allmight's reviews
299 reviews

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

Not for you if you don't like unlikeable main characters. The MC is a bit of a dick and has internalised homophobia, but he does experience some growth in the end. I listened to this on audio, and I feel like I might have liked it more if I had read it instead of listening to it because the audio format made the ghost scenes very confusing. I had to play the audio back repeatedly because I kept missing them. I do love toxic and obsessive gays tho so I did enjoy this fine.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

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dark mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

delicious- finally, some good fucking food.

I've been looking for a good gothic haunted house book with some proper scares and proper supernatural elements and this was finally it. Gorgeous writing, a tense atmosphere, and a hot priest. What more can you ask for? 

(minus points for the super fast development of the romance) (has no one ever heard of a slow burn, for god's sake) (you've known him for a week, get a grip, girl)
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Moving book about the aftermath of the death of Vivek Oji, a genderfluid(?) Nigerian person, and the reactions of his/her family and friends to that event. Mostly this book is about grief, which it depicts beautifully - but it's also about gender and queerness, and the shame and guilt that comes with being queer when you have grown up and live in a conservative country where being different is dangerous. On the other hand, it's also about how living as your authentic self is beautiful. The prose was stunning and evocative. Akwaeke Emezi truly knows how to write.

Everyone cheating on their significant others was annoying though, and I'm not sure what purpose the cousin incest served. I feel like the book would not have changed much if they had just been childhood friends.
The Companion by E.E. Ottoman

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Mostly smut tbh (Good smut tho, so kudos for that). The best parts of the book were definitely the emotionl conversations, but the book was so short you didn't really get to know the characters, so that lessened the impact. But it was enjoyable for what it was.
What We Lost in the Swamp: Poems by Grant Chemidlin

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reflective fast-paced

3.25

Nice poetry collection about nature, queerness and mental health. Not the most memorable, but a nice quick read. 
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Like American Psycho except the protag is a woman and takes erotic pics of men... uncomfortable and most of the characters suck, but that's kind of the point. 4 stars? I guess? Idk what to feel
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

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5.0

brandy sandy, the king of epic endings. also, shallan, get some therapy... actually, everyone should get some therapy.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé

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5.0

A must-read for everyone with an inch of humanity. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine lays out the events of the Nakba, using primary sources and survivors' stories to tell a detailed story of this premeditated campaign of mass expulsion of Palestinians from their own land. A tough read, that will make you angry and sad, especially when you read the recounting of the various atrocities committed and still being committed today. But it's important to bear witness, it's important not to close our eyes. Keep listening, and keep speaking. 
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

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3.5

pretty entertaining, but the narrator creates distance between the reader and the characters so you don't really get a handle on who they are as people. also, stop spying on people having sex, idc if you are a fairy or whatever
Eyes Guts Throat Bones by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

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4.25

what a weird little book. love it