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whatiskatelynreading's reviews
333 reviews
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Blood, Death of parent
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
DROP EVERYTHING AND READ THIS BOOK!
I have never been more stressed while reading a book. I have never felt the suspense this viscerally before. I can’t BELIEVE this is a debut, because the pacing and the emotion and the plot and the TWISTS in this is so masterfully done. What a horrifying, thrilling, raw book. I will be thinking about this one for years.
I have never been more stressed while reading a book. I have never felt the suspense this viscerally before. I can’t BELIEVE this is a debut, because the pacing and the emotion and the plot and the TWISTS in this is so masterfully done. What a horrifying, thrilling, raw book. I will be thinking about this one for years.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
CW: Self harm, anxiety, difficult relationship with parents/high expectations from parents, racism, trauma
Where to begin? This has been a bookstagram darling for a few months now and I was honestly really nervous to read it because of the hype. You can definitely tell this is a debut, some of the dialogue feels a bit cheesy and there’s a Lot Going On, but all I’m all this is a book with a lot of heart packed into it. Grace’s character really resonated with me, and the themes of loneliness and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and cultivating community really tugged on my heartstrings. I personally had a tough time connecting with Grace and Yuki’s relationship for a large portion of the book- the insta love made me feel like there wasn’t any skin in the game and I was honestly much more invested in Grace’s personal development and her relationships with her friends and family in Portland, so I wasn’t really rooting for them until the final few chapters. I did really enjoy this book and I see why so many people loved it, and I’m excited to see what’s next from Morgan Rogers.
Where to begin? This has been a bookstagram darling for a few months now and I was honestly really nervous to read it because of the hype. You can definitely tell this is a debut, some of the dialogue feels a bit cheesy and there’s a Lot Going On, but all I’m all this is a book with a lot of heart packed into it. Grace’s character really resonated with me, and the themes of loneliness and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and cultivating community really tugged on my heartstrings. I personally had a tough time connecting with Grace and Yuki’s relationship for a large portion of the book- the insta love made me feel like there wasn’t any skin in the game and I was honestly much more invested in Grace’s personal development and her relationships with her friends and family in Portland, so I wasn’t really rooting for them until the final few chapters. I did really enjoy this book and I see why so many people loved it, and I’m excited to see what’s next from Morgan Rogers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm
Ariadne Unraveled: A Mythic Retelling by Zenobia Neil
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this retelling of Ariadne and Dionysus, having only been slightly familiar with Ariadne I had trouble distinguishing what elements were canon in the mythology and what elements Zenobia Neil added or created herself because everything felt so organic and classic. This has all the parts of mythology that I love: destinies intertwining, magical women, daring quests, vengeance and romance. Would definitely recommend for those who love a good mythical retelling that feels like it could be the original myth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence
A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age by Daniel J. Levitin
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
What a fun and super informative book! Highly recommend the audiobook for this, Gretchen McCulloch is animated and so obviously passionate about her work. This is a very witty exploration of the sociolinguistics at play in our internet habits, and I loved every bit of it.
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
CW: homophobia, outing, fatphobia, cancer, PCOS
I really wanted to love this book, like really wanted to. I kept reading hoping to find that thing, that piece of it that makes everyone on booksta say they loved it, but that didn’t happen for me.
Sold as a “Grease” inspired story about two queer boys who have a passionate summer fling and then realize they’re at the same school after a cross-country move, I was fully prepared for this to be a sunny summer favorite. But unfortunately, this one isn’t for me.
I found the relationship between the main character and the love interest to be really toxic and I didn’t even want them to be together. It’s clear that Will isn’t ready to come out, which is fine and it’s not right of Ollie to keep expecting him to make this big sweeping romantic public gesture, but it/ also clear that Will totally disrespects Ollie in public over and over again. Ollie deserved better and Will deserved to be able to explore his sexuality on his own timeline.
Another issue I had with this book was the entire “arc” for the character Niamh. Niamh aims to be a model, and is a plus-sized side character who experiences lots of fatphobic comments in this book. We see snippets of her dieting and her exercise obsession, to the point where she’s foggy and dazed in conversations, and the author explains it all away with a little thing called PCOS. As someone with Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, I think it’s important to note that it can look really different from person to person and that diagnosis isn’t always easy. Niamh’s declaration that she has PCOS and that’s why she can’t lose weight and so she’s decided to be a plus sized model doesn’t ring out like the body-positive battle cry I think it was meant to, but rather felt like a bandaid solution to her character’s struggle by explaining away her weight as a medical condition. It felt like a poorly developed attempt to make every side character have a “thing”. I thought it was not only totally unnecessary to the plot but also really disheartening. Why did we see all the terrible comments they made to Niamh and watch her get hurt over and over only to have her big moment be to say “I medically can’t lose weight so don’t comment on it anymore”. Don’t comment on it period! This moment kind of ruined the book for me.
I’m sure this book was a lighthearted romp for a lot of people, and I’m happy for you if it was, but that just wasn’t my experience with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Outing
Send Me Their Souls by Sara Wolf
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0