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whatjamieread's reviews
90 reviews
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
What a wild ride. If you’ve already read this book, you understand what I mean when I say that I think I might have trouble looking at a certain edible plant the same way again after reading this book 🥴
First things first, Silvia Moreno-Garcia could (and should) teach a MASTER CLASS in descriptive writing. From the very start, I could imagine exactly what High Place looked and smelled like. She is so good at giving you so much detail that your senses take over to the point where I was feeling like I could SMELL the words she was writing, especially during the gross scenes where she not only describes what the MC is smelling, but she steps on the gas so hard that at one point I had to pause and regroup. For that alone, I deeply appreciated this book because the care she took in being so descriptive was truly jaw dropping.
In terms of characters, I felt like Noemi was only a somewhat likeable MC. She was fine but at no point did I ever connect with her. I was more worried about Catalina up until the very end when the story took a dive off a cliff. The Doyle family on the other hand was utterly unlikeable, especially Florence who literally terrified me. I had a hard time accepting Noemi’s love interest because I truly found the whole Doyle family so rude and condescending that I couldn’t fathom why anyone might develop feelings for a member of it.
The story itself was good until the big reveal. The premise was very strange and if I’m being honest, somewhat unbelievable. It felt like the author was pushing us in a different direction and when we learn the truth of the situation at hand, it’s difficult to accept. The story lost me at that point and never pulled me back in which made the last seven chapters of the book feel a little “meh” 🤷🏽♀️
I’m giving Mexican Gothic 3.75⭐️ because I really appreciated Moreno-Garcia’s descriptive style. It lacked a strong finish which is really what prevented me from loving it. It was a truly spooky story and it would be the perfect October read if you like horror. I don’t think this one requires more than one read but if you haven’t picked this up yet, you should so we can chat about it!
First things first, Silvia Moreno-Garcia could (and should) teach a MASTER CLASS in descriptive writing. From the very start, I could imagine exactly what High Place looked and smelled like. She is so good at giving you so much detail that your senses take over to the point where I was feeling like I could SMELL the words she was writing, especially during the gross scenes where she not only describes what the MC is smelling, but she steps on the gas so hard that at one point I had to pause and regroup. For that alone, I deeply appreciated this book because the care she took in being so descriptive was truly jaw dropping.
In terms of characters, I felt like Noemi was only a somewhat likeable MC. She was fine but at no point did I ever connect with her. I was more worried about Catalina up until the very end when the story took a dive off a cliff. The Doyle family on the other hand was utterly unlikeable, especially Florence who literally terrified me. I had a hard time accepting Noemi’s love interest because I truly found the whole Doyle family so rude and condescending that I couldn’t fathom why anyone might develop feelings for a member of it.
The story itself was good until the big reveal. The premise was very strange and if I’m being honest, somewhat unbelievable. It felt like the author was pushing us in a different direction and when we learn the truth of the situation at hand, it’s difficult to accept. The story lost me at that point and never pulled me back in which made the last seven chapters of the book feel a little “meh” 🤷🏽♀️
I’m giving Mexican Gothic 3.75⭐️ because I really appreciated Moreno-Garcia’s descriptive style. It lacked a strong finish which is really what prevented me from loving it. It was a truly spooky story and it would be the perfect October read if you like horror. I don’t think this one requires more than one read but if you haven’t picked this up yet, you should so we can chat about it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Sexual assault
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’ve been mulling over this review for most of the week because I’ve been trying to figure out how to articulate how amazing it is without divulging too many details that might tarnish someone’s reading experience. So instead of discussing specific plot points, I thought it best to discuss the significance of a story like this to me.
I’ve discussed this in the past but for much of my life, I didn’t have the privilege of seeing characters who look like me in the stories I read. When I was in middle school, I wrote a lot of fan fiction for my favorite book series & wrote in black & brown characters because I wanted to feel like I could belong in that world. I would be lying if I said that the race of the MC was not a motivating factor in me picking this up. Typically I don’t consider that. I try to diversify my library but I’m not immediately drawn to a book because someone in it is black, or Hispanic, or Asian. But growing up reading mostly fantasy & then forgoing the genre all together after years of being disappointed by not feeling like the fantastical worlds I was reading could welcome non-white characters, Legendborn was an immediate buy once I learned of it.
Bree is everything I’ve ever wanted in a main character. She’s HUMAN. She is not without faults or insecurities but she is strong & determined. She reads like an honest to god normal 16 year old just trying to figure out what it means to grow up while grappling with the crippling grief caused by the loss of her mother. Bree is a loving friend & daughter & someone I would have wanted in my life when I was 16. Tracy Deonn perfectly captured what I remember of being that age, especially what it was like navigating my first intense crush. My gripe with a lot of YA is that the teenagers in the stories seem so much more mature than I remember myself and my peers being & I often times have a tough time believing their actions but that’s not the case here. The world building in this story is impeccable. It is by far one of the best low fantasy stories I’ve ever read. The magic system in this world impeccable.
5⭐️ to Legendborn and Miss Deonn’s debut. I need more of this world ASAP!
I’ve discussed this in the past but for much of my life, I didn’t have the privilege of seeing characters who look like me in the stories I read. When I was in middle school, I wrote a lot of fan fiction for my favorite book series & wrote in black & brown characters because I wanted to feel like I could belong in that world. I would be lying if I said that the race of the MC was not a motivating factor in me picking this up. Typically I don’t consider that. I try to diversify my library but I’m not immediately drawn to a book because someone in it is black, or Hispanic, or Asian. But growing up reading mostly fantasy & then forgoing the genre all together after years of being disappointed by not feeling like the fantastical worlds I was reading could welcome non-white characters, Legendborn was an immediate buy once I learned of it.
Bree is everything I’ve ever wanted in a main character. She’s HUMAN. She is not without faults or insecurities but she is strong & determined. She reads like an honest to god normal 16 year old just trying to figure out what it means to grow up while grappling with the crippling grief caused by the loss of her mother. Bree is a loving friend & daughter & someone I would have wanted in my life when I was 16. Tracy Deonn perfectly captured what I remember of being that age, especially what it was like navigating my first intense crush. My gripe with a lot of YA is that the teenagers in the stories seem so much more mature than I remember myself and my peers being & I often times have a tough time believing their actions but that’s not the case here. The world building in this story is impeccable. It is by far one of the best low fantasy stories I’ve ever read. The magic system in this world impeccable.
5⭐️ to Legendborn and Miss Deonn’s debut. I need more of this world ASAP!
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
⚠️ TW: Suicide, Abortion, Physical Abuse, Rape ⚠️
I finished this book last week and I still haven’t gotten to a place where I’m not thinking about it while reading other books. Miss Bennett wrote a truly relatable and realistic story in The Mothers. The single thought I keep having when I think about it is that any one of the characters could be someone I know. The situations that they find themselves in could happen to absolutely anyone from anywhere which added an element of realness that’s causing me to wonder what Nadia, Aubrey, and Luke are up to right now like they’re real-life people whose stories are still being written.
For me, this story boiled down to how mothers affect our lives and how, as women, becoming mothers affects us even more. Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey have three different types of mothers whose mothering styles have permanently stamped their personalities. Luke’s mom babied him to the point where he didn’t rely fully on himself for his own well being, Nadia’s mother loved her but wasn’t ready for her and was taken from her by suicide, and Aubrey’s mother neglected her and allowed her to be abused by her boyfriend under her own roof. Our mothers shape us in ways we often times don’t realize until we’re much older and each of the three main characters’ fatal flaws are a direct result of treatment by and trauma from their mothers. When motherhood comes for both Nadia and Aubrey, they respond differently in ways that are also clearly influenced by the impact of their mother's various shortcomings.
I feel like I said this exact same thing when I reviewed The Vanishing Half but DAMN, Brit Bennet is truly a master at character development and dialogue. The people in her stories leap off the pages. It’s nearly impossible to quickly move on from her books because she forces your direct investment into the lives of the people on the pages. I’m obsessed with Brit and hope she’s typing away as we speak so that we can get a new book SOON.
Not only was this a 5⭐️ read for me, but I liked it MORE than The Vanishing Half, which I didn’t think was possible. It all comes down to the relevancy and poignancy of the events in this story and the way they’re still on my mind. All hail Brit Bennett.
I finished this book last week and I still haven’t gotten to a place where I’m not thinking about it while reading other books. Miss Bennett wrote a truly relatable and realistic story in The Mothers. The single thought I keep having when I think about it is that any one of the characters could be someone I know. The situations that they find themselves in could happen to absolutely anyone from anywhere which added an element of realness that’s causing me to wonder what Nadia, Aubrey, and Luke are up to right now like they’re real-life people whose stories are still being written.
For me, this story boiled down to how mothers affect our lives and how, as women, becoming mothers affects us even more. Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey have three different types of mothers whose mothering styles have permanently stamped their personalities. Luke’s mom babied him to the point where he didn’t rely fully on himself for his own well being, Nadia’s mother loved her but wasn’t ready for her and was taken from her by suicide, and Aubrey’s mother neglected her and allowed her to be abused by her boyfriend under her own roof. Our mothers shape us in ways we often times don’t realize until we’re much older and each of the three main characters’ fatal flaws are a direct result of treatment by and trauma from their mothers. When motherhood comes for both Nadia and Aubrey, they respond differently in ways that are also clearly influenced by the impact of their mother's various shortcomings.
I feel like I said this exact same thing when I reviewed The Vanishing Half but DAMN, Brit Bennet is truly a master at character development and dialogue. The people in her stories leap off the pages. It’s nearly impossible to quickly move on from her books because she forces your direct investment into the lives of the people on the pages. I’m obsessed with Brit and hope she’s typing away as we speak so that we can get a new book SOON.
Not only was this a 5⭐️ read for me, but I liked it MORE than The Vanishing Half, which I didn’t think was possible. It all comes down to the relevancy and poignancy of the events in this story and the way they’re still on my mind. All hail Brit Bennett.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Rape, and Child abuse
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Transcendent Kingdom is going down as my first read of 2021 and if most of my books in 2021 are as good or better than this one, it’s going to be a great year. It’s hard to believe that this is only Yaa Gyasi’s second book. She writes like someone who has been publishing novels for 40 years. Every sentence in this book is methodical. The story has a lot of scientific references since Gifty, our main character, is working on completing a PHD in neuroscience. It couldn’t have been easy for Gyasi to write about so much science and still emotionally appeal to the reader, yet I found myself tearing up over experiments on mice and technical definitions of depression and drug addiction.
I knew this book was going down as a favorite the moment I identified Gifty’s struggle with religion. Gifty’s mother and father are loyal to their faith and as a child, Gifty is as well. But as she ages and struggles to rationalize terrible events in her life against the backdrop of a God she’s devoted so much to throughout her life, her faith slowly dissipates to the point of nonexistence. I identify so deeply with Gifty’s internal struggle and have even had similar experiences with church members that were described in the story.
Gyasi tackles race, religion, addiction, depression, family, and the affects of immigration on first generation Americans. When I preach that books are windows, this is exactly the kind of book I’m talking about. The perspective and insights I gained into the struggles of immigrants, caretakers, and those with loved ones that suffer from addiction was so powerful. I know that I will read this book again and already have plans to read Gyasi’s debut, Homegoing, in the very near future.
This is 5⭐️. The writing is superb. The dialogue was powerful and real. Gyasi made me feel like I was Gifty during so many of her most difficult scenes and I’m still thinking about Gifty a week later. I’m so glad that this is how I started the year.
I knew this book was going down as a favorite the moment I identified Gifty’s struggle with religion. Gifty’s mother and father are loyal to their faith and as a child, Gifty is as well. But as she ages and struggles to rationalize terrible events in her life against the backdrop of a God she’s devoted so much to throughout her life, her faith slowly dissipates to the point of nonexistence. I identify so deeply with Gifty’s internal struggle and have even had similar experiences with church members that were described in the story.
Gyasi tackles race, religion, addiction, depression, family, and the affects of immigration on first generation Americans. When I preach that books are windows, this is exactly the kind of book I’m talking about. The perspective and insights I gained into the struggles of immigrants, caretakers, and those with loved ones that suffer from addiction was so powerful. I know that I will read this book again and already have plans to read Gyasi’s debut, Homegoing, in the very near future.
This is 5⭐️. The writing is superb. The dialogue was powerful and real. Gyasi made me feel like I was Gifty during so many of her most difficult scenes and I’m still thinking about Gifty a week later. I’m so glad that this is how I started the year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Mental illness