steamedcheese's reviews
14 reviews

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really REALLY enjoyed the writing and language of this book. As a child of a Korean immigrant and a person coincidentally intrenched in the upper-class world of Manhattan, this book hit really close to home. I really enjoyed getting to know Casey, our main character, and maybe it's just my trademark #gen-z short attention span, but but I did find that the novel dragged on for a LONG TIME. From it's beginning, the book was consistently fun and interesting to read, but I was not CAPTIVATED by it as it drew to a close. I will probably recommend this book to friends because of the accuracy which it depicts emotions and racial experiences.... so yeah that's all i have to say today :)

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

adventurous funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.5

I really enjoyed this memoir!!!! As you can expect from Noah, the book is extremely fast-paced and witty. I was also impressed with the amount of self-awareness and the careful reflection with which he wrote the book. At the end of the day, this memoir was a love letter to his mother--  a good one at that. The topics were interesting and they appealed to the audience which I believe Noah is writing to -- a middle-upper class bunch of Americans. He is a media star, so I have to wonder what elements of his life were excluded or shifted to paint him in a greater light. That is not to say that the memoir was exclusively complimentary of Noah. He poked plenty of fun at himself, but from the perspective of an older, wiser version of himself. As if to say, "I already see my flaws, so if you point them out later, we are just laughing together." I also really enjoyed reading about the experience of growing up under the Apartheid. I found his descriptions honest and his voice very conversational. 

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

emotional 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

tbh i rlly liked it ;) ahaha just kidding but actually it was a super good book. It was a bit confusing to read in the beginning because we are thrust into the world without any preface, but I really enjoyed piecing together the story and all of the characters. The book deals heavily with memory and perspective -- two elements which I, for one, LOVE. I am a big fan of family drama and stories which dissect generational trauma... not that this says anything about me... #LOL The book was written in a very cinematic way with plenty of realistic, beautiful, stream-of-consciousness prose. I do wish that it was a bit longer because there was not as much  development of the daughter and grandmother as I would have like to have seen. Props to Woodson for making me want to read MORE -- very rare feat. Another critique is that I feel like there were almost too many plot twists towards the end of the book. I know that the book is meant to demonstrate the real messiness and tragedy of life, but, because this book is fiction, I think it is fait for me to think that it could have remained stronger as a commentary the plot points towards the beginning of the book. 

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I picked this book up because I knew it was a contemporary classic, but I didn't expect it to be such a quick read. The book moves quickly, but the writing is intricate. The attention to detail and realism reminds me of James Joyce. I wanted to give this book a 4 or 4.5 rating because I wish that there was more content about the side characters, specifically the love interests of the main character. However, I think that the omission of these elements was probably intentional. The book accomplished what it was supposed to.