ajsterkel's reviews
812 reviews

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-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

 I think Ruta Sepetys is a queen of historical fiction. How does she consistently find such interesting subjects to write about? She's amazing at immersing the reader in historical settings. I'm impressed.

Out Of The Easy is set in 1950s New Orleans (which you could probably tell by the title). It stars Josie, the 17-year-old daughter of a prostitute who is desperate to attend college. In her quest to get money and recommendation letters, she crosses paths with brothel owners and sleezy businessmen, mobsters and cops, cab drivers and booksellers, and a boy who has the potential to be more than a friend. She even becomes a suspect in a murder case.

I like how compassionate the author is toward the characters she writes about. When you're examining the underbelly of a city, you're going to uncover some dark things. The author shows the good and the bad side of her characters, especially the prostitutes. The women at the brothel are a family to Josie. They're just as dysfunctional as any family. The women don't love being prostitutes, but they're strong and funny and are doing whatever it takes to survive.

The characters are where this book shines. I was completely invested in their lives. If you like character-driven historical fiction, then I think you should pick up this book and meet Josie. 
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 I now understand what all the award committees are raving about. This itty-bitty horror novella is freakin' terrifying! I may never sleep again.

Ring Shout is historical horror set in the early 1900s American South. It follows a team of monster hunters as they search for Ku Kluxes—monsters that disguise themselves as Klan members so they can kill humans. As the characters hunt for monsters, they get pulled deeper and deeper into a supernatural world.

The imagery will stay with me for a long time. It's vivid and graphic. A woman gets dissected alive! Then there's a butcher demon with tiny mouths all over his body. It's gross! I loved it, but its gross!

I like that the author takes real historical events and twists them into something paranormal. I also like that he finds the hopeful moments in tragedy. This is a horror story, but it's not a depressing story.

I think there are too many different types of supernatural creatures in the novella. The book is less than 200 pages. There's not a lot of space for worldbuilding. I sometimes got confused by all the different critters.

Read this book and meet your next nightmare. 
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

I'm slightly obsessed with Gary D. Schmid's writing style. It's sparse and straightforward, which brilliantly captures the bleak landscape of Maine in winter and the no-nonsense attitude of the people who live there.

This is the story of two foster brothers who develop a bond, even though they're extremely different. It's also the story of parents who love their children and are willing to do anything for them. It's great to see a book that shows loving foster parents who see the good in troubled kids and want to help them succeed. The parents calmly handle whatever problem pops up. I wish I could be that chill.

The story also shows how adults sometimes steamroll the decisions of children. The book focuses on a 14-year-old who becomes a father. The adults ban him from seeing his girlfriend, and they put his baby up for adoption without consulting him or allowing him to meet his daughter. His wishes are constantly ignored. It raises questions about when young people should be allowed to make adult choices. Are adults doing more harm than good by dismissing the feelings of kids?

My only complaint about the book is that it strays into melodrama a few times. I don't want to give away spoilers, but there's a lot of tragedy in this story. I don't feel like all of it was necessary.

I really liked this one. I definitely want to read more of the author's work. 
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

This is a hard book to review because it's dry af to read and probably only relevant to people like me who are tempted to start their own cult. Or, maybe it's relevant if you want to avoid my cult. I don't know.

The True Believer is a philosophy book from the 1940s. It talks about how mass movements start and what keeps them going. The author mostly focuses on Nazis in Germany and Communists in Russia because those were the largest mass movements of his time, but he also discusses religious conversion and how governments get overthrown.

The author has some interesting observations about how mass movements are all the same at their core. They all make vague promises about the future and attract frustrated people who want to change their lives. The movement gives people a sense of community and an enemy to blame for their problems. The frustrated people tend to bounce around to different movements because they can't find anything that cures their frustration.

My biggest issue with the book is right in the title. It's called "Thoughts" on mass movements. I really wish the author had backed up his thoughts with more evidence. I feel like he dismissed or ignored anything that didn't fit into his thesis. I wanted him to stop talking about Nazi and Communists and focus on movements that rocked the boat in less dramatic ways. I don't think this book is nuanced enough.

I don't know what to think about this one. I spent the whole thing wavering between bored, intrigued, and skeptical. It did give me a lot to ponder, though. I understand why this is a philosophy classic. I recommend it if you're interested in mass movements. 
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

 I finished the Simon Snow series Nooo! What will I do with my life now? I've been spending all my free time reading these books.

Does the series really have to be over? There are a bunch of dangling plot threads because the characters decided to let somebody else save the world. They could change their minds and keep things going . . . .

Anyway, this series is about a group of 20-somethings who have finished wizard school and are now in college or starting careers. The final book is Any Way The Wind Blows. It's slightly less plot-focused than the previous books, which is kind of the point. What's a Chosen One supposed to do when his enemies have been vanquished? How's he supposed to live without the whole world watching? What if fighting monsters is his only job skill, and he doesn't want to do it anymore?

The humor and quirky characters are the best part of this series, but I also love that it's set after a wizard war. The characters have regrets about how they behaved during the battles. They're now trying to correct their mistakes. In the process, they make friends with the classmates who had to get out of their way during all the saving-the-world stuff.

This series is awesome because it takes the villains and background characters from traditional fantasy series and turns them into main characters.

My biggest complaint about the final book is the kissing scenes. Most of them become biting scenes. It makes sense because the characters involved are a vampire and a dragon boy who used to be enemies, but it grossed me out. Kissing is unsanitary enough without breaking the skin! I couldn't stop thinking about infections. I hope they brushed their teeth before literally attacking each other's faces.

I'm scared of germs. If you're normal, maybe the biting is fine. Don't let it stop you from reading the book. I enjoyed this series. I'm sad it's over. 
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Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-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? Yes

5.0

 I highly recommend this series because it's hilarious.

Simon Snow is a parody of the fantasy genre that follows a group of friends who have recently graduated (or dropped out) of wizard school. In this book, they decide to go on a road trip across the US because they need a vacation from constantly saving the wizarding world. Of course nothing on the trip goes as planned.

This series is brilliant because of how average the characters are. They're normal people in their early 20s who just happen to be wizards. They mess up their relationships and make impulsive decisions. They're insecure. They're not very good at saving each other from danger. It's a refreshing take on the genre. These characters aren't heroes. They're just kids with magic. And dragon wings.

 
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Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet's Journey with an Exceptional Labrador by Stephen Kuusisto

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.0

In the 1990s, the author lost his job as a poetry professor at a university and decided that he needed to get a guide dog and expand his world. He'd been blind since birth, but his parents saw his disability as shameful, so he learned to navigate without a dog or a white cane. It was extremely dangerous and left him confined to the towns he'd memorized.

The author completely transforms his life over the course of this memoir. For him, it was empowering to admit that he needed help and to educate himself about his disability. It takes an astounding amount of energy to pretend you're not blind. I love seeing how much joy and freedom he got from his dog. Even though this memoir touches on difficult topics (such as growing up blind with alcoholic parents), it's never depressing. It left me smiling.

I like the subject of this book, but the writing style is not my thing. I read the first 10 pages and said, "I'm pretty sure this dude graduated from Iowa Writers Workshop." Then he confirmed that he did! It's very easy for me to recognize their brand of insufferably pretentious weirdness. Sometimes the writing style is weird for the sake of weird. Also, the author quotes from a ton of other sources, so half the book is written by other people. It got on my nerves.

Even though I didn't like the writing, I want to find more stories like this one. I want nonfiction books about animals that are not textbooks and not sappy. I think Stephen Kuusisto found the balance between informational and readable. I appreciate that. 
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Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

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adventurous challenging hopeful reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is a bizarre book. I loved it, but I'm not sure how to talk about it. It's the kind of story I just want to shove into everybody's hands.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is a story about stories. It's a love letter to books and libraries. It shows how stories are passed down through generations and give us the courage to keep moving.

At the center of the novel is an ancient myth called "Cloud Cuckoo Land." Other stories branch off from that myth like spokes. In 1453 Constantinople, a farmer and a seamstress are trapped on opposite sides of the city wall during a war. In 2020 Idaho, an elderly librarian is directing a play when a teenager on a deadly mission walks into his library. Sometime in the future, a young girl is alone on a spaceship and searching for a new home for humanity.

I know that sounds confusing, but the stories actually work together beautifully because the author is great at juggling multiple points-of-view. I was equally invested in each story. It's amazing how real the characters feel. Their kindness and willingness to take risks really shines through.

This book is confusing at first because there are a lot of characters, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Once I got invested in the characters, I couldn't put the book down. I love the way the stories converge at the end. It took a lot of skill to write this novel. I suspect it'll be one of my favorites of the year. 
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In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom by Maryanne Vollers, Yeonmi Park

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

0.0

I didn't like it, which is a terrible thing to say because it's a memoir. I feel like I'm judging somebody's life. Maybe this is why I don't read more nonfiction.

The author was born in North Korea and didn't have an easy childhood. When she was 13, her and her mother escaped into China and became victims of human trafficking. They jumped from one bad situation into an equally bad situation. It's a brutal story to read.

Aside from the difficult subject matter, most of the book is fine. The writing isn't great, but I can forgive it because the author doesn't have the same education level as other writers.

I think the pacing is too fast. I kept wishing the author would slow down and give more details. I wondered how she learned Mandarin faster than the other kidnapped refugees, and why she was so valuable to human traffickers that they were willing to "go to war" for her, and why her mother allowed a 13-year-old to make so many important decisions for the family. I wanted more information!

Then, a paragraph at the end of the book slightly ruined everything for me. The author admits that her story has changed multiple times. She gave different accounts to different journalists. Instead of telling the truth, she told reporters what she thought they wanted to hear. She says, "I was reacting, improvising like a jazz musician playing the same melody a little differently each time, unaware that there might be people out there keeping score."

My brain went in two directions with this. First, I said, "She obviously lived through something traumatizing. Of course she's not going to spill her secrets to every reporter who asks a question." The second part of me went, "Nooo! North Korea is a vault wrapped in propaganda. Changing your story will muddy the waters and cast doubt on the stories of other refugees." The North Korean government is going to grab these inconsistencies and use them to discredit survivors and keep people trapped.

I don't know what to think about this book. I'm not mad that I read it, but I can't recommend it to other people. I lost trust in the author. How do I know I'm reading the real story right now? Does it even matter if I'm reading the real story? 
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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring tense 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

5.0

 I loved this book. Five stars for Rocky the alien.

Project Hail Mary is a fast-paced science fiction novel about a man who wakes up from a coma and discovers that he's alone on a spaceship. His crewmates are dead. He has no idea why he's on the ship or what he's expected to do. As he frantically searches for answers, he slowly remembers that Earth's sun is infested with alien algae, and he's been sent to a distant star in the hopes of finding something that kills space algae. Fortunately (and unfortunately), he learns a lot more than he expected on his journey.

Read this book if you like plot twists because there are a lot of them. It's actually an impossible book to review because there are so many twists. Everything I want to say is a spoiler. The characters handle each twist with humor and optimism. It's kind of inspirational. These people are very, very determined to live. Every time they start to feel hopeless, they refocus and try a different way of solving their problems. Nothing is easy in space!

My only complaint is that the author isn't great at coming up with unique characters. The characters in this book are pretty much identical to the characters in his previous books. That's a small complaint, though. Don't let it stop you from reading this one. It's really good! 
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