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sarahdm's reviews
125 reviews
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.
Age of Legend by Michael J. Sullivan
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I hate to say it but this book is the first in the series that is not a certified banger.
I've given the first 3 books in the First Empire series 5 stars because I think they are all genuinely really good and any flaws they have (slow beginnings, a few repeated story beats) are widely overshadowed by the positive. Age of Swords is in my opinion the BEST book in the series so far and is my absolute favorite but I even accused it of having MBS: Middle Book Syndrome. But I don't think Sullivan's books actually suffer from MBS, I think its something that I call "The Fuck Off" moment.
The Fuck Off moment is when the beginning of the book is honestly really slow and boring until the adventuring party gets together and fucks off on an adventure away from the overarching plot. Every single book has a Fuck Off moment and the moment it happens the story gets really interesting and intense and I can not put it down until I complete the book. The events of the Fuck Off moment usually launch the book from a 3-4 star right into the 5 star range for me.
That being said, what happened in Age of Legends? There is no "Fuck Off" moment.
"But Sarah, there is a Fuck Off moment," you say from your RGB keyboard throne, "The gang fucks off to go find the super magical thingamajig." And yeah, they do do that but I don't think its a true Fuck Off moment. I think the actual Fuck Off moment happens at the very end and we aren't actually gonna see the Fuck Off pay out that it was all building up to until Age of Death.
This book is slow and a lot of mundane stuff is happening. Its setting the scene for the next book which is the Fuck Off moment. There is also a few time skips in this one which I don't really mind but I think narratively are kind of boring because they then have to get us all caught up on what happened during the time skip. Also there are some TRULY out of character moments. Both Persephone and Suri have some really dumb "what the hell were you thinking" moments that I feel were really out of character for how smart and awesome they are.
That being said, this book is still really good. A lot of this book is really trying to turn side characters into main characters and there are a lots of nice moments here. A lot of lore and world building gets discovered in this book and its really just wonderful to dive deeper into this world.
Solid 3.5-4ish. Weakest book by far but still really good. Looking forward to the next one.
I've given the first 3 books in the First Empire series 5 stars because I think they are all genuinely really good and any flaws they have (slow beginnings, a few repeated story beats) are widely overshadowed by the positive. Age of Swords is in my opinion the BEST book in the series so far and is my absolute favorite but I even accused it of having MBS: Middle Book Syndrome. But I don't think Sullivan's books actually suffer from MBS, I think its something that I call "The Fuck Off" moment.
The Fuck Off moment is when the beginning of the book is honestly really slow and boring until the adventuring party gets together and fucks off on an adventure away from the overarching plot. Every single book has a Fuck Off moment and the moment it happens the story gets really interesting and intense and I can not put it down until I complete the book. The events of the Fuck Off moment usually launch the book from a 3-4 star right into the 5 star range for me.
That being said, what happened in Age of Legends? There is no "Fuck Off" moment.
"But Sarah, there is a Fuck Off moment," you say from your RGB keyboard throne, "The gang fucks off to go find the super magical thingamajig." And yeah, they do do that but I don't think its a true Fuck Off moment. I think the actual Fuck Off moment happens at the very end and we aren't actually gonna see the Fuck Off pay out that it was all building up to until Age of Death.
This book is slow and a lot of mundane stuff is happening. Its setting the scene for the next book which is the Fuck Off moment. There is also a few time skips in this one which I don't really mind but I think narratively are kind of boring because they then have to get us all caught up on what happened during the time skip. Also there are some TRULY out of character moments. Both Persephone and Suri have some really dumb "what the hell were you thinking" moments that I feel were really out of character for how smart and awesome they are.
That being said, this book is still really good. A lot of this book is really trying to turn side characters into main characters and there are a lots of nice moments here. A lot of lore and world building gets discovered in this book and its really just wonderful to dive deeper into this world.
Solid 3.5-4ish. Weakest book by far but still really good. Looking forward to the next one.
The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a re-read for me. But I enjoyed the other stories here a lot. Definitely highly recommend for some early feminist literature.
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
A story about an abusive boyfriend at the center of a queer vampire polycule. It was a lot of relationships drama and it was honestly boring at times. But I like the characters, the tone, the over all gothic vibes. Not sure I would really recommend it to others but I still thought it was an okay read.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
This is my first time reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW) and I'm 31. I did watch the movie in 2005 (age 13). I was a very different person at 13, and I remember liking the movie but not enough to pursue the books. At 13 I was also a self identifying Christian in the way that most children raised in it are: blindly, unthinking believer who doesn't contemplate their own faith beyond "mom and dad said its true so it is." I think you can guess from my attitude in that last sentence that I know longer identify with that label. Currently agnostic, very aware that this is a children's fantasy heavy in Christian allegory, I decided to pick up Narnia for the first time. As I have rediscovered my love for reading as an adult, I have actually really enjoyed children's literature, especially middle grade. Mr. Lewis said himself "When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." With all this in mind, here are my thoughts on the first Narnia book.
I think I hit my first hurtle when we ran into the dwarves. I think we are all very aware of dwarves being antisemitic caricatures and its very present here. I just kind of chalked this up to "this book is from the 50's and is going to be dated" and moved on. Then fucking Santa Claus showed up. Why. Why is Father Christmas a main character? It feels so left field. I could not take this part seriously in the slightest, children's book or not. I guess saying Santa gave them gifts is a short cut to having to explain another character since kids already know who he is.
The that is another thing I found frustrating about LWW. Lewis never explains anything. We never go into depth about anything. I understand that this is a children's book, but we glaze over SO MUCH. Whole battles, discussions, interactions are just skipped over. I so desperately wanted more information but I had to keep reminding myself that this book is intended for 5-13 age range (according to AR). But I think kids would like those details too. It was just kind of frustrating. I think as a fairy tale and fantasy book, LWW is really fun. Talking animals, mythical creatures, kings and queens, witches running around. It really feels like the building blocks to raising a hardcore fantasy enjoyer. And there was enough here that I would really like to know more about Narnia. But Lewis decided to withhold a gorgeous fantasy world in favor of speed running us through a dressed up Bible story.
And that's the thing. The character holding this book down by the throat, Jesus Christ himself, Aslan. Once we start interacting with the lion it is really hard to enjoy this as a plain fairy tale and fantasy book, because it doesn't feel like a fantasy book anymore. The Christian allegory is so heavy handed, it felt like being in Sunday school. I think Veggie Tales is more subtle than LWW. Gone is the whimsy and magical wonder of Narnia and in its place stands a lazy uninspired biblical retelling with talking animals. As an adult, its hard to ignore it but I think if I was still a child it would probably fly over my head and I could have enjoyed this as a simple fantasy book.
Lewis said that as adults, we should be able to enjoy children's books. But I think this book requires you to be blind to the christian allegory and I haven't had that ability for a really long time.
2 out of 5. I don't think I will continue to read this series unfortunately.
I think I hit my first hurtle when we ran into the dwarves. I think we are all very aware of dwarves being antisemitic caricatures and its very present here. I just kind of chalked this up to "this book is from the 50's and is going to be dated" and moved on. Then fucking Santa Claus showed up. Why. Why is Father Christmas a main character? It feels so left field. I could not take this part seriously in the slightest, children's book or not. I guess saying Santa gave them gifts is a short cut to having to explain another character since kids already know who he is.
The that is another thing I found frustrating about LWW. Lewis never explains anything. We never go into depth about anything. I understand that this is a children's book, but we glaze over SO MUCH. Whole battles, discussions, interactions are just skipped over. I so desperately wanted more information but I had to keep reminding myself that this book is intended for 5-13 age range (according to AR). But I think kids would like those details too. It was just kind of frustrating. I think as a fairy tale and fantasy book, LWW is really fun. Talking animals, mythical creatures, kings and queens, witches running around. It really feels like the building blocks to raising a hardcore fantasy enjoyer. And there was enough here that I would really like to know more about Narnia. But Lewis decided to withhold a gorgeous fantasy world in favor of speed running us through a dressed up Bible story.
And that's the thing. The character holding this book down by the throat, Jesus Christ himself, Aslan. Once we start interacting with the lion it is really hard to enjoy this as a plain fairy tale and fantasy book, because it doesn't feel like a fantasy book anymore. The Christian allegory is so heavy handed, it felt like being in Sunday school. I think Veggie Tales is more subtle than LWW. Gone is the whimsy and magical wonder of Narnia and in its place stands a lazy uninspired biblical retelling with talking animals. As an adult, its hard to ignore it but I think if I was still a child it would probably fly over my head and I could have enjoyed this as a simple fantasy book.
Lewis said that as adults, we should be able to enjoy children's books. But I think this book requires you to be blind to the christian allegory and I haven't had that ability for a really long time.
2 out of 5. I don't think I will continue to read this series unfortunately.
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
Sad I am DNF-ing this. Really like this author's other work. But while reading this I just kept thinking about other works that do this concept better. Also the info dumping, glossing over huge details, and neck break speed the plot moves at was just killing my enjoyment. I actually read a lot of middle grade so I really thought I would like this.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was good and I really like the concepts but I just really had a hard time getting into it. Nothing wrong with it, just not for me.
Age of War by Michael J. Sullivan
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
I'm so heart broken. It was perfect. 5/5 My life is ruined. Michael J. Sullivan is an evil person set on this Earth to rip your heart out. Not excited to read the next book I also absolutely have to. Don't know if I will ever feel joy again. You absolutely must read this very amazing terrible book.
A Rome of One's Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire by Emma Southon
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
This took awhile to get into (some of these stories are very sad) but once I did I couldn't put it down. Southon take on Pop History is honestly really enjoyable and easy to digest. Definitely recommend.