whatsmacksaid's reviews
1288 reviews

Hellishly Ever After by Nadine Mutas

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adventurous

4.0

Empath's Lure by Jen Lynning

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3.5

Till Heaven Do Us Part by Nadine Mutas

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Emotional turmoil does not automatically translate to higher narrative tension, and things slowed waaay down at the halfway mark. The ending was cool, though, and I'm enjoying book three.

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror by Judith Lewis Herman

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challenging dark informative sad

4.0

A fascinating look at complex PTSD, including the difference between CPTSD and "regular" PTSD, the differences in how men and women are likely to fall prey to it, how it manifests, what loved ones need to understand to help the victims heal, and how therapists and other professionals should approach treatment.

Sappho: A New Translation by Sappho

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.5

I wish the "footnote" had been at the beginning of the book rather than the end, both because I felt like I got a better idea of the scope of what we don't know about Sappho and that I better understood Mary Barnard's reasoning behind adding "titles" (perhaps "tags" are a better descriptor). (ETA: it would also have been helpful to know for sure which names were for men and which were for women.)

Those quibbles aside, I really enjoyed this translation. Readers with a deep(er) understanding of ancient greek/Hellenistic myths and religions will obviously get more out of it than those of us without, but less studied poetry readers will enjoy this, too.

Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis

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2.5

Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis

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emotional