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188 reviews
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
4.0
I can't say there was anything remarkably special about the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but there wasn't anything glaringly terrible either. It was enjoyable, the characters were developed and unique, and the structure—one scene per girl then on to the next—helped keep the story moving in a way I haven't seen in too many books lately. There is such a trend toward lengthy, complicated scenes that draw out over 10-15 pages so it was nice to breeze through scenes that only spanned a page or two, three at most.
It truly was the simplicity and ease of this story that I enjoyed. I will definitely dig into the second book, at some point.
It truly was the simplicity and ease of this story that I enjoyed. I will definitely dig into the second book, at some point.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Grief
Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution traces the origins of a short-lived, grassroots feminist movement in the early 1990s. Through it, author Sara Marcus attempts—and succeeds in ways journalists of the time did not—to outline the highs and lows of the movement, chronicling the lives of its most prominent advocates, without sensationalizing the good or the bad, the camaraderie or the divide.
Growing up on the outside of the revolutions, hearing about it mostly in the past tense, I found a sense of nostalgic longing in these pages that kept me riveted. This was something that, had I been born a few years earlier, somewhere other than staunchly conservative rural middle America, I might have embraced full force. Marcus's prose is effortless; you could be reading a novel about a feminist revolution rooted in the idea that music is for everyone and othering women should not be society's default. It's easy to forget you're reading something factual and historical.
It feels a little weird to be giving my first five star rating in over a year, nearly 20 books, to a work of non-fiction but, as the kids say, 5/5, perfect, no notes. I enjoyed the story, I grappled with some intense emotional reactions, and I found nothing I would have done differently, had I written it myself. Those factors, to me, equal five stars.
Recommended for women—or anyone —35 and older who lived through punk, grunge, the Clinton era, Anita Hill . . . Bikini Kill and Bratmobile. This book is about music, politics, survival, and being a woman in a world that insists that, alone, is enough to make you less than.
Growing up on the outside of the revolutions, hearing about it mostly in the past tense, I found a sense of nostalgic longing in these pages that kept me riveted. This was something that, had I been born a few years earlier, somewhere other than staunchly conservative rural middle America, I might have embraced full force. Marcus's prose is effortless; you could be reading a novel about a feminist revolution rooted in the idea that music is for everyone and othering women should not be society's default. It's easy to forget you're reading something factual and historical.
It feels a little weird to be giving my first five star rating in over a year, nearly 20 books, to a work of non-fiction but, as the kids say, 5/5, perfect, no notes. I enjoyed the story, I grappled with some intense emotional reactions, and I found nothing I would have done differently, had I written it myself. Those factors, to me, equal five stars.
Recommended for women—or anyone —35 and older who lived through punk, grunge, the Clinton era, Anita Hill . . . Bikini Kill and Bratmobile. This book is about music, politics, survival, and being a woman in a world that insists that, alone, is enough to make you less than.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Fatphobia, Racism, Suicide, War, Classism
This is a work of non-fiction. Content listed above is not graphic, nor is it intended for "entertainment;" all depictions of violence or othering are factual recounts of historical events. Real events are not sterilized nor are they sensationalized.
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron is the first in a series about a young girl, Briseis Greene, with a gift. Living in the concrete jungle of Brooklyn, it was impossible for Briseis and her (adoptive) mothers to grasp the full extent of her gift but Briseis can control plants. What started as swaths of green grass in parks and helping her moms' flower shop thrive, becomes something very different when Briseis inherits a palatial manor in upstate New York.
Rhinebeck is a town with secrets. Which is something that can be said about any small town but Rhinebeck's secrets run deeper than maybe even the townspeople guarding said secrets know. Witchcraft, alchemy, a poison apothecary are just scratching the surface.
This Poison Heart is a little slow to start, as to be expected from a first in series. The set up, establishing Briseis's abilities and her tumultuous relationship with them, the relationship with her moms, hints at magic in her adoptive and biological family all take up a firm 60% of the book. But once the mystery starts taking over and Briseis is in too deep to get out, the last third became next to impossible to put down.
While I started out by pushing myself through a couple chapters at a time, I found myself devouring the final 150 or so pages in two bites. One thing that kept me going the deeper I dug was the connections to my lifelong passion (obsession?) with Greek mythology. As a child, I read the myths for fun but my access to them was limited to the World Book and Childcraft encyclopedias. As I got older, my academic access was limited, first by a teacher who offered us a choice because he knew we'd get a heavy dose of it in the coming years, then by a system that never made good on his promise.
But I continued to love the myths, even finding ways to work them into my own writing. The only true academic exposure I was given to these stories was the exact story This Poison Heart is built around, Medea and Jason.
We even put Medea on trial in 12rh grade World Literature. Did she murder her children? What really happened? Ultimately, we found her not guilty on all five counts of infanticide. But like Professor Kent tells Briseis, the story of Medea is one that is told far less often and that may be due to her connection not to the "standard" gods but to the ancients, the primordial gods, to Hecate.
The primordials just kind of get swept aside in favor of the Chad of all gods, Zeus, and his siblings. I love that Bayron has centered This Poison Heart and the rest of Briseis's story around the primordial gods (in addition to Hecate, Nyx also makes an appearance; don't think I didn't notice her) and all that came before Zeus burst onto the scene.
The slow beginning is the biggest reason for the 4 star rating. If Bayron keeps pace in the next book, I expect it to be even closer to five stars.
Rhinebeck is a town with secrets. Which is something that can be said about any small town but Rhinebeck's secrets run deeper than maybe even the townspeople guarding said secrets know. Witchcraft, alchemy, a poison apothecary are just scratching the surface.
This Poison Heart is a little slow to start, as to be expected from a first in series. The set up, establishing Briseis's abilities and her tumultuous relationship with them, the relationship with her moms, hints at magic in her adoptive and biological family all take up a firm 60% of the book. But once the mystery starts taking over and Briseis is in too deep to get out, the last third became next to impossible to put down.
While I started out by pushing myself through a couple chapters at a time, I found myself devouring the final 150 or so pages in two bites. One thing that kept me going the deeper I dug was the connections to my lifelong passion (obsession?) with Greek mythology. As a child, I read the myths for fun but my access to them was limited to the World Book and Childcraft encyclopedias. As I got older, my academic access was limited, first by a teacher who offered us a choice because he knew we'd get a heavy dose of it in the coming years, then by a system that never made good on his promise.
But I continued to love the myths, even finding ways to work them into my own writing. The only true academic exposure I was given to these stories was the exact story This Poison Heart is built around, Medea and Jason.
We even put Medea on trial in 12rh grade World Literature. Did she murder her children? What really happened? Ultimately, we found her not guilty on all five counts of infanticide. But like Professor Kent tells Briseis, the story of Medea is one that is told far less often and that may be due to her connection not to the "standard" gods but to the ancients, the primordial gods, to Hecate.
The primordials just kind of get swept aside in favor of the Chad of all gods, Zeus, and his siblings. I love that Bayron has centered This Poison Heart and the rest of Briseis's story around the primordial gods (in addition to Hecate, Nyx also makes an appearance; don't think I didn't notice her) and all that came before Zeus burst onto the scene.
The slow beginning is the biggest reason for the 4 star rating. If Bayron keeps pace in the next book, I expect it to be even closer to five stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Blood
Minor: Hate crime, Racism, Murder, Toxic friendship
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Dead Witch Walking is the first in the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. There is often a bit of a feeling out period with a new series and of course this book was no different. A great deal of information to be gained from just one book. But Harrison does a good job in this introduction of giving us pre-story background without info-dumping while also setting up an entirely new found family and a formidable opponent—who has an opponent of his own, we find out near the end of book one—in a way that doesn't feel too fast.
While I don't see the Hollows being a binge, I did enjoy this first outing and will likely pick up more as I find them. Which is the great thing about being late to a party: there is a lot less waiting for the festivities.
One star reduction for the (intentional as it may be) disconnect between the Rachel in Rachel's head and the Rachel on the page. Someone in her position with her purported power and skill doesn't seem like they should be as jumpy as she is. We'll have to see if a couple more books do anything to calm her nerves.
While I don't see the Hollows being a binge, I did enjoy this first outing and will likely pick up more as I find them. Which is the great thing about being late to a party: there is a lot less waiting for the festivities.
One star reduction for the (intentional as it may be) disconnect between the Rachel in Rachel's head and the Rachel on the page. Someone in her position with her purported power and skill doesn't seem like they should be as jumpy as she is. We'll have to see if a couple more books do anything to calm her nerves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Rape, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic
Murder for a Song by K.M. Jackways
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Decent story with promise but not well-written. The pacing was choppy and halting. The magical reveal was too convenient, the murderer's motive was flimsy, and the ending was very abrupt.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was thirteen, or maybe even twelve, when I first met Ponyboy.
Not Ponyboy Curtis, Ponyboy Crawford.
I knew where the name came from, originally, just not what he had done to earn it. But it was probably around that same time that I saw the film adaptation of this book. I honestly can't remember. I feel like I've always kind of been on the outside (ahem) of some kind of cultural in crowd, having never been exposed to this book through academia the way others of my generation had been.
It just never came up. And yet, I had a friend and later boyfriend whose friends and family all collectively agreed to call <i>Ponyboy.</i>
Anyway, all of that is to say, I enjoyed the story in these pages and had to keep reminding myself, as I was reading, that save for the last two chapters, this entire story played out over the course of just a few days. And if you remove the stint in the church, it was really only 72-96 hours.
It is an excellent illustration of how quickly an entire young life can go irreparably pear-shaped.
I also think this is another example of a story that, if done right, would have benefited immensely from the adaptation. As it has been more than 30 years, and I am a wildly different person, now, I think it is high time to revisit that adaptation. As I was reading I would revisit the IMDb to remind myself who had played which character as my recollection is so strongly tied to C. Thomas Howell (who will never not be Ponyboy . . . Curtis, not Crawford) and Ralph Macchio, but less to the others.
But I can imagine the emotional payoff being higher on screen than on the page.
When asked about stories that make me cry, I always go to the movies. In reading, I feel like I'm given the time and space to process what is coming before it happens and moreso in a case like this where I knew already, going in. There is something in the visual storytelling that catches me off guard, even when I am expecting it. It doesn't matter how many times I watch Todd Anderson climb atop his desk . . . I think, this time will be different. This time I will make it through. But it never is and I never do.
That is not to say I am unaffected by the emotionality of a scene in a book. It just hits different nerves, different areas of my brain are stimulated seeing it on screen, provided, of course it is done well. And because no one in Hollywood has proposed trying again and because I'm not the only person in the world who has inextricably tied Howell to this role, despite so many others he's played, that seems proof enough it was done well.
It might be time to revisit the film with a fresh perspective, having now read the book I waited so long to read.
Not Ponyboy Curtis, Ponyboy Crawford.
I knew where the name came from, originally, just not what he had done to earn it. But it was probably around that same time that I saw the film adaptation of this book. I honestly can't remember. I feel like I've always kind of been on the outside (ahem) of some kind of cultural in crowd, having never been exposed to this book through academia the way others of my generation had been.
It just never came up. And yet, I had a friend and later boyfriend whose friends and family all collectively agreed to call <i>Ponyboy.</i>
Anyway, all of that is to say, I enjoyed the story in these pages and had to keep reminding myself, as I was reading, that save for the last two chapters, this entire story played out over the course of just a few days. And if you remove the stint in the church, it was really only 72-96 hours.
It is an excellent illustration of how quickly an entire young life can go irreparably pear-shaped.
I also think this is another example of a story that, if done right, would have benefited immensely from the adaptation. As it has been more than 30 years, and I am a wildly different person, now, I think it is high time to revisit that adaptation. As I was reading I would revisit the IMDb to remind myself who had played which character as my recollection is so strongly tied to C. Thomas Howell (who will never not be Ponyboy . . . Curtis, not Crawford) and Ralph Macchio, but less to the others.
But I can imagine the emotional payoff being higher on screen than on the page.
When asked about stories that make me cry, I always go to the movies. In reading, I feel like I'm given the time and space to process what is coming before it happens and moreso in a case like this where I knew already, going in. There is something in the visual storytelling that catches me off guard, even when I am expecting it. It doesn't matter how many times I watch Todd Anderson climb atop his desk . . . I think, this time will be different. This time I will make it through. But it never is and I never do.
That is not to say I am unaffected by the emotionality of a scene in a book. It just hits different nerves, different areas of my brain are stimulated seeing it on screen, provided, of course it is done well. And because no one in Hollywood has proposed trying again and because I'm not the only person in the world who has inextricably tied Howell to this role, despite so many others he's played, that seems proof enough it was done well.
It might be time to revisit the film with a fresh perspective, having now read the book I waited so long to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death of parent
Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Crime and Poetry is the first book in Amanda Flower's Magical Bookshop Mysteries series. Through this book, we are introduced to protagonist Violet Waverly, her grandmother, Daisy, and an assortment of villagers from the fictional Cascade Springs, New York, on the edge of Niagara Falls.
Violet, a PhD candidate in Transcendental Literature at a university in Chicago, is called home to Cascade Springs under false pretenses from her grandmother claiming to be on her death bed. After Violet's mother's death, Violet and Daisy became one another's only family and are, therefore quite close. Despite that, Violet has not been back to the New York village in the twelve years since her high school graduation, a point that is stressed heavily throughout the book.
Not twenty four hours after her arrival, there is a dead body in her grandmother's driveway and said grandmother is hauled off for questioning, as should be expected, given her relationship to the victim and the location of the body. Violet is never considered to be a suspect, at least not seriously, and no one ever even tells her not to leave town, two points I found a little clumsy but not enough to give up on the story.
i don't know if I missed the customary Chekov's gun in the opening scenes but I felt like the killer's reveal was a little out of the blue. I put the pieces together in the right place but I feel like I should have suspected them from the beginning, even if Violet didn't. That is one of the reasons this is only a three-star read for me. I don't want to figure out the ending in the first five chapters but I don't like being blindsided by new characters in the last five either.
The other reason for star deduction is the repetition. Each time Violet encounters someone new in the village, she contemplates the death of her high school friend and whether or not she will stay in the village after the murder is solved. Her grandmother is never just Daisy or just Grandma but always Grandma Daisy, which is a title used even by the chief of police in an official capacity. The bookstore is never simply "the store" or "the shop," it is always "Charming Books," like some kind of corporate product placement. And I might have been convinced that this is just the way Violet talks except she doesn't refer to other businesses in town by their full names every time. Sadie's shop is Sadie's shop. The water plant is just that. So, if it were meant to be a quirk of Violet's, it fell short of consistency.
Three stars, for my money, is C work. It did what it set out to do, there were some flaws that were noticeable but not insurmountable, and while nothing stood out as exceptionally well-done, I would read another in this series, though I don't expect to take extra strides to seek them out. I found Crime and Poetry at a thrift store and that is likely where I will find the next book in the series.
Violet, a PhD candidate in Transcendental Literature at a university in Chicago, is called home to Cascade Springs under false pretenses from her grandmother claiming to be on her death bed. After Violet's mother's death, Violet and Daisy became one another's only family and are, therefore quite close. Despite that, Violet has not been back to the New York village in the twelve years since her high school graduation, a point that is stressed heavily throughout the book.
Not twenty four hours after her arrival, there is a dead body in her grandmother's driveway and said grandmother is hauled off for questioning, as should be expected, given her relationship to the victim and the location of the body. Violet is never considered to be a suspect, at least not seriously, and no one ever even tells her not to leave town, two points I found a little clumsy but not enough to give up on the story.
i don't know if I missed the customary Chekov's gun in the opening scenes but I felt like the killer's reveal was a little out of the blue. I put the pieces together in the right place but I feel like I should have suspected them from the beginning, even if Violet didn't. That is one of the reasons this is only a three-star read for me. I don't want to figure out the ending in the first five chapters but I don't like being blindsided by new characters in the last five either.
The other reason for star deduction is the repetition. Each time Violet encounters someone new in the village, she contemplates the death of her high school friend and whether or not she will stay in the village after the murder is solved. Her grandmother is never just Daisy or just Grandma but always Grandma Daisy, which is a title used even by the chief of police in an official capacity. The bookstore is never simply "the store" or "the shop," it is always "Charming Books," like some kind of corporate product placement. And I might have been convinced that this is just the way Violet talks except she doesn't refer to other businesses in town by their full names every time. Sadie's shop is Sadie's shop. The water plant is just that. So, if it were meant to be a quirk of Violet's, it fell short of consistency.
Three stars, for my money, is C work. It did what it set out to do, there were some flaws that were noticeable but not insurmountable, and while nothing stood out as exceptionally well-done, I would read another in this series, though I don't expect to take extra strides to seek them out. I found Crime and Poetry at a thrift store and that is likely where I will find the next book in the series.