shmandanas's reviews
118 reviews

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Normally my favorite part of any book is the philosophy element of it. I like hearing characters having internal moral conflict, and then watching them come to new conclusions. This was not the case here. The main character, Mickey, was so flat that nothing he mused on was interesting. He made the idea of immortality boring.

There was an interesting external plot happening as well, and that would have made up for it, except it was hardly mentioned until we got to the climax and the focus completely changed from internal to external conflict.

Finally, some of the main structures of this book seemed to contradict themselves. Ex.

Like the whole reason for needing expendables was that humans can withstand high radiation levels than tech can, but when we get to the retelling of Mickey1's death, Mickey has gone blind, but someone can tell him what to do through his ocular (aka a piece of tech)??? How does that make sense

I will add that, in general, I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan, so I'll admit I read this pretty critically, but this was just not enjoyable.

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino

informative medium-paced

3.5

Averaged together, I don't think these essays were anything spectacular. The first one was incredible and I think will stick with me (in fact every time I've gone on social media since reading it I have thought 'this is meant to be unsatisfying'), but a lot of the other ones really just didn't hit for me. There were somewhat interesting personal stories in a lot of the rest of them, but as essays I didn't get a lot out of them.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

dark informative slow-paced

4.0

I'm glad I listened to this as an audiobook, or else I genuinely don't know if I would have been able to get through it. This memoir was incredibly moving, and there were just points in every single chapter where I could have SOBBED. There were times when this did drag on, but I am so glad that Chanel got this chance to tell her story.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

This was heartbreaking, and to be honest I don't have many more thoughts on it right now than that. Beautiful, heartbreaking.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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've always admired Hank Green's perspectives on the internet and culture at large, so I was absolutely not surprised when the book continued to provide nothing but good takes. And on top of that it was a really fun sci-fi book!!

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

funny medium-paced

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

3.5

There were certainly insightful and well written moments, but on the whole this book was full of self-important wank.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

dark 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? Yes

3.0

It was engaging to start. Fast-paced and really interesting, but about halfway through I started wondering about how it was going to wrap up and then it kind of just... didn't. I will say it was fun, but I honestly don't know what that was trying to tell me. Slice of a fucked up life?

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It was very sweet. I loved seeing all of the different relationship types played out in this one scenario. Also yes, one of the chapters made me sob profusely.

Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It was very cute, it was very melancholy, it was very Snicket. I personally didn't get much out of it, but I can imagine it would be a good book to read to a kid.

De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

challenging dark sad slow-paced

4.0

The beginning of this had some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read. As he continued on discussing his philosophies, I lost some interest.