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sarahdm's reviews
123 reviews
The Predator by K.A. Applegate
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
I didn't think I could love another character more than Tobias but here we are.
I think Marco is an incredible realistic look at childhood grief. The way that he copes with his trauma through humor is I think something a lot of kids can relate to. And while most of the time, Marco is masking his grief with humor, when he needs to be emotional the book allows these scenes to happen. There isn't pressure for Marco to tough it out or present everything is okay. And his friend is there for him in the way that he needs. Jake asking Marco what he needs from him and then giving them the space he desires while also letting him know that he will be there for him. I don't know but there is something genuine happening here.
As well, we are continuing to discuss the brutality of war. Applegate continues to not censor anything here. Don't you love listening to the thoughts of children as they are brutally ripped apart limb from limb, begging for their lives as they lose all sense of their self and conform to an animal like instinct to kill, knowing that death is upon them? Me too.
I really relate to Marco and I am really looking forward to his other books.
I think Marco is an incredible realistic look at childhood grief. The way that he copes with his trauma through humor is I think something a lot of kids can relate to. And while most of the time, Marco is masking his grief with humor, when he needs to be emotional the book allows these scenes to happen. There isn't pressure for Marco to tough it out or present everything is okay. And his friend is there for him in the way that he needs. Jake asking Marco what he needs from him and then giving them the space he desires while also letting him know that he will be there for him. I don't know but there is something genuine happening here.
As well, we are continuing to discuss the brutality of war. Applegate continues to not censor anything here. Don't you love listening to the thoughts of children as they are brutally ripped apart limb from limb, begging for their lives as they lose all sense of their self and conform to an animal like instinct to kill, knowing that death is upon them? Me too.
I really relate to Marco and I am really looking forward to his other books.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Um, yeah.
I wanna say that I don't think I am the target audience for this. This is very much a pre-teen book. 10-13 year olds. But I didn't know that because everyone talking about this book is an adult.
This was a 2.5-3 star bland tween fantasy romance until the ending. The world could be interesting if the author actually took the time to work on the world building instead of rushing through every encounter that happens. The two main female characters Scarlett and Tella are, um, idiots, unskilled, and uninspired. One of them is also the most self-center, selfish, piece of shit in the universe even though she barely has any on the page time. Julian, the only character with a personality, is great but the ending kind of fucks up his character too. Oh and yes the ending.
I will try to put this as spoiler free as possible. The ending is rushed and convoluted nonsense. The "plan" makes absolutely no sense when there are other options to get the same results without going on a wild goose chase. The author gives neither us or Scarlett a moment to process what the fuck just happened. And glossed over the extremely fucked up shit that just happened as if those actions had no weight to them. Also the lies. The lies take everything that was good and genuine about this book and takes a huge shit on it.
The world building feels like you ask a waiter for a glass of water and they sprayed you in the face with a squirt bottle. The characters feel like they are bland uninspired pieces of cardboard that just let things happen around them. The plot is moronic to the point that I think I would rather watch paint dry then read this again.
Listen. There are lots of fantasy romance novels for pre-teens out there. Some of them are smart with interesting characters that are worth your time. This is not one of them.
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
0.0
Um, yeah.
I wanna say that I don't think I am the target audience for this. This is very much a pre-teen book. 10-13 year olds. But I didn't know that because everyone talking about this book is an adult.
This was a 2.5-3 star bland tween fantasy romance until the ending. The world could be interesting if the author actually took the time to work on the world building instead of rushing through every encounter that happens. The two main female characters Scarlett and Tella are, um, idiots, unskilled, and uninspired. One of them is also the most self-center, selfish, piece of shit in the universe even though she barely has any on the page time. Julian, the only character with a personality, is great but the ending kind of fucks up his character too. Oh and yes the ending.
I will try to put this as spoiler free as possible. The ending is rushed and convoluted nonsense. The "plan" makes absolutely no sense when there are other options to get the same results without going on a wild goose chase. The author gives neither us or Scarlett a moment to process what the fuck just happened. And glossed over the extremely fucked up shit that just happened as if those actions had no weight to them. Also the lies. The lies take everything that was good and genuine about this book and takes a huge shit on it.
The world building feels like you ask a waiter for a glass of water and they sprayed you in the face with a squirt bottle. The characters feel like they are bland uninspired pieces of cardboard that just let things happen around them. The plot is moronic to the point that I think I would rather watch paint dry then read this again.
Listen. There are lots of fantasy romance novels for pre-teens out there. Some of them are smart with interesting characters that are worth your time. This is not one of them.
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I wanted to DNF this book SO many times. It was dry and boring. I agree with some of the other reviews that say this is an essay that was just turned fiction.
The Dispossessed asks a lot of interesting questions about anarchism vs capitalism. But without an interesting character and plot hook, I just could not stay engaged. I was also not a fan of the chapters switching between two different timelines. I think the chapters interchanging like that was a cute way to display the main character's ideas about time happening all at once, but I feel like here it just confused me more than anything. I think the straw that did it for me was the on-the-page depicted attempted rape. Turned the book up to 2x speed just to be done with it.
I think as literary fiction, this is great. I'm sure if I was still in high school or college I would have enjoyed the class discussion following this read. But for me, as a book for pure enjoyment, I absolutely hated it. 2/5, its just not for me. Seriously wondering if I should take the other books by this author off my TBR.
The Dispossessed asks a lot of interesting questions about anarchism vs capitalism. But without an interesting character and plot hook, I just could not stay engaged. I was also not a fan of the chapters switching between two different timelines. I think the chapters interchanging like that was a cute way to display the main character's ideas about time happening all at once, but I feel like here it just confused me more than anything. I think the straw that did it for me was the on-the-page depicted attempted rape. Turned the book up to 2x speed just to be done with it.
I think as literary fiction, this is great. I'm sure if I was still in high school or college I would have enjoyed the class discussion following this read. But for me, as a book for pure enjoyment, I absolutely hated it. 2/5, its just not for me. Seriously wondering if I should take the other books by this author off my TBR.
Age of Empyre by Michael J. Sullivan
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.0
TL;DR
There was a moment about half way through the book when I realized that the main theme of the series was capital "F" Forgiveness. And it completely soured everything for me. On top of that, there was a complete lack of suspense in this book thanks to a certain character being just a little too involved. This book is still really good, but this is by far the weakest book in the entire Empire series in my personal opinion.
The Forgiven
In the bottom of the Abyss a person is weighed down by anger, regrets, and other emotions of the like that they have gathered from being alive. The team realizes that they need to let go of their burdens to be able to escape the Abyss. And so Roan forgives Iver. Iver who owned Roan and her mother Reanna as slaves and abused them, resulting in Iver killing Reanna. Which resulted in Roan killing Iver. She FORGIVES her ABUSER. An abuser which has been implied to have sexually abused Rowan and/or Reanna. While I don't think this implication is actually intentional by Mr. Sullivan as it is not TEXTUAL but SUB-TEXTUAL, it is still there. And I did ask another person if I was delusional about this subtext, but no they also picked up on the subtext. Even without the sexual assault subtext, this book is still saying that the only way to save your soul from turning into wallowing ooze at the bottom of the abyss is to forgive your abusers. This is ABSOLUTE horse shit.
Then of course there is Tesh. Who is told he needs to forgive the genocidal murderers who wiped out his entire culture and clan. "Let go of your JUSTIFIED anger! Its shackling you down," the book says! Forgive them because one of them ended up being a decent person who didn't see the humans as wild brainless animals. Absolutely wild.
And finally, the grand daddy of all assholes, Turin. Who is manipulating this entire plot of the war so that he can get forgive then from his family. Just doing more shitty things to try and redeem himself and gain forgiveness that he just does not deserve.
So yeah. Forgiveness is a big fucking theme. Forgiveness for people who just don't fucking deserve it. There was a moment where one of Turin's sisters says that she isn't angry at Turin anymore and she let go of her anger because it was useless, pointless, and just wasn't doing her any good. And I don't think she says that she forgives him. Which I can 100% get behind. Yeah, let a guy redeem himself, maybe even let go of your anger for the past, but don't forgive them unless they deserve it. I like this idea of a theme WAY more.
Blind forgiveness just rubbed me the wrong way. It reminded me of sitting in church camp and pastors telling 10-12 year old girls that they needed to forgive their rapists. This last book really smacks of biblical forgiveness: “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” And I'll be honest with you guys, that scene with Roan forgiving Iver and kissing him, it was triggering.
Mr. Sullivan has spoken about his experience with faith. Quote: "I was raised Catholic, but I spent a good portion of my life on a search for my own beliefs, and in so doing, I've borrowed a bit from many religions and philosophies. I do believe that people are basically good, and when we make mistakes we should try to redeem ourselves." Even if Mr. Sullivan is departed from Catholicism, its very obvious that his writing is influenced by it. I mean this book and the last one are inspired by Catholic fanon (Dante's Inferno). I mean, fuck, there are even 3 sections of the after life: Purgatory, Hell, Heaven vs Rel, Nifrel, and Alysin. The more I look the more I see it everywhere in this book. To say that this book is not influenced by biblical forgiveness is moronic. So I better not get comments saying I am bring up faith for no reason.
Look, I have personal beef with faith. I don't like the idea of forgiveness for the sake of spiritual salvation. It just pisses me off. I wouldn't have minded the theme of forgiveness if it was handled in a better way. Especially on Roan's part. When she grabbed Gifford's sword I was ready for some feminine rage. I loved when Tekchin saves Tesh. Tekchin could have asked Tesh for forgiven and then Tesh could have let go of his anger. Turin, well he is a work in progress, maybe I'll have a different opinion of him latter on.
The Suspense Problem
I think finding out that Turin has planned everything from the state and its all going to go his way really took the suspense out of his book. I think its most felt in the fight between Nyphron and Mawyndule. The reader already knew that Nyphron was going to win and spare Mawyndule because Turin already told us that's how it was going to happen. I think this could have been easily fixed if we saw Turin's plans fail and him really stressing out about everything thing a little more. I mean, his forgiveness and redemption is on the line here, bro should have been stressed. And Turin kept SAYING that things could go wrong but I feel like we just really didn't see it or not enough of it go wrong to really believe him and continue to have suspense. Apparently in the other books he has less control on the narrative situation so maybe this isn't a problem outside this book.
Some Positives
This book and the Empire series as a whole still absolutely rocks. I LOVED the scene with the dragons. I was literally kicking my feet and squealing. I loved Brin and Suri in this book so so much. Honestly, was super invested in all the stuff happening with the elves. I think if you are this far in the series you are gonna love this book no matter what.
Really looking forward to The Rise and Fall series next!
There was a moment about half way through the book when I realized that the main theme of the series was capital "F" Forgiveness. And it completely soured everything for me. On top of that, there was a complete lack of suspense in this book thanks to a certain character being just a little too involved. This book is still really good, but this is by far the weakest book in the entire Empire series in my personal opinion.
The Forgiven
In the bottom of the Abyss a person is weighed down by anger, regrets, and other emotions of the like that they have gathered from being alive. The team realizes that they need to let go of their burdens to be able to escape the Abyss. And so Roan forgives Iver. Iver who owned Roan and her mother Reanna as slaves and abused them, resulting in Iver killing Reanna. Which resulted in Roan killing Iver. She FORGIVES her ABUSER. An abuser which has been implied to have sexually abused Rowan and/or Reanna. While I don't think this implication is actually intentional by Mr. Sullivan as it is not TEXTUAL but SUB-TEXTUAL, it is still there. And I did ask another person if I was delusional about this subtext, but no they also picked up on the subtext. Even without the sexual assault subtext, this book is still saying that the only way to save your soul from turning into wallowing ooze at the bottom of the abyss is to forgive your abusers. This is ABSOLUTE horse shit.
Then of course there is Tesh. Who is told he needs to forgive the genocidal murderers who wiped out his entire culture and clan. "Let go of your JUSTIFIED anger! Its shackling you down," the book says! Forgive them because one of them ended up being a decent person who didn't see the humans as wild brainless animals. Absolutely wild.
And finally, the grand daddy of all assholes, Turin. Who is manipulating this entire plot of the war so that he can get forgive then from his family. Just doing more shitty things to try and redeem himself and gain forgiveness that he just does not deserve.
So yeah. Forgiveness is a big fucking theme. Forgiveness for people who just don't fucking deserve it. There was a moment where one of Turin's sisters says that she isn't angry at Turin anymore and she let go of her anger because it was useless, pointless, and just wasn't doing her any good. And I don't think she says that she forgives him. Which I can 100% get behind. Yeah, let a guy redeem himself, maybe even let go of your anger for the past, but don't forgive them unless they deserve it. I like this idea of a theme WAY more.
Blind forgiveness just rubbed me the wrong way. It reminded me of sitting in church camp and pastors telling 10-12 year old girls that they needed to forgive their rapists. This last book really smacks of biblical forgiveness: “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” And I'll be honest with you guys, that scene with Roan forgiving Iver and kissing him, it was triggering.
Mr. Sullivan has spoken about his experience with faith. Quote: "I was raised Catholic, but I spent a good portion of my life on a search for my own beliefs, and in so doing, I've borrowed a bit from many religions and philosophies. I do believe that people are basically good, and when we make mistakes we should try to redeem ourselves." Even if Mr. Sullivan is departed from Catholicism, its very obvious that his writing is influenced by it. I mean this book and the last one are inspired by Catholic fanon (Dante's Inferno). I mean, fuck, there are even 3 sections of the after life: Purgatory, Hell, Heaven vs Rel, Nifrel, and Alysin. The more I look the more I see it everywhere in this book. To say that this book is not influenced by biblical forgiveness is moronic. So I better not get comments saying I am bring up faith for no reason.
Look, I have personal beef with faith. I don't like the idea of forgiveness for the sake of spiritual salvation. It just pisses me off. I wouldn't have minded the theme of forgiveness if it was handled in a better way. Especially on Roan's part. When she grabbed Gifford's sword I was ready for some feminine rage. I loved when Tekchin saves Tesh. Tekchin could have asked Tesh for forgiven and then Tesh could have let go of his anger. Turin, well he is a work in progress, maybe I'll have a different opinion of him latter on.
The Suspense Problem
I think finding out that Turin has planned everything from the state and its all going to go his way really took the suspense out of his book. I think its most felt in the fight between Nyphron and Mawyndule. The reader already knew that Nyphron was going to win and spare Mawyndule because Turin already told us that's how it was going to happen. I think this could have been easily fixed if we saw Turin's plans fail and him really stressing out about everything thing a little more. I mean, his forgiveness and redemption is on the line here, bro should have been stressed. And Turin kept SAYING that things could go wrong but I feel like we just really didn't see it or not enough of it go wrong to really believe him and continue to have suspense. Apparently in the other books he has less control on the narrative situation so maybe this isn't a problem outside this book.
Some Positives
This book and the Empire series as a whole still absolutely rocks. I LOVED the scene with the dragons. I was literally kicking my feet and squealing. I loved Brin and Suri in this book so so much. Honestly, was super invested in all the stuff happening with the elves. I think if you are this far in the series you are gonna love this book no matter what.
Really looking forward to The Rise and Fall series next!
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is my first Becky Chamber's book and also my first venture into the solar-punk genre. Its very cozy sci-fi and I enjoyed the general vibes. Wild-Built explored a lot of interesting questions about individual purpose, life's meaningfulness, and what we choose to peruse. But I don't really know if it answers any of those questions. It kind of just gives the reader the space to dwell on those ideas and maybe the permission to not have answers. Some how it just ends up feeling really cozy. Solid 3.5
Dear Queer Self: An Experiment in Memoir by Jonathan Alexander
reflective
fast-paced
2.5
Lots of people like to say they don't like rating memoirs because the idea of rating someone's life story is icky to them. Well I can say that I have no qualms about that. "Dear Queer Self" is an extremely over told queer story that has absolutely nothing new to say. In fact, the ending of this book had me wondering if I had gotten an edition that had had the last few chapter's ripped out of it. A memoir is suppose to reflect on questions and issues in the lives of both the reader and the author. Usually the author comes to some kind of statement or revolution about these ideas and writes the memoir to share with the class. "Dear Queer Self" just kind of ends unceremoniously, almost in mid thought. I was honestly enjoying the book until it ended. Which really sucks because I think Alexander has a really interesting voice and perspective that could really make this over told queer narrative into something interested if he had just, I don't know, had an idea of the ideas he wanted to share or had a theses statement. I enjoyed that this is addressed to his younger self, even if it feels like he has nothing to say to his younger self.
2-3-ish book. Its kind of just okay. Nothing magical
2-3-ish book. Its kind of just okay. Nothing magical
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Is this a short story? Yes.
Am I marking it as a read book anyway? Yes
Very cute. Honestly a great look into the perspective of the people that are not MurderBot. It was almost tender. Really liked it.
Am I marking it as a read book anyway? Yes
Very cute. Honestly a great look into the perspective of the people that are not MurderBot. It was almost tender. Really liked it.
Age of Death by Michael J. Sullivan
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
I honestly don't know what to say. Its great. Nearly perfect. There is no down time in this book. Nothing drags. You aren't waiting for the action to start. Its just good. I think Age of Swords is still my favorite so far but I think is just serious a solid read.
That fucking cliff hanger though.
That fucking cliff hanger though.
Washington Bullets by Vijay Prashad
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
DNF at 13%. I agree with some of the other 1 star reviews. This language used in this book makes the text really inaccessible. Also, the author has completed decided to for go context and details regarding incidents. There are a lot of complicated ideas here that the author really don't have the luxury to jump around and so quickly as he does. Incredibly unreadable.
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Southon
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
4.0
I liked A Rome of One's Own so I picked up this book as well. Honestly, this was is may more interest and engaging in my opinion I was thinking about and sharing stuff in this book the entire time I was reading it. Again, this is a super easy digestible Pop History book that is easy to digest and an easy recommend to anyone, no matter their non-fiction reading experience.