sssssoup's reviews
46 reviews

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses: A Novel by Kristen O'Neal

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

What Big Teeth by Harry Szabo

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder, Bullying, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Grief and Death of parent

All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Racism, and Sexism

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Ableism, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Grief

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, War, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Gun violence, Homophobia, Biphobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Medical content, Self harm, and Sexual content

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Blood, Bullying, Violence, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Abandonment, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Outing

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, and Drug use

Minor: Domestic abuse

Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

This is a very important book, but it’s definitely not for everyone. It handles some very heavy subject matter, and I would highly recommend you know what you’re getting into before you start reading (the author did include content warnings at the front of the book though).

That said, I really did love reading this book. I was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end, I couldn’t put it down. The way it’s written is very engaging, and I was dying to find out what happened next. The characters also feel very realistic and I thought the author struck a good balance with how they all reacted to the incredibly stressful and traumatizing situations. 

While this is definitely a very dark story with some very chilling elements, it’s hopeful as well. It’s ultimately about breaking the cycle of abuse and trauma and making sure that bad things don’t happen to more people in the future. As a queer person myself, I found it really interesting how the author managed to balance queer joy and queer pain. This book will stick with me, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Outing, Sexism, Sexual content, and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Transphobia, Biphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

I really wanted to like this book, and I think it could’ve been interesting, but ultimately it just wasn’t for me. It had a lot of really pretty description, but the characters and plot fell flat for me. Sheetal’s internal conflict was intriguing and well written, but she often came across as whiny when she interacted with the other characters, though I did appreciate her complicated feelings about her family members. I was also confused by a lot of the terminology and I think the author should’ve included a glossary. Overall, it was pretty mid and I think the right person could really enjoy it, but I know that wasn’t me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence