woodiefrog's reviews
152 reviews

The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar

5.0

Astounding grace and intellect. An Ursula Le Guin’s inheritor if ever there is one, and with a prose to kill your soul (and mend it in the same stroke).

Brownstone by Samuel Teer

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-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? No

4.75

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is everything I wanted Martyr! to be (but that book fell flat and hollow for me). I’ve been highlighting sentences basically every five pages. Tommy Orange’s use of English is like that. And with the heart of characters and the dark history of the taking of North America in those early days, this is a book whose words and imageries that will stay with you.

Saying the word “history” seems somewhat inaccurate, considering for the Natives, IRL as well as in this book, history never leaves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse

Moderate: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, War

Minor: Child abuse, Rape

东方之东 by 平路

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-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

3.5

言语稍为琐碎，不知所谓的plot twist (or more of a background reveal) towards the end 意义是否真的很大。总体来讲算是一本有些意境，可以看作是character study 一日赏的小说。

Portrait of a Body by Julie Delporte

4.5

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.25

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense

5.0

In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife by Sebastian Junger
Did not finish book. Stopped at 84%.

A bit of tired of white man’s mid life crisis being resolved by quasi spiritual enlightenment.

Also. A true sentence that I kept wondering if I missed some subtle hints of it being a joke but alas I don’t think so:
(Not all the Nazis) are bad, some are quite decent people.

Acting Class by Nick Drnaso

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Drama turned into part thriller. Liked that in terms of techniques Drnaso has been pushing it further in this book. But I felt that it lacks the sincerity that moved me in his earlier works like Sabrina. 
Possibly related: had a night of weird dreams and unrestful sleep after reading this 😂 

Pearl: A Graphic Novel by Sherri L. Smith

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

Lovely illustrations done by Christine Norrie. A historical story rooted in real lives and filled with  encouragement even in moments of darkness. 
As a Chinese, I appreciate Sherri’s effort for adding just a little bit of subtle criticism of Japanese imperialism and the history of Okinawan people, instead of a full-on portrayal of victimship during the war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, War

Minor: Child death