riverd's reviews
83 reviews

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

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5.0

I am giving it 5 stars because I love the magical children in this book. They’re sweet, funny, charming, and definitely the best part of this whole story. However, a lot of characters make comments on the main character’s size throughout the book which feels unfortunate and unnecessary.
Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly

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2.0

For me, I struggled with this book and the main character quite a bit. The main character felt very self-centered which I guess is what some of her friends tell her, but still, hard to read. And the relationship between dawn and her partner felt particularly excruciating. Not communicating at all about their wants and needs, building resentment towards each other. Oof. Overall, I felt this was an uncomfortable read.
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

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4.0

I enjoyed reading this book. I love the way the author wrote the dialogue by weaving it into the paragraph rather than set apart with quotations. It made so much more sense to my brain and feels similar to how conversations feel and land in real life. The story was hard but sweet, real but mixed with humor and tenderness. The tale of these friends and the love and hardship they share (or struggle to share), was lovely and relatable. I found myself rooting for the main character as she slowly and painfully opens herself up to the love of friendship and community.
The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin

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4.0

I never know where Jemisin’s books are gonna go and I love it! Twists and turns, beautiful world building, and a characters that surprise me. Although, I did guess a pretty big plot of the story and I’m quite proud of myself for that
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

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5.0

A book I’ll probably keep returning to.
“You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon

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5.0

I love Aubrey on Maintenance Phase! And while a lot of info overlapped with the podcast, I still learned quite a bit! A great book for anyone who wants to challenge their anti-fat biases and learn how to be an ally to fat people.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

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3.0

3 stars for possible poly love and the horniness of the main characters even in times of crisis. But this book wasn’t really as good as I anticipated it to be. I probably would have loved it as a younger person perhaps. I don’t feel compelled to read the rest of the series.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

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3.0

I remember reading this a long time ago and wanted to re-read to tap into Brene’s qualitative research a bit. I didn’t resonate too much with her personal stories, but there is some core advice and helpful content I needed to hear. A big gripe I had with the book is that it talks a bit about losing weight or feeling bad because of weight gain/ eating “unhealthy” food, so three stars for that.