Take a photo of a barcode or cover
sinamile's reviews
475 reviews
オールラウンダー廻 1 by Hiroki Endo
4.0
ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Rating: 3.75
Rating: 3.75
Queen of Kenosha by Howard Shapiro
0.0
ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
DNF: 22%
CW: murder, blood, death
I kind of DNF'd 22% into it and spent the rest of the time looking at the art because I liked the art style. The way everything is drawn is really pretty but I just could not get into the story no matter how hard I tried!
DNF: 22%
CW: murder, blood, death
I kind of DNF'd 22% into it and spent the rest of the time looking at the art because I liked the art style. The way everything is drawn is really pretty but I just could not get into the story no matter how hard I tried!
Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression by Iris Gottlieb
5.0
ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
CW: acemisic comments that are called out
Firstly: I want to own this book physically so I can look at it and touch and just love it with everything I have.
Secondly: THAT COVER!
Third: THE CONTENT!!!!
Fourth: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GIVE THIS BOOK 10 STARS WHEN I ONLY HAVE AN OPTION FOR 5, DAMMIT!!!
My biggest fear with books about LGBTQIAP+ books is that they'll somehow inevitably have some acemisic nonsense in them that'll hurt. This one came out very early and said 'in this house we are not', so that notched up my love for it. And then, AND THEN, there's an image titles 'All these people are nonbinary' and and there's this one person there who's a fat PoC in a dress and afro hair and I was liked 'me, it's me, how does she know it's me?!?!?!??!???!' but also, YAS! And then, AND THEN, everything just kept getting better and better and ugh, I love this book so damn much and I want to physically own it!!
CW: acemisic comments that are called out
Firstly: I want to own this book physically so I can look at it and touch and just love it with everything I have.
Secondly: THAT COVER!
Third: THE CONTENT!!!!
Fourth: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GIVE THIS BOOK 10 STARS WHEN I ONLY HAVE AN OPTION FOR 5, DAMMIT!!!
My biggest fear with books about LGBTQIAP+ books is that they'll somehow inevitably have some acemisic nonsense in them that'll hurt. This one came out very early and said 'in this house we are not', so that notched up my love for it. And then, AND THEN, there's an image titles 'All these people are nonbinary' and and there's this one person there who's a fat PoC in a dress and afro hair and I was liked 'me, it's me, how does she know it's me?!?!?!??!???!' but also, YAS! And then, AND THEN, everything just kept getting better and better and ugh, I love this book so damn much and I want to physically own it!!
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
4.0
ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
CW: ableist slurs, slavery, war, rape, vomiting, death, torture
I absolutely adore Hassan and Fatima's relationship. It's so soft and sweet and so damn pure! Their love for each other is so heartaching and beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Just ugh!
I love Fatima's character so much, I like that I get to witness her growth as a character, get to see her views of life changed. I loved everything about her as a character and narrator. Again, I love her relationship with Hassan. It's a little unhealthy and a little possessive but it never gets to a point where they can't forgive each other, where they can't move past things. They love each other so much and it's so pure and heartbreaking and ugh, just ugh!
This book took me FOREVER to get into, but I'm glad that I finally read it because I love it so much that my heart can't take it. The way G. Willow Wilson writes is beautiful and soft and just all the right and wow, I can't wait to read more from the author because this book has a piece of my heart!
I think that the only thing I kind of didn't feel was the last few chapters of the book. I don't know. I feel like I didn't want to read it but it was a necessary thing to do to make the book end in a way that made it a standalone. Like everything gets resolved and there are no questions (but then again, who knows, it might switch up).
Note: there's an m/m relationship (Hassan admits to loving men, so that's wusup!)
CW: ableist slurs, slavery, war, rape, vomiting, death, torture
“Once a story leaves the hands of its author, it belongs to the reader.”
I absolutely adore Hassan and Fatima's relationship. It's so soft and sweet and so damn pure! Their love for each other is so heartaching and beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Just ugh!
I love Fatima's character so much, I like that I get to witness her growth as a character, get to see her views of life changed. I loved everything about her as a character and narrator. Again, I love her relationship with Hassan. It's a little unhealthy and a little possessive but it never gets to a point where they can't forgive each other, where they can't move past things. They love each other so much and it's so pure and heartbreaking and ugh, just ugh!
This book took me FOREVER to get into, but I'm glad that I finally read it because I love it so much that my heart can't take it. The way G. Willow Wilson writes is beautiful and soft and just all the right and wow, I can't wait to read more from the author because this book has a piece of my heart!
I think that the only thing I kind of didn't feel was the last few chapters of the book. I don't know. I feel like I didn't want to read it but it was a necessary thing to do to make the book end in a way that made it a standalone. Like everything gets resolved and there are no questions (but then again, who knows, it might switch up).
Note: there's an m/m relationship (Hassan admits to loving men, so that's wusup!)
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
5.0
CW: ableist slurs, abuse (sibling), mentions of rape, slavery, death, murder
Audiobook Review
Whow, this was a whirlwind of a ride, my gang. I started it as one of those meh type things where you're just starting something coz you're curious and well, I'm glad I listened to this audio because wow, what a book.
Michael Kramer did not come to play with us, hey. His narration is clean as hell and whow, he made the whole thing so much better.. Wow. Like, the accents and voices were amazing. I could always tell which character was talking, it never confused me.
The story line is also so interesting and intense. And all the characters are so damn interesting and I love every single one of them (I'm scared my son Spook is going to die becuase he's soft and awkward). Like wow. I finished this hours ago and I am still in shock.
And I wish I had a better way of expressing just how good this book was, but- - IT WAS SO GOOD! I am still recovering!
I can already tell that this trilogy is going to destroy my heart!
Audiobook Review
Whow, this was a whirlwind of a ride, my gang. I started it as one of those meh type things where you're just starting something coz you're curious and well, I'm glad I listened to this audio because wow, what a book.
Michael Kramer did not come to play with us, hey. His narration is clean as hell and whow, he made the whole thing so much better.. Wow. Like, the accents and voices were amazing. I could always tell which character was talking, it never confused me.
The story line is also so interesting and intense. And all the characters are so damn interesting and I love every single one of them (I'm scared my son Spook is going to die becuase he's soft and awkward). Like wow. I finished this hours ago and I am still in shock.
And I wish I had a better way of expressing just how good this book was, but- - IT WAS SO GOOD! I am still recovering!
I can already tell that this trilogy is going to destroy my heart!
Queer Heroes: Meet 53 Lgbtq Heroes from Past and Present! by Arabelle Sicardi
4.0
ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I liked this. There are so many people in this book I didn't even know were part of the LGBTQIAP+ community, so wow.
I don't really know what I expected out of this book, but I'm okay with what I got and enjoyed it. So yay to that!
I didn't have any issues with anyone on the list, however I felt like there could've been other people here too who've been doing a lot in terms of the community. But alas.
Hopefully maybe there'll be another one that has even more members of the community that are working tirelessly for the community!
But again, I liked this and can't really fault it.
I liked this. There are so many people in this book I didn't even know were part of the LGBTQIAP+ community, so wow.
I don't really know what I expected out of this book, but I'm okay with what I got and enjoyed it. So yay to that!
I didn't have any issues with anyone on the list, however I felt like there could've been other people here too who've been doing a lot in terms of the community. But alas.
Hopefully maybe there'll be another one that has even more members of the community that are working tirelessly for the community!
But again, I liked this and can't really fault it.
Angel's Fury by Bryony Pearce
Angel’s Fury is a tale about a girl suffering from insomnia and waking dreams and such. As a result of that she is sent to a place where they’re supposed to cure her of her but that’s not exactly what happens. Instead of getting the cure she was looking for, our heroin has to fight the same person who claimed they could help.
This here story is mediocre at best. It barely moves from one chapter to the next. It's so damn slow. I could literally skip whole paragraphs without really missing out on anything, I could just read all the dialogue and I'd still know what's going on. I don't want to say it’s boring, but it kind of is. It really only starts going in the last few chapters, I did enjoy those chapters.
All the characters are bland, none of them are memorable, and none of them do anything that would make me remember them three hour from now without looking through the book. I read the book, spent days reading through it, but the only characters I remember are Cassie, Seth and Pandra. The only reason I even remember Pandra is because I was holding out hope that she and Cassie would get together. Even when Pandra turns out to be too taken over by her past life I was still holding out hope, thinking that Cassie might talk her out of her past life and they'd get together, live happily ever after as girlfriends with a shared life experience for errant past lives trying to take over current lives. But sadly, it didn't happen.
Seth is instead the love interest. He is the most boring love interest I have ever had to read about. There's no vavavoom or anything. I'm not even sure if Seth was supposed to be a life interest because he was just THERE. I feel like his love interest badge was placed there just to add a little more drama to the pinch of salt flavouring that was happening in this book.
I mean, sure, he was a change from the brooding/mysterious guy who doesn't like MC for some reason, but then whooop, it might actually be that, just that it only happens in the last chapters of the book when his and Cassie's past lives are revealed.
I. Don't. Know.
Seriously though, why were the other characters even written into this book? They did NOTHING the entire time, like they were just there to add surface area to the book, they didn't push the story forward, didn't make it more interesting, I don't even remember most of their names, I mean I remember Max and I think he was American, but who even knows! And why did Pandra kidnap Lenny? Coz he's the smallest of the group? Also, why the heck was this poor baby always being tortured by everyone? I mean, honestly, why? Because he's whiny and weak? HE'S TEN YEARS OLD! He's a child! What do you expect a ten year old child living in a prison like place to act like? Good heavens!
(You may notice that I have strong feelings about Lenny, enough to remember his name)
Oh, and again WTF WAS EVEN THE USE OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS!?? WHY WAS THIS STORY SET IN THIS PLACE??? LITERALLY NONE OF THE STAFF IS MENTIONED BY NAME! WHY ARE THE NURSES NOT FREAKED OUT BY THE DOCTOR'S METHODS???? WHY DOES THIS READ LIKE FALLEN!???? (sorry about the all caps, but guys!)
Guys, gang! Honestly?
They really tried it with us in this story, hey. I'm so disappointed in it. Between this and Fallen I don't know what I was expecting. Fallen didn't do the past lives thing well enough either (that was is kinda sitting in the DNF pile for now, maybe I'll go back and finish it, just because my anxiety won't let me sit knowing I have a book I haven't finished reading). It was rough.
And I'm going to ask again: WHAT WAS THE USE OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS?? They're literally only mentioned doing like two things, they help not at all, miss the big revelation, don't get cured in the end like Cassie and Seth, and I don't know, they just disappear. Two of them get mentioned in the Epilogue but it's such a throwaway comment thing, it doesn't even matter. I don't even know what happened with the others, where they ended up. Did everyone go home? Did they find new doctors to help them. Did the cops get involved? What about Lenny? A whole child got kidnapped and thrown in a pit of dead animals and he doesn't get mentioned again. Even Pandra gets a passing mention at the end guys, just that, just an 'I don't know where she is, probably off to find the other children'. Excuse me, what?
Look, I don't expect Cassie to suddenly be the great angel hunter, keeping tabs on everyone's whereabouts, but I would've liked to know what ended up happening to the CHILD THAT WAS KIDNAPPED AND THE OWN INTO A PIT OF DEAD ANIMALS! But nothing, no mention? He gets zero mentioned? Nada?
Wow.
But this book, this book is filled with so many clichés I think I'd win at the YA Cliché Bingo Card. No guys, seriously, I'm pretty sure I'd win; it goes right down to 'Hero rips off top for no reason'. It's a mess.
I might forgive the book a little bit because it was written in 2011 and maybe it fits better in the MG category but like WOW, there are certain things that I can't forgive, like the surface area increasers and how everyone was hating on the little boy who was scared and alone in a house filled with teenagers. Wow guys, it was tough. But I read it and I got through it all and I would not like to go through it again!
PS: Sorry about all the all caps, I just have strong feelings about this.
1.0
I’ve started to have dreams while I’m awake. I remember music I’ve never heard… I’ve got all this extra stuff in my head, but I’m forgetting things from my own life. I feel like I’m being taken over.
Angel’s Fury is a tale about a girl suffering from insomnia and waking dreams and such. As a result of that she is sent to a place where they’re supposed to cure her of her but that’s not exactly what happens. Instead of getting the cure she was looking for, our heroin has to fight the same person who claimed they could help.
This here story is mediocre at best. It barely moves from one chapter to the next. It's so damn slow. I could literally skip whole paragraphs without really missing out on anything, I could just read all the dialogue and I'd still know what's going on. I don't want to say it’s boring, but it kind of is. It really only starts going in the last few chapters, I did enjoy those chapters.
All the characters are bland, none of them are memorable, and none of them do anything that would make me remember them three hour from now without looking through the book. I read the book, spent days reading through it, but the only characters I remember are Cassie, Seth and Pandra. The only reason I even remember Pandra is because I was holding out hope that she and Cassie would get together. Even when Pandra turns out to be too taken over by her past life I was still holding out hope, thinking that Cassie might talk her out of her past life and they'd get together, live happily ever after as girlfriends with a shared life experience for errant past lives trying to take over current lives. But sadly, it didn't happen.
Seth is instead the love interest. He is the most boring love interest I have ever had to read about. There's no vavavoom or anything. I'm not even sure if Seth was supposed to be a life interest because he was just THERE. I feel like his love interest badge was placed there just to add a little more drama to the pinch of salt flavouring that was happening in this book.
I mean, sure, he was a change from the brooding/mysterious guy who doesn't like MC for some reason, but then whooop, it might actually be that, just that it only happens in the last chapters of the book when his and Cassie's past lives are revealed.
I. Don't. Know.
Seriously though, why were the other characters even written into this book? They did NOTHING the entire time, like they were just there to add surface area to the book, they didn't push the story forward, didn't make it more interesting, I don't even remember most of their names, I mean I remember Max and I think he was American, but who even knows! And why did Pandra kidnap Lenny? Coz he's the smallest of the group? Also, why the heck was this poor baby always being tortured by everyone? I mean, honestly, why? Because he's whiny and weak? HE'S TEN YEARS OLD! He's a child! What do you expect a ten year old child living in a prison like place to act like? Good heavens!
(You may notice that I have strong feelings about Lenny, enough to remember his name)
Oh, and again WTF WAS EVEN THE USE OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS!?? WHY WAS THIS STORY SET IN THIS PLACE??? LITERALLY NONE OF THE STAFF IS MENTIONED BY NAME! WHY ARE THE NURSES NOT FREAKED OUT BY THE DOCTOR'S METHODS???? WHY DOES THIS READ LIKE FALLEN!???? (sorry about the all caps, but guys!)
Guys, gang! Honestly?
They really tried it with us in this story, hey. I'm so disappointed in it. Between this and Fallen I don't know what I was expecting. Fallen didn't do the past lives thing well enough either (that was is kinda sitting in the DNF pile for now, maybe I'll go back and finish it, just because my anxiety won't let me sit knowing I have a book I haven't finished reading). It was rough.
And I'm going to ask again: WHAT WAS THE USE OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS?? They're literally only mentioned doing like two things, they help not at all, miss the big revelation, don't get cured in the end like Cassie and Seth, and I don't know, they just disappear. Two of them get mentioned in the Epilogue but it's such a throwaway comment thing, it doesn't even matter. I don't even know what happened with the others, where they ended up. Did everyone go home? Did they find new doctors to help them. Did the cops get involved? What about Lenny? A whole child got kidnapped and thrown in a pit of dead animals and he doesn't get mentioned again. Even Pandra gets a passing mention at the end guys, just that, just an 'I don't know where she is, probably off to find the other children'. Excuse me, what?
Look, I don't expect Cassie to suddenly be the great angel hunter, keeping tabs on everyone's whereabouts, but I would've liked to know what ended up happening to the CHILD THAT WAS KIDNAPPED AND THE OWN INTO A PIT OF DEAD ANIMALS! But nothing, no mention? He gets zero mentioned? Nada?
Wow.
But this book, this book is filled with so many clichés I think I'd win at the YA Cliché Bingo Card. No guys, seriously, I'm pretty sure I'd win; it goes right down to 'Hero rips off top for no reason'. It's a mess.
I might forgive the book a little bit because it was written in 2011 and maybe it fits better in the MG category but like WOW, there are certain things that I can't forgive, like the surface area increasers and how everyone was hating on the little boy who was scared and alone in a house filled with teenagers. Wow guys, it was tough. But I read it and I got through it all and I would not like to go through it again!
PS: Sorry about all the all caps, I just have strong feelings about this.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
4.0
CW: outing
Checking this book out the library I hadn't thought much about it. Its YA, it's mentioned often on book twitter and it’s getting a movie. On top of that, I always get excited when I go to the local library and find YA books, especially ones I've heard a lot about. So yes, when i took "Simon vs" I didn't really think much about it, but boy am i glad I checked it out. Like guys, wow!
I really, honestly did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Like, I fell in love right from the start. I love Simon so much and he IS MY SON!! I love him so much!!!
I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, but WOW, it is an amazing read.
And Abby. I love Abby with everything that I am. She is my everything and she too is my child. AND BLUE!!!!! I have never squealed so much in my life. Those last few chapters are absolutely EVERYTHING!
"Simon vs" is definitely one of the best books I've read in a while and I am so glad that I actually checked it out.
Huge rec for, like, everyone!
NOTE: Simon doesn't actually choose to come out, he is outed by an ugly soul who did it coz 'they were angry'.. What an ass *smh*. But my baby handles it the best way he knows how and I am proud of him!
PS: I got my sister to read it too and she wouldn't stop squealing during the last chapters and i felt that...
Checking this book out the library I hadn't thought much about it. Its YA, it's mentioned often on book twitter and it’s getting a movie. On top of that, I always get excited when I go to the local library and find YA books, especially ones I've heard a lot about. So yes, when i took "Simon vs" I didn't really think much about it, but boy am i glad I checked it out. Like guys, wow!
I really, honestly did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Like, I fell in love right from the start. I love Simon so much and he IS MY SON!! I love him so much!!!
I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, but WOW, it is an amazing read.
And Abby. I love Abby with everything that I am. She is my everything and she too is my child. AND BLUE!!!!! I have never squealed so much in my life. Those last few chapters are absolutely EVERYTHING!
"Simon vs" is definitely one of the best books I've read in a while and I am so glad that I actually checked it out.
Huge rec for, like, everyone!
NOTE: Simon doesn't actually choose to come out, he is outed by an ugly soul who did it coz 'they were angry'.. What an ass *smh*. But my baby handles it the best way he knows how and I am proud of him!
PS: I got my sister to read it too and she wouldn't stop squealing during the last chapters and i felt that...