zinelib's reviews
448 reviews
Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
Each chapter starts with a word definition and then the protag, Verónica's definition. They're great!
and
wow!
On Vero's love interest:
More on enduring pain
and
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
4.0
A Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia longs to be a mermaid. What happens when she gets her wish?
Some quotations
Some quotations
They say they want me to feel comfortable--not happy, or fully supported--just fine, satisfied enough that I'm not in any pain. which feels like a low bar to me. Like maybe it's more about their comfort level than mine. Like maybe what they're really saying is: What do we have to do to make you not complain.
Each chapter starts with a word definition and then the protag, Verónica's definition. They're great!
Left: left
1. (n.) the side of a body or thing that is to the west when one is facing north
2. (n. VR) the side of my body that has never felt right
and
Star: star
1. (n.) a natural luminous body visible in the sky, especially at night
2. (n. VR) a natural luminous body that died a long time ago, suddenly being seen
wow!
On Vero's love interest:
His house in Texas must've been huge, a life entirely unlike this one. Now we're standing in the remnants, all the things this new life has no room for.
More on enduring pain
...the only time people have told me I'm strong is when I've pushed through pain, kept going, kept myself from causing them any trouble.
and
Who are you being strong for?
Which was really who are you enduring pain for?
Rosewood: A Midsummer Meet Cute by Sayantani DasGupta
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The author and her characters are obsessed with Jane Austen and William Shakespeare. The action takes place at a regency camp, where casting is underway for minoritized extras and bit players in a regency drama akin to Shondaland's Bridgerton.
DasGupta plays with Sense and Sensibility and other classics in her novel that depicts a play-within-a-play-within-a-play with secrets, intrigue, and fake dating. Sisters Eila and Mallika Das are at camp, like everyone else to have fun...and maybe be discovered. Eila, the practical older sister, loves to act, but she's practical and worries constantly about her sister, in part because their father died some years before. Mallika, for her part, doesn't care for the care-taking, and has a lighter spirit, and maybe more maturity than the three-years-older Eila.
There is a love interest, Rahul, who is a bit of a perfect YA boyfriend, but for the secrets and lies.
At one point, I was so engaged in the story that I nearly missed my stop--the ultimate compliment to a compelling novel!
DasGupta plays with Sense and Sensibility and other classics in her novel that depicts a play-within-a-play-within-a-play with secrets, intrigue, and fake dating. Sisters Eila and Mallika Das are at camp, like everyone else to have fun...and maybe be discovered. Eila, the practical older sister, loves to act, but she's practical and worries constantly about her sister, in part because their father died some years before. Mallika, for her part, doesn't care for the care-taking, and has a lighter spirit, and maybe more maturity than the three-years-older Eila.
There is a love interest, Rahul, who is a bit of a perfect YA boyfriend, but for the secrets and lies.
At one point, I was so engaged in the story that I nearly missed my stop--the ultimate compliment to a compelling novel!
A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I gave up on this book about 2/3 of the way in because I just can't deal with people making bad choices after making good ones. If you can tolerate an addict backsliding, you might have better luck than I did.
The story concerns a young ex-Chabad (Jewish orthodox) pansexual woman photographer who unknowingly hooks up with her teacher, a famous photographer, who is reclusive enough that people don't know he's a trans man. There's a lot of will-they-won't-they that I found more annoying than compelling.
The story concerns a young ex-Chabad (Jewish orthodox) pansexual woman photographer who unknowingly hooks up with her teacher, a famous photographer, who is reclusive enough that people don't know he's a trans man. There's a lot of will-they-won't-they that I found more annoying than compelling.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction
Enough by Cassidy Hutchinson
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Y'all, I've read a fair amount of Trump crony memoirs (and also Condoleezza Rice's). These people fascinate or confound me. Rice's book [https://lowereastsidelibrarian.info/reviews/rice/extraordinaryordinarypeople] was compelling, sympathetic, and confounding, as is Hutchinson's. However, Hutchinson, unlike Rice, is a political n00b who was in her early to mid twenties when much of the book transpired. Despite her lack of experience, and what is a bizarre "enough" line (though it's shared by many others writing in the Trump confessional oeuvre) Hutchinson has a story to tell. She served as lead staffer to Mark Meadows, Trump's fourth and final (so far) Chief of Staff and was in a lot of rooms. She didn't get there by accident; clearly she was an extremely good stage manager (that's a job title that makes sense to me--impeccably organized, thinking steps ahead, catering to adult children (theater artists, as opposed to politicians, but similar), and singularly focused on The Show).
She also really seems to love American democracy, even though she aided and abetted many nefarious Trump presidency goings on, including some Covid-era shit that literally killed people (masks: they're about optics! At one point Trump told Covid positive attendees to take their masks off because he'd just had it and was invulnerable, and Hutchinson was there for it).
There are some points when she's pretty clearly lying or lying by omission (not about things that were done, more things that she knew), but she's cagey and self-protective in a world where no one was looking out for her. She was raised working class, and her father sounds mentally ill and abusive at best.
One thing that struck me was her adoration of Alex Butterfield, who was in a similar position to hers, but in the Nixon administration. Butterfield's testimony actually brought down the Nixon presidency, back when ethics mattered to Republicans. At one point in the Bob Woodward book about Butterfield (which Hutchinson read three times before deciding for sure to testify), The Last of the President's Men, where Butterfield indicates that he had no regrets about his role in the Nixon White House (and enabling the miscarriage of justice), nor in his whistleblowing after the fact (he doesn't like the term "whistleblow"). So...like, he's proud of having served the president and glad that he didn't lie about what he'd done...? And Hutchinson seems to feel the same?
I think Hutchinson is going to go far and do a lot more damage before she's done, but that she'll stick to her own bizarre moral compass while doing so.
She also really seems to love American democracy, even though she aided and abetted many nefarious Trump presidency goings on, including some Covid-era shit that literally killed people (masks: they're about optics! At one point Trump told Covid positive attendees to take their masks off because he'd just had it and was invulnerable, and Hutchinson was there for it).
There are some points when she's pretty clearly lying or lying by omission (not about things that were done, more things that she knew), but she's cagey and self-protective in a world where no one was looking out for her. She was raised working class, and her father sounds mentally ill and abusive at best.
One thing that struck me was her adoration of Alex Butterfield, who was in a similar position to hers, but in the Nixon administration. Butterfield's testimony actually brought down the Nixon presidency, back when ethics mattered to Republicans. At one point in the Bob Woodward book about Butterfield (which Hutchinson read three times before deciding for sure to testify), The Last of the President's Men, where Butterfield indicates that he had no regrets about his role in the Nixon White House (and enabling the miscarriage of justice), nor in his whistleblowing after the fact (he doesn't like the term "whistleblow"). So...like, he's proud of having served the president and glad that he didn't lie about what he'd done...? And Hutchinson seems to feel the same?
I think Hutchinson is going to go far and do a lot more damage before she's done, but that she'll stick to her own bizarre moral compass while doing so.
Bruised by Tanya Boteju
Get-lose-get back ensues--both with the girl and in reverse with Daya's rage issues. There is a cast of flamboyant and believable characters (you can be both!) and good roller derby descriptions.
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
"Bruised" refers to Daya's heart, as well as her limbs and extremities, following her parents' death in a car crash and Daya's chosen form of self-injury: skateboarding. Pain gives her the feeling she thinks she deserves, and having given up boxing, which was her thing with her dad, she needs a new sport to prove her toughness.
Daya lives with her theatrical paternal uncle Priam and his wife Vicky, who mean well. She's a high school student, but we don't see her interacting with any friends but her 22-year-old friend Fee and fee's girlfriend Cai. One day Fee suggests Daya go to a roller derby bout with them and Cai, and normally uninterested-in-anything Daya is psyched for ondce. At the game, Daya meets the derby girls, especially Kat, who plays jammer on the Killa Honeys, and Daya's perfect YA love interest Shanti.
Daya lives with her theatrical paternal uncle Priam and his wife Vicky, who mean well. She's a high school student, but we don't see her interacting with any friends but her 22-year-old friend Fee and fee's girlfriend Cai. One day Fee suggests Daya go to a roller derby bout with them and Cai, and normally uninterested-in-anything Daya is psyched for ondce. At the game, Daya meets the derby girls, especially Kat, who plays jammer on the Killa Honeys, and Daya's perfect YA love interest Shanti.
It didn't bother me that they thought I was queer somewhere deep down. I twas the first time someone had assumed I liked girls, even though I dated boys (well "dated" might be a stretch). My skater uniform--baggy jeans, hoodies, ball caps, and skate shoes, plus my undercut and piercings--suggested I might not conform to all kinds of "gender norms."
Get-lose-get back ensues--both with the girl and in reverse with Daya's rage issues. There is a cast of flamboyant and believable characters (you can be both!) and good roller derby descriptions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Margarettown by Gabrielle Zevin
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
As a long-time Gabrielle Zevin fan, who has loved all of her books, I'm baffled by her first, Margarettown. It has an unlikeable/unreliable male narrator in love with a manic pixie dream girl who contains multitudes. I don't want to describe it further, other than to ask why it's classed as a YA novel, when it isn't. I did dog ear some pages, so let's see what's going on there...
"An echo makes for very good company," Old Margaret said. "Whenever I'm lonely, I always try to find one to talk to. They're much better than mirrors. Mirrors say nasty things about you. Echoes are far more supportive. They think whatever you say is completely brilliant."
I mean, I didn't say Zevin is a bad writer or has bad ideas.
But underneath it all, underneath the wide hips, Bess is a great gal.
The narrator, being misogynistic and unlikeable.
page 250 has a heartbreaking passage about the inner life of a six-year-old that's too long to type with my cat starting at my fingers typing on my keyboard.
page 250 has a heartbreaking passage about the inner life of a six-year-old that's too long to type with my cat starting at my fingers typing on my keyboard.
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia
ageism doesn't warrant a content warning apparently
The Year of the Crocodile by Courtney Milan
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
The Year of the Crocodile, a short story in the Cyclone series is more like a day than a lunar year. The bulk of it involves Trade Me protags Tina and Blake's parents getting to know one another. Tina's parents are Falun Gong adherents given asylum in the United States, and Blake's dad is a multibillionaire with factories in China. What could go wrong and can't we all just get along? We can!
The dialog between Hong Mei Chen and Adam Reynolds is fun, even if unbelievable. I would have liked the story to be a novella!
The dialog between Hong Mei Chen and Adam Reynolds is fun, even if unbelievable. I would have liked the story to be a novella!
I Was a Teenage Dominatrix by Shawna Kenney
informative
fast-paced
4.5
Kenney's memoir is a snack of a book about sex work, domination in particular. There are some parts of the 1999 publication that I assume would be handled differently now, with regard to who sex workers are and why and transgender people.
Hold Me by Courtney Milan
Okay, she's living in Berkeley, so I guess she can get away with calling NYC dirty, but cold? Come on, we all know the Bay Area isn't at all warm. NYC Mexican food is fine; it's just more expensive than California Mexican, and the burritos are way smaller. But the pizza? For the love of blob, why would she go there?!?
btw Maria is a trans woman. Her gender isn't a consideration for Jay, who is bisexual (is his sexuality a cop out on Milan's part? idk).
The covers of the books in this series are disappointing. Since Milan self-publishes (!!!), the poor designs are on her, including the cover of Hold Me, which has two brown protagonists, per the text, but whose races/ethnicities appear ambiguous in the art.
hopeful
slow-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
In Hold Me, there are parallel lovers--one pair anonymous online and one pair venomous in person. It's not a spoiler to reveal that they are the same people, since it's obvious to the reader from the first series of texts. However, Maria (best friend character in the first book in the Cyclone series, Trade Me) and Jay don't figure it out until at least the second half of the book, when they've started to thaw to each other after a rocky first several meetings (Jay started the animosity, but Maria keeps it going long after Jay is willing to let it go).
It's a cute, sweet book that maybe takes a little longer than it should to resolve. Also there is this egregious passage
It's a cute, sweet book that maybe takes a little longer than it should to resolve. Also there is this egregious passage
New York is cold and dirty. The Mexican food is subtly wrong. The pizza is so wrong, it barely even qualifies as pizza in my mind.
Okay, she's living in Berkeley, so I guess she can get away with calling NYC dirty, but cold? Come on, we all know the Bay Area isn't at all warm. NYC Mexican food is fine; it's just more expensive than California Mexican, and the burritos are way smaller. But the pizza? For the love of blob, why would she go there?!?
btw Maria is a trans woman. Her gender isn't a consideration for Jay, who is bisexual (is his sexuality a cop out on Milan's part? idk).
The covers of the books in this series are disappointing. Since Milan self-publishes (!!!), the poor designs are on her, including the cover of Hold Me, which has two brown protagonists, per the text, but whose races/ethnicities appear ambiguous in the art.
Trade Me by Courtney Milan
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This we-can't-but-we-must romance is a quick read, which I appreciate because I'm still recovering from trying to slog through The Poppy War. (No particular shade to The Poppy War, just the unrelenting violence and degradation in a nearly 600-page book wasn't for me.) I found the we-can't-but tedious, but the emotional reveal was kind of okay? I'm making it sound like Trade Me is just meh, but really, the heroine Tina Chen, and to a lesser extent poor little rich boy Blake Reynolds are compelling characters.
Tina, whose family (Falun Gong adherents) have survived political strife in China and are barely surviving economic strife in the US. When Blake makes a classist assumption at school, she calls him out on it. Their teacher and classmates rally around poor Blake after the vicious attack, but Blake eventually shuts them down, and tries to connect with Tina after class. It takes him a minute to get Tina to listen to or accept an offer she can't refuse: trade lives with him for the remainder of the semester, but she eventually does, if only so her sister Mabel can get the medication she needs.
The story and resolution, including the protags' relationships with their parents (Blake's dad is a billionaire who takes pride in his assholery and Tina's mom is an immigration activist whose mantra is "don't talk to the pigs without a lawyer present.") is fun and funny.
btw Tina's roommate and best friend is a trans woman. Other than Blake and his dad, I think all the main characters are BIPOC.
Tina, whose family (Falun Gong adherents) have survived political strife in China and are barely surviving economic strife in the US. When Blake makes a classist assumption at school, she calls him out on it. Their teacher and classmates rally around poor Blake after the vicious attack, but Blake eventually shuts them down, and tries to connect with Tina after class. It takes him a minute to get Tina to listen to or accept an offer she can't refuse: trade lives with him for the remainder of the semester, but she eventually does, if only so her sister Mabel can get the medication she needs.
The story and resolution, including the protags' relationships with their parents (Blake's dad is a billionaire who takes pride in his assholery and Tina's mom is an immigration activist whose mantra is "don't talk to the pigs without a lawyer present.") is fun and funny.
btw Tina's roommate and best friend is a trans woman. Other than Blake and his dad, I think all the main characters are BIPOC.