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sarah_thebooknerd's reviews
741 reviews
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This book is one that will sit with me for a long time. Etaf Rum is an auto read author for me and this book solidified that. The way in which she touches on families and generational trauma and breaking cycles and also mental health with this book is huge. I had such a connection to the FMC with the way that she would bottle things inside and it would get to a point where it would boil over. Be kind on yourself as you pick this one up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Colonisation
Necropolitics by Achille Mbembe
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This is a really interesting book and covers a lot of large concepts regarding apartheid, racism, colonization, the issues within democracy and sanctioned murder but at times it’s very disjointed and very surface level. If you are newer to the subject matter I think this book would be helpful but otherwise you might be frustrated by the lack of depth.
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book should be mandatory. It touches on so many topics within the disability community that is so necessary for people to read and understand. It implores you to think and reflect on the world as we know it and how inaccessible it is for disabled individuals and how much we need them to be the center of so many topics to fight against oppression to climate change.
Funny Story by Emily Henry
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn
I think that some might feel that this romance is not very grand in its nature but to me it is one that is so tender, lush and I loved to see it.
I also really appreciated the way in which Kate talked about how some parents (parental guardians) can lose themselves and give so much of themselves to the child they are raising that they disappear. They lose themselves in this process. As a parent, I have struggled with this and to say that I related to this part is an understatement. I started just crying because it is a balance to put so much energy, love, care into the child but also maintain yourself without become a void of just being that parent.
I will admit that I did struggle with the Big man aspect (build muscular huge ex football player) of this book but the more I sat with it, I feel that Kate is trying to say more than just his size is big but his heart, soul and personality is big and it matches his physical size.
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Kate has this way of writing romances that give you this 360 degree view of someone. I never walk away feeling like I am missing a part of who they are. Jess was thrown into becoming the custodian guardian for her 8 year old sister 10 years ago when her mother ran away with a guy. Her sister, Teagan is 18 and has a podcaster on her doorstep wanting them to go on a road trip to the 5 locations their mom wrote a post card from in an effort to track her down and find out what happened to the con man she ran off with.
With the Podcaster is Adam, this very large ex-football player who is healing from the loss of his best friend. He wants to write about the football industry and the harm they cause to players who have mental health/ cause mental health and how it led to the death of his friend.
Adam is immediately drawn to Jess when he meets her. Jess is rattled by this and does not understand the way in which they are pulled to one another and how he sees every little thing about her.
I loved seeing the ways in which the two of them just built this beautiful love and this is a romance where you see all the small things- the support Adam gives with his hand across the back, the way that Jess knows when he needs reassurance.
I think that some might feel that this romance is not very grand in its nature but to me it is one that is so tender, lush and I loved to see it.
I also really appreciated the way in which Kate talked about how some parents (parental guardians) can lose themselves and give so much of themselves to the child they are raising that they disappear. They lose themselves in this process. As a parent, I have struggled with this and to say that I related to this part is an understatement. I started just crying because it is a balance to put so much energy, love, care into the child but also maintain yourself without become a void of just being that parent.
I will admit that I did struggle with the Big man aspect (build muscular huge ex football player) of this book but the more I sat with it, I feel that Kate is trying to say more than just his size is big but his heart, soul and personality is big and it matches his physical size.
I highly recommend this book and I hope you love it as much as I do.
Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora by Meg Medina, Mark Oshiro, Jasminne Mendez, Cristina Arreola, Ibi Zoboi, Naima Coster, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Julian Randall, Saraciea J. Fennell, Janel Martinez, Zakiya Jamal, Natasha Díaz, Lilliam Rivera, Kahlil Haywood, Elizabeth Acevedo
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This essay collection of 15 Latinx creatives in the diaspora really makes you sit and just reflect on all they are sharing about their experiences with racism, colorism, feeling of othering within the community, hurt by family, but also joy, love, community and grief.
This book is for the Latiné people in the diaspora to be able to connect with their communities and share experiences. It's also a glimpse for non-Latiné people to get a look into some of the lived experiences these 15 people have gone through as they deal with everything from Anti- Blackness to Love and Community in Cooking. For me, it also had me sitting in my thoughts on the roll that my witness has played in the harm to them through white supremacy. This book moved me to feel anger, tears, pride and happiness.
Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir by Walela Nehanda
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It will be a top read of 2024 for me. It's a memoir written in verse and if you are a fan of Elizabeth Acevedo, I think you would love Walela Nehanda.
Walela is a fat Black queer non-binary person and they have dealt with family trauma, racism, distorted eating, navigating gender, queerness, fatphobia, mental health, and medical trauma. Walela is raw and takes the readers with them as they navigated various points in their life that culminated in a diagnosis of leukemia at 23. We learn about how each part of Walela's identities intersected with the diagnosis and how it impacted them as they had to learn to navigate a medical system that is not build for fat Black queer non-binary people.
Walela also discusses how isolating it can be to deal with a chronic illness and be disabled in society.
I had to just sit at times with the way that this book moved me. I will leave you with this quote from the book:
"my cancer saved me, because did you know it is actually really so fucking terrifying being invested in living?"
Walela is a fat Black queer non-binary person and they have dealt with family trauma, racism, distorted eating, navigating gender, queerness, fatphobia, mental health, and medical trauma. Walela is raw and takes the readers with them as they navigated various points in their life that culminated in a diagnosis of leukemia at 23. We learn about how each part of Walela's identities intersected with the diagnosis and how it impacted them as they had to learn to navigate a medical system that is not build for fat Black queer non-binary people.
Walela also discusses how isolating it can be to deal with a chronic illness and be disabled in society.
I had to just sit at times with the way that this book moved me. I will leave you with this quote from the book:
"my cancer saved me, because did you know it is actually really so fucking terrifying being invested in living?"
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The audio narration is incredible.
Imogen, is the #1 queer ally and she is from a small community in upstate New York and is Jewish and comes from a progressive family. When she goes to visit her best friend, Lily on campus she is tasked with being her best friend’s ex and while pretending to be bi she begins to realize that she might actually be bi. She has been having a lot of feelings about it but she always has shut them down because its not like the “queer knowing/awakening” that her friends have had so she has always shut that part of herself off. I loved the discussions that happen in this book related to coming out and to terms with being queer and how each persons story will look different.
Imogen, is the #1 queer ally and she is from a small community in upstate New York and is Jewish and comes from a progressive family. When she goes to visit her best friend, Lily on campus she is tasked with being her best friend’s ex and while pretending to be bi she begins to realize that she might actually be bi. She has been having a lot of feelings about it but she always has shut them down because its not like the “queer knowing/awakening” that her friends have had so she has always shut that part of herself off. I loved the discussions that happen in this book related to coming out and to terms with being queer and how each persons story will look different.