sahanac's reviews
204 reviews

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

cool premise, confused by the execution. a lot to discuss w other people tho! this will be good for book club.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

It’s everything I want from my YA novels, harkening back to the good ole days of 2014, when the trilogy ruled the YA realm, with works like Divergent or Matched. But now, we get far more in-depth lore, speaking more candidly (and less stereotypically) about mental health, and with a whole lot more diversity of character. Bree’s experience at UNC is profoundly shaped by her Blackness. It’s a reality that so many BIPOC students face that has only recently been put to pen like this, and a reality that the author, Tracey Deonn knows intimately, having gone to UNC herself.   

The coolest part is one I won’t spoil for you, but there is a very fun other magic in this book too, so if you like King Arthur and his knights, but it’s not enough to sway you, there’s a whole lot more to the magic of this world, and Bree discovers all of the secrets and implications in due course.   

It’s a brick of a book, but it flies by. The themes in this book of Bree’s blackness, the unquestioned queerness among her friends and peers, and the honest discussions of grief and the trauma that results make for a very real and grounded force within this novel that is otherwise so perfectly fantastical. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second one. In this series – here's hoping for a trilogy.  

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

one of the things I liked best in this book is that Carrie was actually just kind of a bitch. She was cold and focused, and she was driven to an almost unlikable degree. it was so obvious why her peers were afraid of her, why they resented her, but really, Carrie was just the absolute best. It was a fact, one she knew, and made no secret of. 

And her comeback was nothing short of beautiful, despite the hardship, loss, pain, and setbacks, Carrie’s unbreakable spirit is the thing that most lifts this book into one about hope and renewal. I think the end got a little cheesy, but really there’s nothing like an easy read with a light moral that makes you feel good

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

notes for book club: 
- new beginnings
- community building (what, like a new book club?)
- found family (the scalvert stone/ring of fortune)
- universities and diversity (see: affirmative action/tandri)
- conversations about race
- sapphic romance
- immigrant stories
- cultural immersion
- coffee!

The Wife of Bath: A Biography by Marion Turner

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

this was awesome and so informative. love this, want more books like this please any recs anything like this would be incredible

Sistersong by Lucy Holland

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

Okay was so fucking proud of myself for guessing the twist with Tristan!! Like pretty early on. And sometimes when I can guess a twist it's because of bad writing, but with this one, I'm pretty sure it's because Lcuy Holland set this up really early on with Tristan. I think the way the story was framed was just incredible, getting the viewpoint of all three siblings, understanding their minds and their magics before we got into the conflict of the story, setting the world, their relationships, and all the minor tensions that would lead to the larger conflict being far more explosive, was so good. Like, we see Keyne and Gildas set up against each other from the jump, so the reveal that Gildas can do magic and is what he fears was a great one, not to mention Gildas and Constantine turning to one another as allies in the face of a larger enemy. And we saw Riva and Sinne have tension from the jump too, so for that to blow up into a far bigger thing by the end was crazy too. It was just really well formatted and plotted out and it made it really satisfying, because like we've discussed, there was no other way for Riva's story to end, despite it being annoying, and that's because we saw the logic in each and every choice that was made through the course of the book. I was really surprised when I opened it up and started reading and it was trans, also. That was a real surprise, but not an unwelcome one. I think adding that dimension in really allowed for some perspective we don't get within the context of the ballad upon which this book is based. I appreciate also an attempt to sort of go back and see these histories that were unwritten, because we all know trans people existed in this time. The siblings at the heart of the novel were so good, but also let's talk about the MERLIN figure!!!!!! I love a Merlin centuries before Arthurian myth would exist!! It means that this Merlin could be That Merlin, and that's what the ending sort of implies by having Myrdhin still at the very end while Constantine is an ancient ghost king guy. Very cool to maintain and support the idea that the premise for a real British tradition within Arthurian legend is based on this sort of native perspective and magic that is inherent to the land. I was also thinking a lot about indigeneity and colonialism thru Christianity thru the course of this book, and obviously vey different time periods, but similiar premise of "fuck listening to the land and the indigenous groups who know it best, the Christian God is the answer", while those perpetuating that narrative (hem hem Gildas) are tied to the land themselves. Anyway. 

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

olivie blake!!!! i have a bone to pick with you!!!! put a plot in one of your stories i beg of you!!!!

i was excited for this book and i think for me it just relied entirely too heavily on tropes i am bored of, and the writing came across as overly flowery and pretentious at parts. i sent my girlfriend a video of me listening to the audiobook, and it was just. so cringey and hard to listen to, and hard to imagine a human saying this and meaning it. or, if a human did say it, it was no one i'd want to be around. maybe i didn't understand. maybe if i had read it instead of listening, i'd feel differently. and i do love a character driven novel. but i need some plot, some substance, other than just an exploration of the most pretentious, unappealing people i've ever heard of.

one of the main characters is mentally ill and not on her meds. that does not make her a bad person. but the way she is portrayed is not a good example of representation, because we have plenty of examples of mentally ill people as violent, anti-social, and manic. personally, i don't need or want anymore and it made the story and the relationship hard to stomach. 

and the plot is like. theyre not friends. theyre friends. they're fucking. theyre dating. her family hates him. she doesnt care. his dad thinks she's a bad influence. he cares. her ex bf talks to him and he gets in his head ab their relationship. it's just boring dude. 

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

adventurous challenging dark funny fast-paced

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

5.0

this was SO FUN!! almost retired lady assassins taking on a shady secret organization with good intentions but a crooked bent – that's all the introduction I needed to be intensely, rapturously interested in this book

Joan by Katherine J. Chen

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

worldbuilding, characterization, all of it was so perfect. i think this was the coolest possible depiction of someone i didnt know much history or myth about aside from what i heard in church. obsessed with this version of joan.

The No-Show by Beth O'Leary

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

oh i loved this i really did. was confused for the first massive chunk but it came tg so so beautifully. emo ab it all too.