sillyduckie's reviews
335 reviews

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.

I tried.

The main character has an eating disorder that is fueled by her skating patter constantly telling her she’s too heavy for lifts and needs to eat less. And the two guys she’s hooking up with are constantly feeding or trying to feed her. It was exhausting. The sex scenes/spice were laughable. They just didn’t make sense to me and yet there are so many. They feel so medical and clinical? Also completely unrealistic. I was very puzzled by her having mind blowing orgasms and then being able to walk immediately after. Also the fact that after the first time the main characters have sex they get up and shower. He goes to his housemate’s room to get “girl stuff” which includes shampoo and conditioner??? And he insists on washing her hair but he doesn’t know what conditioner is?

There is so much needless drama. If this was set in high school and everyone was about sixteen then the drama and emotional stakes would make sense. But for twenty something year olds?? Nah.

I usually listen to audiobooks on 1x. With this I kept upping the speed to make it go faster. I got to 2x (at which this book still felt slow and natural??) and then finally gave up.

This is the first booktok rec I’ve given a chance and never again tbh. 

Also holy exposition and repetition back man! We learn so much about every single background character for reasons I can’t fathom. And every time the main characters are in the same scene and the POV switches we get to read the scene through both eyes. Honestly if one  POV was taken out, the book would’ve been much shorter and the quality would’ve stayed the same. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, and Toxic friendship

The Hurricane Book: A Lyric History by Claudia Acevedo-Quinones

challenging informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Grief, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Abandonment, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Death, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit, Dementia, Xenophobia, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and Colonisation

This Perfect Day by Ira Levin

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Toxic friendship, and Violence

The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story by Monique Roffey

dark tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Blood, Classism, Gun violence, Racism, Body horror, Colonisation, Violence, Xenophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

How to Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Drug use, Confinement, and Blood

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, War, Grief, Misogyny, Child death, Infidelity, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Abortion, Violence, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.

Overly simplistic and not very original. It reads like an annotated review of books and experiments the author has found interesting, supplemented by violent anecdotes.

The author was raised in apartheid South Africa which she brushes off. Her anecdotes about South Africa, thus far, are largely not hers and are violent rapes. I'm not sure why a psychologist would so carelessly publish anecdotes about her friends' rapes and sum it up as a "we all go through hard things". She also casually mentions police brutality in the case of an officer who was so focused on catching a suspect he ran past a colleague being violently assaulted and didn't notice.

Some of the experiments she talks about seem unnecessarily cruel such as the professor who marks all his students' essays as the worst essay he's ever read, telling them that the essays were marked by other students, in order to access their thoughts and feelings on the matter.

I've listened to an hour and a half of this book. I don't think I will get anything out of finishing it, other than more reasons to think that the world is a terrible place and everything is pointless.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Rape

Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth

dark tense medium-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, and Misogyny

Black and British: A Short, Essential History by David Olusoga

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Deadnaming, and Slavery

Moderate: Hate crime, War, and Misogyny

Minor: Violence, Sexism, Deportation, and Racial slurs

Here Goes Nothing by Eamon McGrath

adventurous reflective tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse