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savvylit's reviews
443 reviews
Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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 absolutely loved Thirst. This fast-paced novel includes all of the best vampire tropes. Best of all, these tropes are included in ways that wink at the genre rather than seem played out. The unnamed vampire at the center of the story is as alluring and fascinating as any vampire fan could hope! Furthermore, readers are allowed to witness immense changes in the city of Buenos Aires from a resident who watched it all from the shadows. I love that Thirst is historical fiction without being dull or overwrought.
The novel is divided into two parts: the vampire's perspective & the perspective of her eventual liberator, Alma. Both women are complex, sensual, and occupied by death. I enjoyed each of their narratives and, especially, when the two women finally get close to one another.
Thank you @netgalley and @duttonbooks for the advance reader copy of Thirst in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The novel is divided into two parts: the vampire's perspective & the perspective of her eventual liberator, Alma. Both women are complex, sensual, and occupied by death. I enjoyed each of their narratives and, especially, when the two women finally get close to one another.
Thank you @netgalley and @duttonbooks for the advance reader copy of Thirst in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death of parent
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Tommy Orange can write multiple points of view in a truly unparalleled manner. Beginning with a man who has gone mute after escaping the Sand Creek Massacre, each character's perspective is unique and wholly their own. Despite the years that lapse between vignettes, each character's presence carries from one descendant to the next in a way that illuminates the way that trauma is inherited.
As a fan of There There, I was delighted to not only get to know their ancestors but to have a chance to revisit Orvil, Opal, Jacquie, Lony, and Loother. When we return to the modern-day Readfeather family, each character is reckoning with the aftermath of the events of There There. The spectrum of emotion they each experience is both heartbreaking and palpable. Lony, the youngest member of the family, has a particularly devastating way of dealing with his trauma that feels so true to both his age and way of seeing the world.
If you're a fan of historical fiction and character studies, you can't miss Wandering Stars!
Thank you @netgalley and @aaknopf for the e-ARC of Wandering Stars in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As a fan of There There, I was delighted to not only get to know their ancestors but to have a chance to revisit Orvil, Opal, Jacquie, Lony, and Loother. When we return to the modern-day Readfeather family, each character is reckoning with the aftermath of the events of There There. The spectrum of emotion they each experience is both heartbreaking and palpable. Lony, the youngest member of the family, has a particularly devastating way of dealing with his trauma that feels so true to both his age and way of seeing the world.
If you're a fan of historical fiction and character studies, you can't miss Wandering Stars!
Thank you @netgalley and @aaknopf for the e-ARC of Wandering Stars in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Death, Genocide, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
Black Friend: Essays by Ziwe
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
As a big fan of Ziwe's eponymous show, I was eager to get to know her beyond her sharp and satirical comedy style. And I was not disappointed! Blending her experience breaking into fame with childhood memories, Ziwe reveals her intense, years-long dedication to comedy. And she never stops being hilarious in her signature deadpan way. I genuinely laughed out loud a lot. And between many joking asides, Ziwe presents more developed and nuanced takes on the subject matter she approached in her TV interviews. I am so bummed that her series was canceled (!!) but I can't wait to see what she does next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Afterparties is full of slice-of-life stories featuring close-knit Cambodian families, queer love, and the lasting echoes of genocidal terror. The young people coming of age in these stories are sensitive, funny, loyal, and relatable. Each character feels pulled directly from life by an author both exuberant and empathetic. It's a shame that Veasno So left the world at such a young age; Afterparties is brimming with characters that I'd love to know even better - and to see further developed into longer stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Drug use
The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
The back of my library's copy of The Hurting Kind includes a quote from The Guardian that simply says "Limón is a poet of ecstatic revelation." I literally could not put it better myself. Limón is capable of putting into words - gorgeous words - revelations that celebrate being alive and being connected to the world around us.
Here is one of my favorite quotes from this collection: "But also, before they arrive, there's a desperate hand scribbling a memory, following the cat of imagination into each room. What is lineage, if not a gold thread of pride and guilt? 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?"
Here is one of my favorite quotes from this collection: "But also, before they arrive, there's a desperate hand scribbling a memory, following the cat of imagination into each room. What is lineage, if not a gold thread of pride and guilt? 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Gennarose Nethercott creates fairy tales that are spellbinding and immersive. The magic feels palpably close, like I could turn a corner and discover myself in any of the stories or scenes in Fifty Beasts. From sinister roadside attractions to shape shifting foxes to beast-seeking florists, this entire collection is pure enchantment.
I had loved Nethercott's novel Thistlefoot so much that I worried that my expectations were getting too high for Fifty Beasts. Happily, though, my expectations were exceeded. Nethercott is now officially one of my favorite authors and I will read anything she publishes!
Many thanks to @netgalley and @vintageanchorbooks for the advanced reader copy of Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart is in stores now!
I had loved Nethercott's novel Thistlefoot so much that I worried that my expectations were getting too high for Fifty Beasts. Happily, though, my expectations were exceeded. Nethercott is now officially one of my favorite authors and I will read anything she publishes!
Many thanks to @netgalley and @vintageanchorbooks for the advanced reader copy of Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart is in stores now!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Violence
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly
Don’t be mistaken, though — Greta & Valdin is not “just” a romance novel. (Quick aside: if you’re the type of person who genuinely thinks or says things like “just a romance novel” then I request that you examine your biases). In fact, to categorize this novel as romance would be a mischaracterization. Alongside the heartwarming love stories, Greta & Valdin is a millennial coming-of-age novel with heaps of dry humor and heart. Both siblings are hilarious in ways that are both distinct and believably idiosyncratic. The most laugh-out-loud moments of the novel occur when they come together with their extended family. Take this example, for instance: on the evening when Greta’s new girlfriend Ell meets her parents, her father and Valdin immediately get into an argument over whether or not their father’s childhood friend Rumbo existed. Rumbo had featured heavily in dramatic tales from their father’s childhood. In each increasingly outlandish story, Rumbo always got up to extreme mischief and/or petty crime. Thus, Valdin is smugly convinced that Rumbo is fictional. Their father is incensed by Valdin’s claim. Interrupting the typical get-to-know-you conversation between Ell and his wife, their father immediately video-calls Rumbo on Facebook Messenger to prove his existence. Okay — I will admit that recounting it here just now in my own words takes some of the humor out of it, but trust me! The Rumbo incident is just one of many instances of absurd antics that had me giggling out loud.
Perhaps the greatest feat of Greta & Valdin, though, lies in Reilly’s effortless ability to portray an incredibly diverse range of characters and subject matter. First of all, this book is just so delightfully queer. The siblings and their partners, their nephew, their uncles: all queer & all messy, layered human beings. Reilly maintains a lighthearted tone throughout while also touching upon serious topics such as adoption, neurodivergence, chronic illness, indigenous identity, and the Land Back movement. The two main characters — and the author herself — are Māori and many of the secondary characters are people of color as well. All in all, in the way that only the best books manage it, none of the diversity feels forced or performative. The characters in Greta & Valdin are simply living their complex, human lives as we all do.
Since finishing this novel a few days ago, I find myself missing the two eponymous, charismatic siblings so much. And their partners, Xabi and Ell. And Ernesto. And Casper and Tang. And Thony and Giuseppe. And Rashmika. Even Genevieve! Every character was fully realized to the point of feeling like a new friend. I’ll be thinking about each of them for quite some time to come.
emotional
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
Greta & Valdin Vladisavljevic are two Māori-Russian siblings who share an apartment in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa (New Zealand). Greta is a graduate student and tutor in comparative literature. Valdin is a television host who only recently quit a career in physics. As the novel opens, both siblings are deep in the throes of pining. Greta pines for Holly, a fellow tutor who already has a girlfriend. Valdin pines for Xabi, his former lover who recently moved to Buenos Aires. As their friends and family help them get over themselves, Greta & Valdin are eventually each able to find the love that they deserve.
Don’t be mistaken, though — Greta & Valdin is not “just” a romance novel. (Quick aside: if you’re the type of person who genuinely thinks or says things like “just a romance novel” then I request that you examine your biases). In fact, to categorize this novel as romance would be a mischaracterization. Alongside the heartwarming love stories, Greta & Valdin is a millennial coming-of-age novel with heaps of dry humor and heart. Both siblings are hilarious in ways that are both distinct and believably idiosyncratic. The most laugh-out-loud moments of the novel occur when they come together with their extended family. Take this example, for instance: on the evening when Greta’s new girlfriend Ell meets her parents, her father and Valdin immediately get into an argument over whether or not their father’s childhood friend Rumbo existed. Rumbo had featured heavily in dramatic tales from their father’s childhood. In each increasingly outlandish story, Rumbo always got up to extreme mischief and/or petty crime. Thus, Valdin is smugly convinced that Rumbo is fictional. Their father is incensed by Valdin’s claim. Interrupting the typical get-to-know-you conversation between Ell and his wife, their father immediately video-calls Rumbo on Facebook Messenger to prove his existence. Okay — I will admit that recounting it here just now in my own words takes some of the humor out of it, but trust me! The Rumbo incident is just one of many instances of absurd antics that had me giggling out loud.
Perhaps the greatest feat of Greta & Valdin, though, lies in Reilly’s effortless ability to portray an incredibly diverse range of characters and subject matter. First of all, this book is just so delightfully queer. The siblings and their partners, their nephew, their uncles: all queer & all messy, layered human beings. Reilly maintains a lighthearted tone throughout while also touching upon serious topics such as adoption, neurodivergence, chronic illness, indigenous identity, and the Land Back movement. The two main characters — and the author herself — are Māori and many of the secondary characters are people of color as well. All in all, in the way that only the best books manage it, none of the diversity feels forced or performative. The characters in Greta & Valdin are simply living their complex, human lives as we all do.
Since finishing this novel a few days ago, I find myself missing the two eponymous, charismatic siblings so much. And their partners, Xabi and Ell. And Ernesto. And Casper and Tang. And Thony and Giuseppe. And Rashmika. Even Genevieve! Every character was fully realized to the point of feeling like a new friend. I’ll be thinking about each of them for quite some time to come.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Mental illness
Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change by Angela Garbes
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Essential Labor is an excellent text that rests on Garbes' thesis that mother is an action word. Mother is a verb: we mother, we are mothered. Caring for each other and our children is not gender exclusive; though Garbes does explore the cultural expectations that promote care-work as solely a woman's job. Garbes illustrates how truly essential care-work is to every one of us. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop for much of her own experience mothering two young children, Garbes demonstrates how modern ideas of nuclear families only isolate people and make us worse at caretaking. Communal care - even if it's as straightforward as sharing childcare duties with another young family in your COVID bubble - genuinely benefits every single person involved.
Beyond Garbes' exceedingly effective call to rethink mothering, Essential Labor is also an intimately personal memoir. Not only does Garbes not shy away from detail when it comes to her and her husband as parents, but she also examines motherhood through the lens of her experience as a child of Filipinx immigrants. Garbes recalls her childhood and her parents through a curious, empathetic, and decolonial lens that was consistently captivating to read.
I am not a literal mother though I have participated in paid care-work throughout quite a lot of my life: babysitting, tutoring, teaching, and nannying. However, you do not have to have had experience as a parent or care-worker to understand Garbes' call for mothering as social change. Essential Labor is absolutely for anyone and everyone interested in making the world a better place for ourselves and future generations.
Final note, I experienced this as an audiobook read by Angela Garbes herself and it was a very delightful way to experience such a personal and powerful text.
Beyond Garbes' exceedingly effective call to rethink mothering, Essential Labor is also an intimately personal memoir. Not only does Garbes not shy away from detail when it comes to her and her husband as parents, but she also examines motherhood through the lens of her experience as a child of Filipinx immigrants. Garbes recalls her childhood and her parents through a curious, empathetic, and decolonial lens that was consistently captivating to read.
I am not a literal mother though I have participated in paid care-work throughout quite a lot of my life: babysitting, tutoring, teaching, and nannying. However, you do not have to have had experience as a parent or care-worker to understand Garbes' call for mothering as social change. Essential Labor is absolutely for anyone and everyone interested in making the world a better place for ourselves and future generations.
Final note, I experienced this as an audiobook read by Angela Garbes herself and it was a very delightful way to experience such a personal and powerful text.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Xenophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a novel about healing. Healing from generational trauma. From abuse. From love addiction. From disordered eating. From toxic relationships. The unnamed protagonist of You Exist Too Much is a realistically complicated and messy person. Throughout this novel, she consistently makes mistakes as she tries to sort out who she is and what she wants - all while fighting deep-seated childhood trauma.
You Exist Too Much is a character-driven coming-of-age story with a whole lot of heart. The biggest strength of this book is its portrayal of the difficulties in overcoming harmful patterns. Healing oneself doesn't happen immediately. Rather, it's a slow and effortful process for our protagonist (and for many of us in real life).
You Exist Too Much is a character-driven coming-of-age story with a whole lot of heart. The biggest strength of this book is its portrayal of the difficulties in overcoming harmful patterns. Healing oneself doesn't happen immediately. Rather, it's a slow and effortful process for our protagonist (and for many of us in real life).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Biphobia
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Gender Queer is a beautifully illustrated and elucidating memoir about one person's journey. From Kobabe, I feel like I learned so much about dysphoria, self-discovery, preferred pronouns, asexuality, and gender. Though this memoir focuses solely on Kobabe's specific journey, eir story is very captivating and illustrative (literally and figuratively).
Recently, Liz @thiefofmemory posted an incredible review of this memoir that does it much better justice than I could. Please check out her review here (https://www.instagram.com/p/C22mpOGrQXf) to get an even better idea of why Gender Queer is a powerful and worthwhile read.
Recently, Liz @thiefofmemory posted an incredible review of this memoir that does it much better justice than I could. Please check out her review here (https://www.instagram.com/p/C22mpOGrQXf) to get an even better idea of why Gender Queer is a powerful and worthwhile read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, and Body shaming