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sophiesometimesreads's reviews
191 reviews
Magical Boy, Volume 1 by The Kao
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
This was an enjoyable read. I loved the art style and the dialogue was funny and had me laughing out loud at times. The storyline was good, it was a little trope-y at times like with the closeted bully, but was fun and a good spin on the "magical girl" storyline. I did like how they blurred the characters deadname in the dialogue in the print version compared to the online one (I read the first chapter online before deciding to buy the physical copies). I'm excited to see how it wraps up in the next volume.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Deadnaming
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think this is what I want to rate this, but I'm still a little unsure on where I fall with this. I felt a little disconnected from the story and confused or unsure about what was happening or the point of the story for a lot of this, but that might also be my mood so I think I might want to reread this at some point, maybe before reading the second book. I did really like the prose and writing, and how the story came full circle at the end.
Nimona by ND Stevenson
funny
lighthearted
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
This was funny and heartwarming and fun - everything I love in a graphic novel. If I had any criticism, it's that it could have been longer because I just wanted to spend more time immersed in the world and with these characters.
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING
When I guessed how Clementine was going to meet Iwan in the current timeline 7 pages into this book, I thought I wasn't going to like this... but, boy, was I wrong. Though I couldn't quite give this five stars because of that slight predictability, I ended up absolutely adoring this book. I found that this little twist, if you can even call it that, was not a big focus of the story and the relationship, characters and plot were all so intriguing that it didn't even bother me by the time we got to this reveal.
I love romance books that explore more than romance, and this book falls nicely into that category. Though I loved Iwan and Clementine's dynamic and romance, I particulalry enjoyed the exploration of grief, self-identity, self-exploration and growth within the book, and this made me love the characters individually as well as together.
It's a relatively rare thing for me to cry at books, but I cried more than once towards the end of the book, particulalry the last time she ends up in the time slip (iykyk). This book was one that really tugged on my heartstrings. I will definitely be reading another book by Ashley Poston and I may even need to purchase this for myself so I can reread it in the future.
When I guessed how Clementine was going to meet Iwan in the current timeline 7 pages into this book, I thought I wasn't going to like this... but, boy, was I wrong. Though I couldn't quite give this five stars because of that slight predictability, I ended up absolutely adoring this book. I found that this little twist, if you can even call it that, was not a big focus of the story and the relationship, characters and plot were all so intriguing that it didn't even bother me by the time we got to this reveal.
I love romance books that explore more than romance, and this book falls nicely into that category. Though I loved Iwan and Clementine's dynamic and romance, I particulalry enjoyed the exploration of grief, self-identity, self-exploration and growth within the book, and this made me love the characters individually as well as together.
It's a relatively rare thing for me to cry at books, but I cried more than once towards the end of the book, particulalry the last time she ends up in the time slip (iykyk). This book was one that really tugged on my heartstrings. I will definitely be reading another book by Ashley Poston and I may even need to purchase this for myself so I can reread it in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
That ending absolutely broke my heart ðŸ˜
Please check content warnings before reading as this book deals with a lot of heavy topics.
I went through a whole host of emotions reading this. I hated the characters, loved the characters, felt for them, was sad, frustrated, disappointed. This is a primarily character-driven story and so the flawed nature of every character was so real. This is what really drew the story along, seeing how the characters develop and change and grow (or don't) throughout the story.
I found the writing style easy to follow and understand. It's not flowery, by any means, but it was a readable book that drew me in and kept me interested. Some of the writing was a little repetitive at times, but it highlighted the circular nature of the thoughts and worries of the characters in the book and their inability to break the cycle of oppression and abuse, so it felt more like a literary device than anything else and didn't bother me.
The story was heartbreaking and beautiful and ugly and hopeful all at once, and I think I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.
I have seen low ratings of this book as it "does not depict the whole Palestinian American experience". Whilst I understand this statement and can't comment on how accurate the representation is, the book does not say at any point that this is the experience of all, or even a majority, of Palestinians or Palestinian Americans, and it does mention multiple times how their family is the more conservative of the community and that a lot of other people around them are happier and have more freedom. This is the story of one family who happens to be Palestinian American, and reflects the author's own lived experiences, though perhaps this could've been highlighted a bit more.
Please check content warnings before reading as this book deals with a lot of heavy topics.
I went through a whole host of emotions reading this. I hated the characters, loved the characters, felt for them, was sad, frustrated, disappointed. This is a primarily character-driven story and so the flawed nature of every character was so real. This is what really drew the story along, seeing how the characters develop and change and grow (or don't) throughout the story.
I found the writing style easy to follow and understand. It's not flowery, by any means, but it was a readable book that drew me in and kept me interested. Some of the writing was a little repetitive at times, but it highlighted the circular nature of the thoughts and worries of the characters in the book and their inability to break the cycle of oppression and abuse, so it felt more like a literary device than anything else and didn't bother me.
The story was heartbreaking and beautiful and ugly and hopeful all at once, and I think I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.
I have seen low ratings of this book as it "does not depict the whole Palestinian American experience". Whilst I understand this statement and can't comment on how accurate the representation is, the book does not say at any point that this is the experience of all, or even a majority, of Palestinians or Palestinian Americans, and it does mention multiple times how their family is the more conservative of the community and that a lot of other people around them are happier and have more freedom. This is the story of one family who happens to be Palestinian American, and reflects the author's own lived experiences, though perhaps this could've been highlighted a bit more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse, Murder, Rape, Abortion, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Firstly, please check full content warnings for this book before reading as it does deal with multiple intense topics such as domestic abuse, sexual abuse, addiction and adult/minor relationships.
I was invested enough in this story for the majority of the book (perhaps around 80%) to keep going to find out what happened but the ending fell kind of flat for me. There wasn't enough of a concrete conclusion for me, particularly on some of the more intense issues that were put out there. I did do some reading of peoples' opinions and interpretations afterwards and found a few good points about hints as to who may be lying and who may be telling the truth which I didn't pick up along the way and did intrigue me. I've also seen that the author has outlined who was telling the truth but I don't count this as the book should stand on its own legs and that should be put in the book explicitly if that's what we are supposed to know as an audience.
Though the relationship was originally portrayed to be bad, by the end I was left feeling like the husband wasn't supposed to be seen as a groomer and pedophile just because he was apparently a good father, which didn't sit well with me. I don't think it was the authors intention to say he should be completely redeemed but I think there should've been something in the ending that stated that even though the FMC may not be wholly good, she's still a victim as adults should never pursue relationships with minors and are ALWAYS the one at fault in said relationships. I think this topic should've been handled with a little more care and this is where it drops another part star for me.
Overall, it was gripping and a quick read but there were a few questionable moments throughout that I thought needed to be tied up better.
I was invested enough in this story for the majority of the book (perhaps around 80%) to keep going to find out what happened but the ending fell kind of flat for me. There wasn't enough of a concrete conclusion for me, particularly on some of the more intense issues that were put out there. I did do some reading of peoples' opinions and interpretations afterwards and found a few good points about hints as to who may be lying and who may be telling the truth which I didn't pick up along the way and did intrigue me. I've also seen that the author has outlined who was telling the truth but I don't count this as the book should stand on its own legs and that should be put in the book explicitly if that's what we are supposed to know as an audience.
Though the relationship was originally portrayed to be bad, by the end I was left feeling like the husband wasn't supposed to be seen as a groomer and pedophile just because he was apparently a good father, which didn't sit well with me. I don't think it was the authors intention to say he should be completely redeemed but I think there should've been something in the ending that stated that even though the FMC may not be wholly good, she's still a victim as adults should never pursue relationships with minors and are ALWAYS the one at fault in said relationships. I think this topic should've been handled with a little more care and this is where it drops another part star for me.
Overall, it was gripping and a quick read but there were a few questionable moments throughout that I thought needed to be tied up better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Addiction, and Murder
Cool. Awkward. Black. by Karen Strong
adventurous
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? Yes
3.75
3.75 was roughly the average of all the ratings I gave the individual stories, and that seems like a nice place to sit. This was my first short story collection that I read, though, so keep that in mind when reading my review and looking at my rating.
This was a mixed bag of stories, in terms of enjoyment (in my personal opinion), genre and topics. There were some standouts for me, including Nina Evans, in the Round by Kalynn Bayron, Corner Booth by Leah Johnson, Cole's Cruise Blues by Isaac Fitzsimmons, High Strangeness by Desiree S Evans and Requiem of Souls by Terry J Benton-Walker. There were also a few that didn't do much to me.
I felt that a lot of these could've done with more. Maybe that's a feeling I'm supposed to get from a short story but multiple times, particularly in the more fantastical stories, I was left feeling like the background or the story was incomplete. I felt a few would've made excellent novellas, just to have that bit more detail and exploration of themes and world building.
Overall though, I did enjoy my experience with this anthology and look forward to reading a more in the future, as well as some full-length novels from authors in this collection.
This was a mixed bag of stories, in terms of enjoyment (in my personal opinion), genre and topics. There were some standouts for me, including Nina Evans, in the Round by Kalynn Bayron, Corner Booth by Leah Johnson, Cole's Cruise Blues by Isaac Fitzsimmons, High Strangeness by Desiree S Evans and Requiem of Souls by Terry J Benton-Walker. There were also a few that didn't do much to me.
I felt that a lot of these could've done with more. Maybe that's a feeling I'm supposed to get from a short story but multiple times, particularly in the more fantastical stories, I was left feeling like the background or the story was incomplete. I felt a few would've made excellent novellas, just to have that bit more detail and exploration of themes and world building.
Overall though, I did enjoy my experience with this anthology and look forward to reading a more in the future, as well as some full-length novels from authors in this collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom by Gypsy-Rose Blanchard
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Read a bit like a trailer for her upcoming full-length memoir but had some interesting insight into the way Gypsy-Rose perceives her childhood, crime and current "fame".
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I don't feel comfortable rating this, as it is Britney's story and it took a lot to share it, so I don't think it's appropriate to attach a number to that.
I didn't know a lot about Britney besides a brief knowledge of what the media was saying throughout her life. I thought this provided some interesting insight into the entertainment industry and the way in which women, particularly young women, are treated. Although I knew a lot of this, it was still interesting to read and harrowing at times.
I'd recommend this if you're a fan of Britney or are interested in her life and the behind the scenes of her life in the entertainment industry or the conservatorship.
I didn't know a lot about Britney besides a brief knowledge of what the media was saying throughout her life. I thought this provided some interesting insight into the entertainment industry and the way in which women, particularly young women, are treated. Although I knew a lot of this, it was still interesting to read and harrowing at times.
I'd recommend this if you're a fan of Britney or are interested in her life and the behind the scenes of her life in the entertainment industry or the conservatorship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
As You Walk On By by Julian Winters
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
A very diverse cast of characters with some good messaging regarding race and class.
The pacing was a bit odd, with the party taking up a decent chunk but then speeding through the next couple weeks or so for the resolution. I would've liked the resolution to be drawn out more.
I felt the characters could've been fleshed out a little more but they were still solid, loveable characters with flaws.
Overall, I had a good time with this and it was an easy read. I would particualrly recommend for YA readers as they would probably get a lot out of it.
The pacing was a bit odd, with the party taking up a decent chunk but then speeding through the next couple weeks or so for the resolution. I would've liked the resolution to be drawn out more.
I felt the characters could've been fleshed out a little more but they were still solid, loveable characters with flaws.
Overall, I had a good time with this and it was an easy read. I would particualrly recommend for YA readers as they would probably get a lot out of it.