of the flow of time and the idea of free will and our place in the universe. There’s some language and general characterization of the women characters that doesn’t age great in certain parts but it’s like a billion years old so it’s kind of expected but still a bit disappointing so it LOST A STAR. Pretty cool tho. Wars are bad ™

The Stranger by Albert Camus

5.0

This book is so short that I can’t even say anything about it without just saying the entire plot of the whole thing. BUT it’s real cool and interesting and existential and it’s sticking with me and I truly hope Cheryl Q liked it as much as I did. She certainly highlighted enough passages to give that impression.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

5.0

A beautiful and honest and heartbreaking and uplifting and beautiful memoir that I’ve apparently really needed ever since I first listened to Japanese Breakfast’s Psychopomp for the first time back in 2016. I haven’t read a lot of memoirs or autobiographies but this one floored me and made me wanna try a lot of Korean food. I can’t pretend to understand what it’s like to be a half-Korean girl growing up in Oregon and trying to live with and understand her connection to her heritage but I’m definitely closer now than ever before.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

5.0

One of the bleakest and most immaculately written things I’ve experienced. Dude’s out here balancing just the most shockingly dark and upsetting imagery with unfairly beautiful prose to match it. LOTS OF DUALITY FROM THAT CORMAC.

The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther by Jeffrey Haas

5.0

One of the most arduous and frustrating books I’ve ever read and I fully believe it should be required reading in schools. I wasn’t taught a single thing about the Black Panther Party or what they stood for or all the good work they did, and I especially wasn’t taught about how the American government actively sought to oppress and silence them out of fear that black people would find any sort of real power in America. I’m sure the other stuff was important too but I’d much rather kids today learn about this rather than going over the Boston tea party 12 years in a row