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bdingz's reviews
408 reviews
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I understand why this book isn't for everyone. It certainly is for me, however.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcoholism and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Self harm, Vomit, Medical content, and Stalking
Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology by Ellen Datlow
dark
tense
My favourites were:
The Importance of a Tidy Home
Return to Bear Creek Lodge
Cold
Löly Sow-ma
The Lord of Misrule
An overall good mix of tongue-in-cheek, strange, and creepy stories. There were just a couple I didn’t quite “get.”
The Importance of a Tidy Home
Return to Bear Creek Lodge
Cold
Löly Sow-ma
The Lord of Misrule
An overall good mix of tongue-in-cheek, strange, and creepy stories. There were just a couple I didn’t quite “get.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infidelity
Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
3.75
The characters felt real. I enjoyed the flower symbolism woven in.
The “does she like me?” did grate on me after a while.
The “does she like me?” did grate on me after a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Death and Infidelity
I know Opal doesn’t describe her problematic relationship with alcohol as “alcoholism,” but it’s the closest CW I could include. She only goes into it a couple of times and she doesn’t consume alcohol over the course of the book.
The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese
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
3.5
When I first started reading, the book felt like a Hallmark special—and I wasn’t sure whether I’d be into it. I soon warmed up to the story, though, and I appreciated how it subverted the third act breakup trope in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Medical content, and Alcohol
Gabby experiences harassment from an ex boyfriend on a few occasions.
The Cunning Craft: A Torturous Path of the Wise Art by Nicholaj De Mattos Frisvold
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
Well-researched, but ultimately just not my cup of tea.
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol
Selling Out the Spectrum: How Science Lost the Trust of Autistic People, and How It Can Win It Back by Liam O'Dell
hopeful
informative
reflective
Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book.
An ambitious debut, Liam O’Dell’s Selling Out The Spectrum takes on issues that have long frustrated academics and autistic advocates alike. With thorough research and a hefty number of interviews, the author interrogates the legacies of controversial figures like Andrew Wakefield and Simon Baron-Cohen. O’Dell doesn’t simply rail against the academic machine, however—he consults with researchers, charities and autistics themselves to paint a nuanced picture of the problems at hand.
My main criticism is that, at times, O’Dell’s own voice got lost in the sea of interviews. As someone with a background in journalism, I know this might be counterintuitive to someone of the author’s profession. However, I would’ve liked to hear more from him outside of the introduction and conclusion.
An ambitious debut, Liam O’Dell’s Selling Out The Spectrum takes on issues that have long frustrated academics and autistic advocates alike. With thorough research and a hefty number of interviews, the author interrogates the legacies of controversial figures like Andrew Wakefield and Simon Baron-Cohen. O’Dell doesn’t simply rail against the academic machine, however—he consults with researchers, charities and autistics themselves to paint a nuanced picture of the problems at hand.
My main criticism is that, at times, O’Dell’s own voice got lost in the sea of interviews. As someone with a background in journalism, I know this might be counterintuitive to someone of the author’s profession. However, I would’ve liked to hear more from him outside of the introduction and conclusion.
If you liked We’re Not Broken by Eric Garcia, be sure to pick up this when you can.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, and Transphobia
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
Cozy and sweet. The characters felt very real to me.
The audiobook narrator is excellent!
The audiobook narrator is excellent!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement and War
The Courage To Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga
challenging
informative
This book was not what I expected, based on the title and recommendations I’d read. I was very close to giving it a DNF once I read the “deny trauma” bit, but I pushed through. I don’t know that I’m going to live an Adlerian lifestyle or anything, but there are some concepts here that are useful as thought exercises, if nothing else.
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Self harm, and War
Haunted Girl: Esther Cox & the Great Amherst Mystery by Laurie Glenn Norris, Barbara Thompson
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.25
The authors do a great job compiling what little information is available about Esther Cox and organizing a narrative. I’m not sure the book quite does what it sets out to do, which is to “demystify” Cox and combat much of the misogyny that’s baked into her story. Near the end of the book, Norris notes that Cox was more than “a haunted girl” — she was a “daughter, granddaughter, sister, wife, mother…” etc. Even though we know Cox’s life continues beyond the mystery for which she’s known, I don’t think it counts for much to say that she eventually lived a life that was expected of her sex at the time.
All in all, some mixed feelings about this one, but I’m glad I read it.
All in all, some mixed feelings about this one, but I’m glad I read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Rape, and Self harm