shane_the_reading_rat's reviews
1106 reviews

Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley

4.0

incredibly sweet graphic novel with very lovable characters and disability rep that (imo) was done incredibly well. i didn’t find the manga sections that were spliced in very interesting at all, but that may just be a me thing.

Flopping in a Winter Wonderland by Jason June

2.75

entertaining on the surface, but when you think about it for more than a few seconds you’re like “huh. that actually wasn’t that good”.
THE GOOD: some of the antics were pretty hilarious and while the focus on rainbow capitalism was enormous, i didn’t mind how it was treated (as cringe as it usually is, rainbow capitalism can actually do good things sometimes)
THE BAD: it’s mentioned over and over how diverse the Santas at Winter Wonderland are (different religions and races)/how there are several places of worship for various religions, but that’s never really shown except for 1 singular Black santa and

gay santas getting introduced at the very end

??? really unfortunate, it would’ve been great to actually see that rather than be told how diverse it is while never seeing examples.
i thought it was frankly incredibly mean how Aaron treated Casey. i could handle it until the

trapping Casey in the storage shed

section and there i was just like “oh my god Aaron is a terrible person”. + i thought Kris’s whole game with the other teens at WW was kinda ick.
all in all, very rainbow capitalism, but still fun unless you think about it too much

Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly

4.0

pretty dry in places, but this book made me want to delete my spotify account. so it did a good job

Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldívar

4.5

i’ve had this one out for a while from the library, and am super glad I finally got to it.
 the only thing i would have really wanted from this is an epilogue— what happens to Libertad?? does she go to the US or decide to stay in Honduras?? it’s left quite open ended which personally didn’t really work

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

4.75

this was an incredibly beautiful book. magical realism isn’t always my thing, but i liked it a lot in this (+ all the studio ghibli references were amazing). i would touch on the politics in this book, but i think i’m just very much not educated enough on recent Syrian history to be able to understand fully. but just on a literary level, this is amazing.

(ALL THE CASTLE IN THE SKY REFERENCES i love Castle in the Sky, one of my favorite ghibli movies, it’s so underrated)

Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

5.0

this is awesome!!! i love fairy tales!!! not much else to say i just really love this. fuck morgan though he’s awful

Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.

finding the narration incredibly annoying.

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane

3.5

been wanting to read this for a while now, didn't quite live up to my expectations but i thought it was pretty good. interesting take on a dystopian story (though i would have loved more explanation on exactly how they add a shadow??). i did get incredibly annoyed by the kid honestly. she was way too pretentious and did not act like an actual kid (but the name Bear is awesome)

Taiwan Travelogue by 楊双子, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ

5.0

i have so many feelings about this book but am not sure words can fully describe them.
i didn't realize at first that this book was originally written in the 1950s--i typically don't really read old books (assumptions that they will be boring and hard to understand, etc), but upon realizing this while reading the introduction i still decided to give it a chance. im so glad i did. this book is a heartbreaking love story, where you have to see Aoyama drive away Chi-Chan, then eventually Chi-Chan chooses to return. I love that the introduction reminds you that these two characters are the colonizer and the colonized, because Taiwan Travelogue can never escape that context (and i don't think it should). there is so much incredible commentary on the fact that, to just describe the base idea, you need to ask someone if they want or need help before giving it. i love this dearly, im so glad i ended up reading it. also THE DESCRIPTIONS OF FOOD!!! god the descriptions and food writing were top notch, nothing else can compare

Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney

4.0

i really haven’t read much from transfemme authors (something im trying to change), but this was a great memoir. Dylan’s writing was fun and incredibly conversational, the only way i can describe reading this is that i imagine its the same feeling you would have laying on your bed kicking your feet and gossiping with a close friend