thebakersbooks's reviews
278 reviews

The Line by Teri Hall

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Based on the cover, I was expecting horror or a thriller. This was a frustratingly exposition-heavy fantasy novel that felt like it was trying to shove a message down my throat but I'm not even sure what the message was. Border walls bad? (I agree.) U.S.A. bad? (I agree.) I just think there was a more entertaining and less muddy way to write those things into a story if that's how you choose to go about activism. There's also a white-savior tone, although maybe in this case it's a privileged-people-as-saviors tone, which I like nearly as little.

I appreciated the commitment of the narrative to "helping others is good, even at great personal risk," as well as the apparent (correct) ACAB stance it seems to take. Gonna read the sequel because this one only took me two hours and it *did* make me curious with its ending cliffhanger. I also liked seeing an older, disabled woman getting to be a primary character and a fundamental part of the resistance, as that is incredibly true to life and just as incredibly underrepresented in fiction.

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

hopeful informative sad slow-paced

5.0

If you liked Palestinian Village Histories but wanted more personal/anecdotal information alongside the historical, social, and political analysis, check this out! It's obviously more comprehensive and thus a slower read, but it covers similar aspects of the subject in more depth.

Breathless by Amy McCulloch

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

if you want your book to be suspenseful, maybe don't name the *mystery antagonist* after the Oklahoma City Bomber. kind of a giveaway—it's a very distinctive surname.

 

Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna R. Shrum, Sara Waxelbaum

emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

This might be my favorite book so far this year. So queer, so Jewish, so everything I stand for and love.

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.5

Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

It Looks Like Us by Alison Ames

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

5.0

A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell

4.0

Liked the fat MC whose fatness didn't go away as part of her character growth and proved to be a source of power. Disliked the author including the appropriated Indigenous mythos of the cannibal monster who steals voices, since my understanding is that one isn't even supposed to think the name of said creature, much less write it a bunch in a book.

The Absolutes by Molly Dektar

3.5