Scan barcode
will_overthink's reviews
951 reviews
Band Sinister by KJ Charles
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
At every turn, this book insists that a daughter is no more than thing that is owned by her father. A philosophy I vehemently disagree with, and is honestly making it difficult for me to see the book with any real clarity or distance. Full marks for queer rep portrayed within historical mindsets, but I find some themes of the book deeply disturbing at the mycelial level (if you'll forgive the pun), and not in a good way.
Gregor is a deeply egotistical botanist and creates something that he cannot control, which infuriates him. But his journey is not to stop trying to control everything, it's to learn how to control it better.
His lover, Simon, is a doormat of a taxidermist who metaphorically excices his emotions into glass jars of aspic and entrails. His revelation is that maybe he shouldn't do that?
Jenny is straightforward and canny, but somehow never notices the plant-girl she cares for shares her dead lover's face?
Where was the rage when Jenny comprehended what the boys had done? Why was Chloe constantly prevented from growing, as they salted the earth everywhere she explored? Stay where we put you, be a thing, be a machine that your father can claim as his triumph even as he holds you back from the fullness of your potential.
No. Chloe should emerge from beneath her salt cage and eat the town, her fathers, and possibly the whole of England, until she decides she is satiated.
People compare this to Frankenstein, but Shelley knew the humanity of the doctor's creation. I'm not sure Medlock does.
His lover, Simon, is a doormat of a taxidermist who metaphorically excices his emotions into glass jars of aspic and entrails. His revelation is that maybe he shouldn't do that?
Jenny is straightforward and canny, but somehow never notices the plant-girl she cares for shares her dead lover's face?
Where was the rage when Jenny comprehended what the boys had done? Why was Chloe constantly prevented from growing, as they salted the earth everywhere she explored? Stay where we put you, be a thing, be a machine that your father can claim as his triumph even as he holds you back from the fullness of your potential.
No. Chloe should emerge from beneath her salt cage and eat the town, her fathers, and possibly the whole of England, until she decides she is satiated.
People compare this to Frankenstein, but Shelley knew the humanity of the doctor's creation. I'm not sure Medlock does.