thecaffeinatedreader's reviews
672 reviews

Fledgling by S.K. Ali

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

The characters are great, even the horrible ones, they're so well fleshed out and all given such depth that I didn't ever dread having a different character chapter. I loved them all.

Only to leave you wanting more. Luckily this is a duology, unluckily we have to wait for the second to release.

I'll be frank it's easy to draw the parallels between this and what is happening in Palestine. So again it's dystopia but so relatable to these times now that I think it made it a much more effective read in this climate. I also greatly enjoyed discussing this book with the read along group and we went so much more in depth, there's so much nuance and background work; so many little details that boggle the mind. And I love it.

Reads like this are important, Dystopian reads, books so easily set up to be labeled as banned, these books are the ones that should be getting the spotlight. I loved this book, you can tell by this loose cannon of a review and I hope that something I've said has made you intrigued enough to look at it or pick it up.

5/5 HUGE cups of coffee from me, it's gone on my favorites shelf and I look forward to book 2.

Batgirl: A Celebration of 50 Years by Various, Various

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

This was a cute anthology. It wasn’t just Barbara, it included her predecessor Bat-Girl (Kane’a niece) and it included Cass and Steph! A solid collection and I was happy to see so many different aspects of Batgirl. If you’re a fan of her or want to start somewhere, this is a good book to go for!

Poison Ivy Vol. 1: the Virtuous Cycle by G. Willow Wilson

adventurous dark funny

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Poison Ivy's solo run in The Virtuous Cycle is just a great run at least for this first volume (I did not read the rest). We got some body horror, we have some prime villain/vigilante run up and amazing artwork and coloring. Poison Ivy's always been a fave of mine so I was stoked to read this to begin with and may have been biased. Oh well.  We did this for our Graphic Novel Club at my local comic book store. The discussion surrounding this was great. People are way more analytical and critical than me, and I 'm pretty sure I'm a potato as far as brain function goes after I listen to the peeps in there. There was a consensus though among us that the change of Poison Ivy's 'end game' might have made it weaker but this also allowed the series to continue so I mean depends on how you view that on if you'll enjoy the change up of her feelings or not. Also. Poison Ivy road tripping? Chef's kiss.

I'll definitely be reading the other volumes of this. Also, just for the initial mindset of Poison Ivy and the art alone it's 4.75/5 for me.

Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island by Earl Swift

informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

full review here: https://thecaffeinatedreader.com/2025/03/13/chesapeake-requiem-same-page-community-reads-author-talk/

The premise of this book isn’t how to save the island or what will be done to help it, it’s what’s occurred, what will occur without aid and if it should be aided or not.

The best part of hearing Swift talk was how he integrated himself enough but still maintained that necessary distance and hearing him speak of how the island fares now. Bleak, but still information I wanted to know going into this talk after reading the book. 

Swift poses this to us, if it can be, should Tangier be saved? They’re being called the first possible Climate Change Refugees (whether they see it that way or not) and we have to wonder, if Tangier is the first step for us (at least in the USA) then what’s next?

Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

If I'm going to give any complaints, and I am, it's that I think I would have loved this as a complete five stars if we had more of the characters. Because this was more focused on mixing them with their experiences of their here and now for the 6888, I sometimes just wanted a push for more in-depth glances of them and their experiences.

Still, that's a minor complaint and Sanders sets out to do exactly what she wanted to, giving us ac completing informative and emotional story of the women that certain people have tried to erase or bury. I read this as part of my local library's 1st Thursday book club for our February pick so the review's a long time coming but here we have it. 

If you want to learn more about them there's some great information out there! I personally watched The Six Triple Eightfilm on Netflix and The Six Triple Eight documentary on PBS (I have the VPM thing). 

As for books, I don't have nonfiction recs to give that I have on my list, not yet, but I do have two more fictional books on my radar for 6888 Battalion. Sisters in Arms and No Better Time. 

4.5/5 Huge cups of coffee from me! Definitely perfect for WWII history buffs/historical fiction fans and those looking to promote and diversify their shelves with more Black and POC authors.

The Swamp Thing, Volume 1: Becoming by Mike Perkins, Mike Spicer, Ram V

adventurous dark slow-paced

3.25

The art was absolutely gorgeous in this, I read it for the graphic novel club at my local comic book store (first read with them, for me). It was fun to discuss this with people get a better feel of it. Overall, I just wanted more. There was no real dive into 'Becoming' for the Swamp Thing, Levi was suddenly Swamp Thing and there was vague allusions to it but that was about it. Still the coloring? AMAZING. Seriously I would sit here and just admire the pages again any time. I will probably read more of this but not in any hurry/reasonable amount of time lol. Also...that random appearance of one of my fave DC girls in the Green was baffling but amusing.

Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Seven Mercies by Elizabeth May, L.R. Lam

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Full Review: https://thecaffeinatedreader.com/2024...

Last we left them, shit had hit the fan; to put it mildly. Now they are running out of time to try and save the galaxy from to only the clutches from a new evil ruler but possibly the even bigger threat of an AI that has perhaps more to it than they thought.

Just like last time my favorite was Eris though I loved them all, and a second favorite would probably be Ariadne.

These characters have been through Avern (hell), not surprising as they’re the Seven Devils but still, they were committed to finishing their job and bringing freedom to a galaxy that needed them more than they needed it. There’s so much raw humanity in their emotions, trauma, pain, joy and it’s all pretty visceral. I can say this is a heavy read as far as emotions go and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

4/5 Cups of coffee from me, this was a solid duology overall and if you like Becky Chambers or Valerie Valdes, I recommend this duology to you all!

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Full Review Here: https://thecaffeinatedreader.com/2024...

I got a lot of Mass Effect-ish vibes from this when it came to the various alien species that Chambers introduced to us. It was great, though now I'm playing Mass Effect Andromeda again so maybe it sent me down a dark path. 

Chambers excels in details, the world building is absolutely fantastic. And the pacing? I would say that aside from some bits of action and quite a few emotional punches, it was a bit of a cozy sci-fi. 

The crew of the Wayfarer are amazing, I loved them all, even if I didn't like them all. They all had such different backgrounds and not because they were different species but because they came from all different family situations and lives, they all became family on the Wayfarer. 

So, pacing a bit slow but it's about the journey, plot was there too but with lots of little stories to get there and characters and world were amazing.

5/5 HUGE cups of coffee from me, now I'm off to go play some ME Andromeda lol.