Scan barcode
zoekatereads's reviews
420 reviews
Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement by Tarana Burke
I'm not a huge memoir reader, there's only been a few that have really interested me enough to pick them up. A lovely mutual on insta ( @the_midwest_library - PHENOMENAL recommendations) shared a review of this book and I knew I had to read it.
We've all heard of the 'me too.' movement, but how much do we know of the people, the work, the activism that came before that? This is such an important read and I would wholeheartedly recommend this if a) you have checked trigger warnings ahead of reading, and b) if you're in the right mindset.
Exploring Burke's experiences from growing up in the Bronx, to becoming the model student and activist, to one day being courageous enough to write "me too" on a piece of paper and spearheading a social movement was an emotional rollercoaster. Unbound goes beyond Burke's own experiences, but also to those of other young girls and women she encounters in life as well as the systemic issues that allow the cycles of abuse to continue unchecked.
Burke shares the lasting message of empowerment through empathy - something I think we can all learn from.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
5.0
I read this in a day - a phenomenal and deeply important memoir.
“Maybe community creates courage. What if courage creates community? Maybe empathy creates courage. How can you express empathy towards others if you can't empathize with your own self? Is the core of healing empathy and courage?”
I'm not a huge memoir reader, there's only been a few that have really interested me enough to pick them up. A lovely mutual on insta ( @the_midwest_library - PHENOMENAL recommendations) shared a review of this book and I knew I had to read it.
We've all heard of the 'me too.' movement, but how much do we know of the people, the work, the activism that came before that? This is such an important read and I would wholeheartedly recommend this if a) you have checked trigger warnings ahead of reading, and b) if you're in the right mindset.
Exploring Burke's experiences from growing up in the Bronx, to becoming the model student and activist, to one day being courageous enough to write "me too" on a piece of paper and spearheading a social movement was an emotional rollercoaster. Unbound goes beyond Burke's own experiences, but also to those of other young girls and women she encounters in life as well as the systemic issues that allow the cycles of abuse to continue unchecked.
Burke shares the lasting message of empowerment through empathy - something I think we can all learn from.
Jade City by Fonda Lee
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
King's Dragon by Kate Elliott
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson
honestly, not a clue how to rate this - I’ll collect my thoughts and revisit this review
I genuinely thought I would dnf it at the 100 page mark, but I was convinced I must be missing something…that continued to the end of the book
Initial thoughts are that this book was trying to do so much, and it was too convoluted to truly immerse me. I love sci fi, I love books about revolution and complex relationships, but this story was so difficult to truly grasp hold of and enjoy.
The premise sounded phenomenal so I’m honestly a bit gutted
I genuinely thought I would dnf it at the 100 page mark, but I was convinced I must be missing something…that continued to the end of the book
Initial thoughts are that this book was trying to do so much, and it was too convoluted to truly immerse me. I love sci fi, I love books about revolution and complex relationships, but this story was so difficult to truly grasp hold of and enjoy.
The premise sounded phenomenal so I’m honestly a bit gutted
Ask Me Again by Clare Sestanovich
2.0
Thank you Picador for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
This started off well, but very quickly lost me.
Ask Me Again was sold to me as a book that those who enjoyed Normal People will enjoy. Now, I had mixed feelings about this book, so maybe this should have been the point where I stopped and thought about whether this was for me. BUT, I thoroughly enjoyed Alone With You in the Ether, which is also very stream of consciousness, two people working out how they feel about each other, purple prose etc.
Even with my issues with Normal People, I still felt connected to the characters and genuinely wanted them to sort their sh*t out. Here, I think the lack of depth to the characters relationship was what left me wanting more. I struggled to believe they meant anything to one another, and not having that buy-in from the start made the decade long story difficult to be invested in. The lack of any meaningful plot wasn't necessarily a problem, but I often found the story completely directionless - this again left me really unmotivated to continue.
I absolutely believe there is a target audience for this book, and I likely wasn't it. I really hope this reaches the readers who will appreciate it, especially when some of the writing was genuinely very beautiful.
Thank you again to the publisher for the arc.
This started off well, but very quickly lost me.
Ask Me Again was sold to me as a book that those who enjoyed Normal People will enjoy. Now, I had mixed feelings about this book, so maybe this should have been the point where I stopped and thought about whether this was for me. BUT, I thoroughly enjoyed Alone With You in the Ether, which is also very stream of consciousness, two people working out how they feel about each other, purple prose etc.
Even with my issues with Normal People, I still felt connected to the characters and genuinely wanted them to sort their sh*t out. Here, I think the lack of depth to the characters relationship was what left me wanting more. I struggled to believe they meant anything to one another, and not having that buy-in from the start made the decade long story difficult to be invested in. The lack of any meaningful plot wasn't necessarily a problem, but I often found the story completely directionless - this again left me really unmotivated to continue.
I absolutely believe there is a target audience for this book, and I likely wasn't it. I really hope this reaches the readers who will appreciate it, especially when some of the writing was genuinely very beautiful.
Thank you again to the publisher for the arc.
Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Getting emotional over moss?? This was gorgeous. Such a pleasant listen. The mix of authors life experiences and scientific facts about moss worked really well. Looking forward to listening to more from the author!
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you Gollancz for the arc!
Death of the Author follows Zelu, a disabled, high-achieving woman from a family with the highest expectations (and a fair few opinions), as she takes a risk that will define her life.
Book within a book, interviews with family/friends, complex family dynamics
I'll start by saying that I worry this book will suffer being marketed as sci-fi. While there are sci-fi elements through the 'book in a book' within the story (which was great), the majority of the novel is more literary fiction with maybe a hint of speculative. I didn't mind this, but if you go into this expecting full-blown sci-fi I would be concerned readers will be left disappointed.
Overall I quite enjoyed this! Zelu makes for a really interesting main character - she's complex and not always completely likeable, but I appreciated so much of her journey through the book.
I really enjoyed the 'book in a book' - this made for a really great reflection of Zelu's life experiences, and it was woven in beautifully.
I got a little lost in the middle, and found myself growing frustrated with Zelu (and everyone in the book, honestly). I found my way back and did have a good time, although the ending left me feeling a little empty - there were still some questions left unanswered for me.
This was an extremely human book, which juxtaposed nicely with the content of Zelu's book, as well as with choices she made throughout the story (no spoilers here!).
I'd definitely recommend this to those who enjoy lit fic and a splash of sci-fi, but I'd definitely manage expectations when recommending this to sci-fi readers.
Death of the Author follows Zelu, a disabled, high-achieving woman from a family with the highest expectations (and a fair few opinions), as she takes a risk that will define her life.
Book within a book, interviews with family/friends, complex family dynamics
I'll start by saying that I worry this book will suffer being marketed as sci-fi. While there are sci-fi elements through the 'book in a book' within the story (which was great), the majority of the novel is more literary fiction with maybe a hint of speculative. I didn't mind this, but if you go into this expecting full-blown sci-fi I would be concerned readers will be left disappointed.
Overall I quite enjoyed this! Zelu makes for a really interesting main character - she's complex and not always completely likeable, but I appreciated so much of her journey through the book.
I really enjoyed the 'book in a book' - this made for a really great reflection of Zelu's life experiences, and it was woven in beautifully.
I got a little lost in the middle, and found myself growing frustrated with Zelu (and everyone in the book, honestly). I found my way back and did have a good time, although the ending left me feeling a little empty - there were still some questions left unanswered for me.
This was an extremely human book, which juxtaposed nicely with the content of Zelu's book, as well as with choices she made throughout the story (no spoilers here!).
I'd definitely recommend this to those who enjoy lit fic and a splash of sci-fi, but I'd definitely manage expectations when recommending this to sci-fi readers.
Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Well this was delightful. <i>Made Things</i> is a short and sweet gaslamp fantasy novella following Coppelia, an orphan, thief and con-artist with some tiny puppet-like friends.
If you've read anything from Tchaikovsky before, this is definitely on the lighter side! A heist, world-changing discoveries, threats to the city, and of course, little puppets. This was whimsical and entertaining, but still had an engaging plot with some great twists. I also really enjoyed how witty and charming some of the characters were.
There was something kind of nostalgic about this book - it possibly unlocked some sort of childhood yearning for my toys/plushies to come to life and cause mischief with me 😅
I may go onto read the suuuper short and sweet prequel Precious Little Things!
If you've read anything from Tchaikovsky before, this is definitely on the lighter side! A heist, world-changing discoveries, threats to the city, and of course, little puppets. This was whimsical and entertaining, but still had an engaging plot with some great twists. I also really enjoyed how witty and charming some of the characters were.
There was something kind of nostalgic about this book - it possibly unlocked some sort of childhood yearning for my toys/plushies to come to life and cause mischief with me 😅
I may go onto read the suuuper short and sweet prequel Precious Little Things!