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solaria's reviews
60 reviews
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.
This book is too unclear and vague for its own good. I shouldn’t be 200 pages in and still have little idea as to what is going on. I can’t build any connections with the characters as they are hardly described or not described in enough depth for me to care or sympathise with them. I’m still not even sure why Jane is throwing her life away like this as we’ve been given no reason for her to do so.
The themes are not explored in enough depth either for me to at least say that the book has some thematic depth, because so far they’ve been added as throwaway mentions and take the wrong approach. Living off the grid won’t solve climate change and while individual responsibility is still important, climate change related issues can be solved by targeting corporate entities who violate environmental regulations etc. It sends the wrong message.
The themes are not explored in enough depth either for me to at least say that the book has some thematic depth, because so far they’ve been added as throwaway mentions and take the wrong approach. Living off the grid won’t solve climate change and while individual responsibility is still important, climate change related issues can be solved by targeting corporate entities who violate environmental regulations etc. It sends the wrong message.
As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
God this book is incredible.
The writing is soooo immersive, beautiful and absolutely devastating. I've never been to Syria, nor do I know a lot about it, but Katouh's writing made it so easy to picture exactly what it's like and the feelings captured within Homs. The absolute devestation war and terror has inflicted upon Salama's people and her homelands. The love they have for Syria and how terrified they are to leave her.
Next we have Khawf, which is honestly one of the best techniques I've seen in a book in a long time. Having a person represent Salama's anxiety and PTSD is so clever, and beats having just general descriptions of what a character is feeling any day. The confusion, second guessing and constant war she was at with herself via Khawf's existence was so immersive and made me sob for her.
And without spoilers....THAT FUCKING PLOT TWIST!!!!!! I was left in shock for a while. I had to reread those lines over and over. It makes me want to reread the book just to see if there were any signs pointing to it. Absolutely jawdropping.
There's more I can say about this book, but honestly I'd recommend reading rather than anyone hearing me talk about it. It's so amazing, easily the best thing I've read this year so far. As always check content warnings beforehand though as there is a lot of potentially triggering content in this book.
The writing is soooo immersive, beautiful and absolutely devastating. I've never been to Syria, nor do I know a lot about it, but Katouh's writing made it so easy to picture exactly what it's like and the feelings captured within Homs. The absolute devestation war and terror has inflicted upon Salama's people and her homelands. The love they have for Syria and how terrified they are to leave her.
Next we have Khawf, which is honestly one of the best techniques I've seen in a book in a long time. Having a person represent Salama's anxiety and PTSD is so clever, and beats having just general descriptions of what a character is feeling any day. The confusion, second guessing and constant war she was at with herself via Khawf's existence was so immersive and made me sob for her.
And without spoilers....THAT FUCKING PLOT TWIST!!!!!! I was left in shock for a while. I had to reread those lines over and over. It makes me want to reread the book just to see if there were any signs pointing to it. Absolutely jawdropping.
There's more I can say about this book, but honestly I'd recommend reading rather than anyone hearing me talk about it. It's so amazing, easily the best thing I've read this year so far. As always check content warnings beforehand though as there is a lot of potentially triggering content in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Grief, Colonisation
Screen Time: How to make peace with your devices and find your techquilibrium by Becca Caddy
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
This hasn't really been teaching me anything new that I haven't heard a thousand times already ... thought it would be a bit more insightful. I feel like it's also targeted at an older age demographic than what I am.
The Overthinkers by Ben Cheong, Lisa Portolan
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
2.0
this was a book
The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Had I realised this was YA fantasy when I bought it, I probably wouldn't have bought it but alas. Here we are.
For what it is, it's a fine YA fantasy book. I probably would've loved it a lot had I read it when I was 14-15. It does it's job well enough and was enjoyable. Aside from the contents of the book itself, the cover is gorgeous.
It was paced super fast which kinda threw me a bit as it never felt like the plot had time to settle and I felt like I was never introduced to the world properly. Like the author would introduce so many concepts but never really explain what they meant? And these concepts didn't really seem to have any effect on the plot? To me, this book felt like a combination of all these cool ideas the author had, but they had no idea how to tie them together or flesh them out.
The characters were alright, but again, needed more time to breathe because they came across as pretty flat and one-dimensional because of the lack of time given to them. Especially the villains. But they weren't annoying so I'll give the author credit for that haha.
For what it is, it's a fine YA fantasy book. I probably would've loved it a lot had I read it when I was 14-15. It does it's job well enough and was enjoyable. Aside from the contents of the book itself, the cover is gorgeous.
It was paced super fast which kinda threw me a bit as it never felt like the plot had time to settle and I felt like I was never introduced to the world properly. Like the author would introduce so many concepts but never really explain what they meant? And these concepts didn't really seem to have any effect on the plot? To me, this book felt like a combination of all these cool ideas the author had, but they had no idea how to tie them together or flesh them out.
The characters were alright, but again, needed more time to breathe because they came across as pretty flat and one-dimensional because of the lack of time given to them. Especially the villains. But they weren't annoying so I'll give the author credit for that haha.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Slavery
Minor: Racism, Vomit
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A lovely little short story that will warm your heart.