tascaraudo's reviews
37 reviews

The Devil and Miss Prym, by Paulo Coelho

dark hopeful reflective medium-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

4.0

Short little story about the nature of Human Beings as Good or Evil, or perhaps both. 

The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions, by David Quammen

funny informative medium-paced

5.0

Loved it

Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie

adventurous dark slow-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

4.5

I enjoyed this very much! Was startled by the

Spoiler

sudden shift in Seivarden's behavior, idk that I believed her allegiance to switch so quickly

but enjoyed the characters and the unique perspective of the MC. 
BIG warning for execution/mass murder. The MC is also essentially a slave to the Radch empire. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Slavery, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, War, Xenophobia, Addiction, and Mental illness

Minor: Body horror, Blood, and Vomit

The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Dimaline

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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

4.0

The writing was familiar to me, the way things people and places are described is short and rich with imagery. As a habitual skimmer, the fast-paced nature of the writing forced me to go back and actually read in order to understand what was going on. 
The book really starts with a bang, and you will never be bored. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual assault

Ace of Spades, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Seems like the Twist was a little sudden/separate from the "reality" of the world. I say this because I think it would have made sense for the twist to be echoed in the world outside of Niveus Private Academy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Outing

Blazed through this in one setting, it's an incredible ride. You start putting the pieces together as the Main Characters do. Told from alternating perspective of two protagonists. Sometimes the high school politics felt unrealistic and over-the-top to me, but then again my high school experience was very much like that of Devon Richards prior to this book's happenings.

The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

This book sucked me in! I kept thinking about it throughout the day when I wasn't reading it. The world here is so much more than what the main character and we the readers know and understand, and the sense of mystery and unknowing is prevalent throughout the book. Magical to read. Took me a while to get used to the longer sentences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder, by Ma-Nee Chacaby

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

4.0

I am not used to reading autobiographies... I appreciate that Ma-Nee shared her story in this book. It feels very vulnerable, honest, and raw. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

A Guide to Undressing Your Monsters, by sam sax

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Take the content warnings seriously. Some of the poems were very hard for me to read. 

I never read poetry so this was a new one for me. I was attracted to the premise of monstrousness and queerness being linked; I find it discussed regularly in online spaces that queer people often identify with or are attracted to the "monstrous" characters in media, and that this could be linked to all the ways society can make a queer identity monstrous. It makes sense to me. To feel understanding for the monster is to recognize that you yourself are also monstrous by nature or nurture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Injury/injury detail, Homophobia, Gore, and Body horror

Pet, by Akwaeke Emezi

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book explores what it's like for one girl, Jam, to look past the niceness and comfort of believing everything to be safe. It is a story about what it can take for justice to be served, and whether justice means punishment for the monster or protection for the victim. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Vomit

Main character is what we would call trans. She does not face any transphobia during the book's journey. She dissociates at least once.