srm's reviews
1056 reviews

Into Siberia: George Kennan's Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia by Gregory Wallance

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I knew a little something about the exile system, but the depth here, combined with the portrait of the remarkable George Kennan, made this an extremely fascinating and worthwhile read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Medical content

Don Carlos (Dodo Press) by R. D. Boylan, Friedrich Schiller

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Battle of Ink and Ice: A Sensational Story of News Barons, North Pole Explorers, and the Making of Modern Media by Darrell Hartman

adventurous informative medium-paced

5.0

What an absolutely fascinating way to tell these two stories--how American journalism in the early 20th Century was influenced by the race to the North Pole. It's both compelling media history and cold weather adventure.

The Orphanage by Serhiy Zhadan

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, and War

Moderate: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Violence, and Medical content

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

Dust by Hugh Howey

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

There's a lot I like about how this series wraps up, but the tension and plot of this book relies far too often on situations that could be solved with a 15 second conversation. I'm willing to roll with maybe one instance of characters getting interrupted before they can say the important thing, or characters refusing to listen as someone tries to explain, or a character refusing to explain because the other character obviously knows what he did (untrue). But the book would be half as long without these. It just became intensely frustrating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Death

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Cursing, Blood, Medical content, Gun violence, and Violence

The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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

4.25

What a delightful first book in this historical mystery series. I really appreciate how clueless Samson is, rather than being a 21st Century genius detective dropped into a setting a hundred years old. Eagerly anticipating the next book!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: War, Death of parent, Blood, Colonisation, Death, and Violence

Shift by Hugh Howey

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Violence

All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. Morris

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Miscarriage, Child death, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and War

Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I love the sense of place in this book, and the characters are interesting, but at the end of it all, I'm not sure what it make of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Child death, and Colonisation

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

Fascinating look at the world of words, translation, and writing, with bonus hilarious footnotes.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Suicide, Infidelity, and Medical content