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wearysighs's reviews
58 reviews
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3.0
this book would've absolutely rocked my world as a high schooler, even into my late pre-teens. more than anything, i wish i could have read it with the mentality i had then. reading it into my late 20's i just kind of felt like i was not the target audience for this book. but still, it gave me the nostalgia of high school days, and i truly felt like i was viewing the story and its events from charlie's perspective.
Shades of Grace by Barbara Delinsky
4.0
i found this book in my collection and honestly have no recollection of ever having received it. i decided to read it anyway, and honestly, what a pleasant surprise. there are some elements of it that show its age, but taking that into consideration, i really loved the depth the characters in this novel were given. there's mystery, there's romance, and there's a lot of life given to the reader to consider.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
i feel as though this is a book i'll need to read more than once in my life. i've been thinking a lot about the fact that i've read this novel for the first time in 2023, just a year before the novel begins in 2024. how has this affected my perspective? what would i have felt if i had been able to read this novel when it debuted in the 90's? would it have hit so close to home then?
this novel is so full of important ideas and observations about life and human nature that i think i'll need to sit and think on it for a while. our main character, lauren, has a condition called hyperempathy in which she feels every bit of pain of another she makes contact with. i can't help but relate to her as someone who has always been an empathetic person.
i'm also thinking a lot about how upset i am that i wasn't introduced to octavia butler while in public school - but of course, why would i have been taught about a black, female sci-fi author as a public school student in south carolina? she seemed like such a brilliant, relatable woman.
the copy i have has a foreword by n.k. jemisin that really sums up my feelings about it properly, and i loved reading the 1999 interview with octavia butler at the end.
a must-read for any science fiction fans.
5.0
i feel as though this is a book i'll need to read more than once in my life. i've been thinking a lot about the fact that i've read this novel for the first time in 2023, just a year before the novel begins in 2024. how has this affected my perspective? what would i have felt if i had been able to read this novel when it debuted in the 90's? would it have hit so close to home then?
this novel is so full of important ideas and observations about life and human nature that i think i'll need to sit and think on it for a while. our main character, lauren, has a condition called hyperempathy in which she feels every bit of pain of another she makes contact with. i can't help but relate to her as someone who has always been an empathetic person.
i'm also thinking a lot about how upset i am that i wasn't introduced to octavia butler while in public school - but of course, why would i have been taught about a black, female sci-fi author as a public school student in south carolina? she seemed like such a brilliant, relatable woman.
the copy i have has a foreword by n.k. jemisin that really sums up my feelings about it properly, and i loved reading the 1999 interview with octavia butler at the end.
a must-read for any science fiction fans.
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
4.0
i only gave this book four stars and not five because i didn't enjoy the plot as much as i enjoyed parable of the sower. the writing, however, is just as powerful and compelling. it was actually hard to read at some parts. i'd recommend checking trigger warnings.
one thing i really did enjoy about this novel was the shift in perspectives, and getting to learn more about lauren olamina from others' perspectives - especially her estranged daughter's. in this novel, we really get to see her flaws and see her more as human over the fearless, courageous leader that she was in parable of the sower. as someone with an estranged parent, i really enjoyed getting to know larkin and related to her feelings after finally connecting with lauren for the first time as an adult. it is a strange, complicated, and emotional thing, and octavia butler handled it wonderfully.
one thing i really did enjoy about this novel was the shift in perspectives, and getting to learn more about lauren olamina from others' perspectives - especially her estranged daughter's. in this novel, we really get to see her flaws and see her more as human over the fearless, courageous leader that she was in parable of the sower. as someone with an estranged parent, i really enjoyed getting to know larkin and related to her feelings after finally connecting with lauren for the first time as an adult. it is a strange, complicated, and emotional thing, and octavia butler handled it wonderfully.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
i dunno, y'all. i started out really excited about a new sarah maas series, and i loved it, but it took me forever to read. i really felt like this book could have been 400 pages instead of 800. the amount of lore in this new universe thrown at you in random bursts is so overwhelming, and i love a good slow burn, but looking back now that i'm finished, it felt a little unnecessary.
i'm still digesting the ending, but it felt... i don't know. everything felt like it fell too conveniently into place. perhaps when i read the next in the series the ending will seem better, but that's my opinion for now.
did i still stay up late at night reading through certain scenes because i needed to know what happened next? yes.
did literal tears form in my eyeballs from parts of this book? yes.
do i love bryce with all of my heart, and maybe find her the most relatable out of all of SJM's characters that i've read thus far? yes.
that being said, i just didn't have the same excitement, read-the-whole-series-in-two-days that i did with ACOTAR. it's not necessarily a bad thing, i guess i was just hoping i would love this series more?
will i also still be reading the next two books? absolutely.
i'm still digesting the ending, but it felt... i don't know. everything felt like it fell too conveniently into place. perhaps when i read the next in the series the ending will seem better, but that's my opinion for now.
did i still stay up late at night reading through certain scenes because i needed to know what happened next? yes.
did literal tears form in my eyeballs from parts of this book? yes.
do i love bryce with all of my heart, and maybe find her the most relatable out of all of SJM's characters that i've read thus far? yes.
that being said, i just didn't have the same excitement, read-the-whole-series-in-two-days that i did with ACOTAR. it's not necessarily a bad thing, i guess i was just hoping i would love this series more?
will i also still be reading the next two books? absolutely.
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
3.0
overall: i am not a non-fiction reader, so this one was a little more difficult for me to get through. BUT, to give the author a ton of credit, i really felt like she did a great job of making these women's stories read like something out of any fiction novel. capitalism sucks, corporate greed is inherently evil, and has been killing americans since the beginning. our country has come so far, and yet still has so far to go in terms of labor rights.
my two gripes: of course this involves a lot of legal cases which became tedious to read through at times. the other is that there are so many characters and details that it is hard to keep track of in a non-fiction setting, i resigned myself to just skimming the surface without trying to remember who was who.
the positive: i really appreciated how the author used direct quotes from source materials throughout the novel in a way that was not distracting. it is obvious that kate moore really felt passionate about the radium girls' demise, and seems an appropriate homage to all they had suffered. she clearly did her research.
my two gripes: of course this involves a lot of legal cases which became tedious to read through at times. the other is that there are so many characters and details that it is hard to keep track of in a non-fiction setting, i resigned myself to just skimming the surface without trying to remember who was who.
the positive: i really appreciated how the author used direct quotes from source materials throughout the novel in a way that was not distracting. it is obvious that kate moore really felt passionate about the radium girls' demise, and seems an appropriate homage to all they had suffered. she clearly did her research.
Pew by Catherine Lacey
5.0
i think this became one of my all time favorite books. the author's writing is beautiful. the plot gave me a lot of the feelings reminiscent to watching the film the tree of life. highly philosophical, but relatable, short and sweet. if you're interested in reading this book, go in as blind as possible!! enjoy the ride.