sarahyjackson's reviews
165 reviews

The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert

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emotional funny hopeful 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

An absolutely perfect read: friends to lovers, SEVEN YEARS OF PINING, forced proximity, bossy in the bedroom shy accountant MMC, & a really thoughtful exploration of attachment and family of origin impact. And honey the SPICE. The scene outside the arcade?🥵🥵🥵Rahul & Jasmine 4ever. 
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Guarding Temptation by Talia Hibbert

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

5.0

Love a good bodyguard moment with a radical bad ass FMC. 
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A Reign of Rose by Kate Golden

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

4.75

A great end to the trilogy! Meandered a little in the middle but otherwise very satisfying. I’ll miss Kane and Arwen - but very interested in that vampire gentleman…
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The Titanic Survivors Book Club: A Novel by Timothy Schaffert

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

4.0

I thought a lot of the meditations on survival, books, & community were lovely. All the more so the really immersive, decadent prose. I am *not* a love triangle girly but I did appreciate the queer element to this one. I wish we’d stayed with the other “survivors” for more of the narrative. 
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Funny Story by Emily Henry

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

Trademark Emily Henry sharp banter, pitch perfect scene setting, main characters I would enlist in the army for…

And featuring: making out during a Fast & Furious movie! Family of origin trauma impacting attachment! Chardonnay redemption arcs! Mr Tumnus crushes! Library love!
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There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

Abdurraqib’s pitch perfect poetic prose winds its way through meditations on home, place, love, death, hate, fear, fury and, of course, basketball. 
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The Prospects by KT Hoffman

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

I loved the interrogation of hoping/wanting; Gene’s love of his trans body and his physicality in intimacy; and the tenderness of scenes between Luis and Gene. I also felt like their characterizations were really consistent and faceted! Spice also great, if a long time coming. 

I felt that it was *a lot* of baseball. I am used to sports in sports romance being a kind of backdrop that moves the characters from event to event and this was a bit more of a sports homage than I wanted - but I think baseball fans will adore. Also the way conflict was managed/resolved sometimes felt kind of clunky to me? Like a split take where I’d missed something. 

Either way! Baseball season is nigh! Trans men are men! Drop Estrada’s hair products, cowards!
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Catchpenny: A novel by Charlie Huston

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

Urban noir fantasy with an unreliable protagonist. I liked the magic system/metaphors and the climax was interesting if a little bit rushed.

The author thanks Taylor Swift in the acknowledgements I also liked that.  
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Pretty Rings and Broken Things by Kat Singleton

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

3.5

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Ours by Phillip B. Williams

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

4.0

Once I settled into the Afro-surrealist genre/posture I was able to enjoy the story more. I liked what I felt was the tension of “freedom from/freedom to” within Ours. Saint was a really compelling character! 

The audiobook was really well done but I found I needed the anchoring experience of holding this book in my hands and moving my eyes over the words — so I actually did most of it as a physical read. 
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