zinelib's reviews
571 reviews

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Compelling, but still a little meh? 

Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun

hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Lol I just realized I read a Christmas romance! I'm not pro or anti, I just think it's funny because I'm writing this review on Christmas Eve and have watched a Christmas movie in the last few days and didn't recognize it. Then again, the Christmas miracle takes place on Valentine's Day, which is maybe even more Christmassy? The other thing that only kind of occurred to me while I was reading is that the story is While You Were Sleeping inspired. Cochrun does a pretty good job with that, too. She doesn't hew too closely, except names are similar, and there's a non-member of the family member of the family looking out for the protag, Ellie (also Elena and Elle). 

Ellie, a 25-year-old artist, with shitty, absentee parents is a barista after losing her dream job as an animator. Last Christmas she spent 16 incredible hours with a manic butch dream girl called Jack, and this year she's on the verge of fake marrying Andrew, the guy who owns the coffee shop she works at in exchange for $200k. Ellie is bisexual fyi, and maybe a little chaotic. 

Andrew and Ellie repair to the Kim-Prescott mansion cabin and Ellie falls in love with Andrew's family, especially...

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This novel comprises interconnected stories from members of the Palestinian-American community in Baltimore and centers on a cop! And they're all just people living their happy, sad lives. 

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.

had a hard time following between the past and present storylines

Kimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir by Kimiko Tobimatsu

reflective fast-paced

4.5

This is more of a book about having had cancer than having it, which I think is an important part of the story that isn't always told. Kimiko is young, only 25 when she feels a lump. She undergoes a lumpectomy and radiation, negotiating relationships with her family and her girlfriend because that's what happens. Cancer doesn't just happen to the patient, it happens to everyone in their life. 

Unlike many graphic memoirs, this one is illustrated by someone else--Keet Geniza, who is a zine maker! 

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

The concept of this book is fun--four black ops assassins are retired from their jobs the year they turn 60. 40 years of service in, they've still got some skills and as older women, they are often underestimated. It's cute and fun, but a little too pleased with itself. You might expect this from the title and premise, but the book is very murdery. 

Melania by Melania Trump

lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

Read the Melania Trump (or a ghostwriter plus AI) memoir if you want to. It goes down pretty quickly. It's not remotely informative, and even the pictures aren't good, but I won't stop you, just as no one stopped me. I screenshot like a million pages, and expect to make a lil carousel of them on my Instagram (@zinelib), so head over there if you want more of my take. 

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

My Plain Jane has a similar energy to My Lady Jane, but where the joking, fourth-wall breaking humor worked in the first book, it feels a little self-conscious or self-aggrandizing in the second. The "plain" Jane is Jane Eyre, who in this version of her story can see ghosts, and they are drawn to her. Charlotte Brontë is also in the story, which is cutely meta. 

Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine by Mohammad Sabaaneh

challenging sad fast-paced

5.0

I started this at a Read Palestine Week event and took it home because I hadn't finished it, and it was so good--and so awful. Sabaaneh, who spent time in an Israeli prison reveals what it's like to live an work under apartheid. 

The pages are black and the illustrations are white, with the look of wood or linoleum prints. Every page is a heart wrenching visual poem, like the art that accompanies this text

As a teacher in Palestine, you have to suddenly stop class on account of a visit by a woman, who stands there in tears, silently screaming: "I am the mother of that void that sits between you."

What never fails to amaze me, though, about Palestinians, is their sustained hope and belief in a better future. Even the birds in Palestine uphold that vision, with prison birds flying around telling the stories so they won't die. 

But the purpose of these stories is to give them strength and keep them from leaving. I like them. I'm not leaving. 

Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 by MK Czerwiec

emotional hopeful fast-paced

4.5

This is a heartwarming story about the AIDS crisis?!? In fact, it is! Czerwiec is a nurse, fresh out of school in the early 1990s, and she's working on an AIDS ward. The ward, despite being full of dying people, is actually a place of incredible care and goodness...and also death. She connects with a patient, and they make art together, which helps both of them cope.

In addition to being a memoir of the period, Taking Turns is also meant to document the magic of the place. She interviews doctors, nurses, patients, and family members. tbh I was more interested in Czerwiec's story and skipped over some of the more documentary panels. Still, it is a sweet, straightforward book that brought me to tears.