sarah984's reviews
621 reviews

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

challenging emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

I was really excited for this one but I didn't like it at all. The basic premise was intriguing, but the alternate history felt so improbable (and also annoying, the repurposing of the Rachel Cusk quote to be about men made me put the book down) and not that well integrated into the supposed biography format that it was just distracting. Also with all of the stunts X had been pulling for the whole book her

final betrayal

didn't feel big enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Grief, Stalking, and Abandonment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Excrement, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

We Can Only Save Ourselves: A Novel by Alison Wisdom

dark slow-paced

2.0

I didn't like this one at all. The Greek chorus conceit with the moms really felt fake deep and everything seemed to build up to nothing. By the time something really dark and cult like was happening the book ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Trafficking, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked this book a lot, but I do wish that I had read it before The Spear Cuts Through Water since that book refined a lot of the interesting touches in this one and took them farther, with more confidence. I liked the characters and the overall plot, but the big time skips made a lot of it feel sort of distant and I found the third section a bit silly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

adventurous dark emotional medium-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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this one. Jess's post-university aimlessness and simultaneous love and frustration with her family were relatable, the horror to humour balance was great and I loved the ending. Unfortunately I found the middle of the book a little unfocused and I wish the girlfriend had been a stronger character (she felt a bit like a prop meant to complicate things for Jess and I kept forgetting about her).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Outing

Upstairs at the Beresford by Will Carver

dark slow-paced

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

1.5

Very weird book overall. It is a prequel but references a lot of current events that happened after publication of the previous book. Boring, flat characters bordering on stereotypes. Very preachy unpleasant tone. I don't think I'll bother with the third book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Homophobia, Rape, Slavery, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Zero Cool by John Lange

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.0

This is a popcorn book for sure. Fast pace, characters flat as cardboard cutouts, wild but nonsensical plot twists. The second star is for the murder weapon, which was at least original.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Car accident

Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal

emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

3.5

This got a little didactic in places (felt like each character was created to address a specific issue), I didn't really care for the murder mystery side plot, and everything got a little too fantastical for me at the end, but overall I enjoyed this book about Filipino domestic workers in Singapore a lot. How do you live as a human in these circumstances is a question that each character is trying to answer in her own way.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Sexual content, Transphobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Abortion, and Deportation

The Resurrectionist by Wrath James White

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This horror novel had an interesting concept but I don't think it was very well executed. There were a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes (multiple instances of mixing up Josh and Dale's names, missing words, homophones etc), characters' personalities sometimes felt inconsistent, way too many shopping lists, and I think the epilogue in this version made the story worse by wrapping things up a little too pat. The horror takes a little too long to get started considering that we know what's going on way before any of the victim characters do. I did really like some of the things it was aiming for though, especially around the solidarity between the female characters and some attempted realistic tension and support in Sarah and Josh's marriage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Incest, Excrement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Darkly absurd story about life under a totalitarian regime after a failed political revolution. The translation is breezy and readable despite the dark subject matter. Really liked this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

Minor: Misogyny

The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Decent enough family drama slash murder mystery marred by a terrible eleventh hour plot twist. Feels like it wasted my time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Dementia, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, and Medical content