stwriter92's reviews
458 reviews

Foster by Claire Keegan

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, and Alcohol

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual content and Transphobia

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-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

(Review incoming)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and War

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

(Review coming)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created by Santi Elijah Holley

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Review incoming

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Review Incoming

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

[Review Incoming]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Medical trauma

The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? No

5.0

In the penultimate book in Jonathan Stroud’s wonderfully creepy and cozy series, Lockwood & Co, we open on Lucy living a life after leaving Lockwood and Co and finding work as a freelance operative. She seems miserable on all accounts and jumps at the chance to be hired as a freelancer by her previous employer, Lockwood himself. He has come with a request from Penelope Fittes, which results in the group getting back together (with the new addition of former rival Quill Kipps) to fight against still more unsettling ghosts. However, things are not as they seem as they try to discover the secret of a Creeping Shadow that has been seen terrorizing a local sleepy village. Behind all of this lies a still more sinister enemy.

This definitely was an improvement on the last book and I adored getting through this one. The added tension between Lucy and Anthony melted my not-romantic-at-all heart and her reconciliation with both George and Holly made said heart sing for joy. I did find myself on the edge of my seat, especially during the last few chapters and I cannot wait to read the final part of this series!!!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean

funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I started reading this book last year and read about half of it before the start of the school year, at which point most of my pleasure reading took a regrettable pause. However, I was able to finish the other half on my flight back from India and it made my lack of a working TV and charging port much better. 

The Violinist’s Thumb discusses the history and impact of the tiny building blocks of life itself: DNA. I have always had a general interest in science, despite being a woman of the arts, and this book absolutely did not disappoint. The accessibility of the information and Kean’s masterful way of explaining difficult concepts made reading this book an absolute joy. Never did I think I’d find myself giggling to myself over a book about genetics, but I found myself trying to quiet my laughter on my flight back. 

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone that has even a slight interest in science and genetics. Not only is this book informative, it manages to make the information accessible and interesting in a way that a general textbook never could.