book_casey's reviews
393 reviews

The poetry of @danez_smif has been on my shelves and in my heart for several years, and their latest collection #Bluff is an incredible addition to the canon. I heard about their break from writing (or at least from publishing) as they recalibrated what it meant to be who they are in this time and place. That discernment really shows in the work they’ve shared with us.

Something really specific to Danez that I am floored by every time is the creativity and innovation of form and design in the poems themselves. If you haven’t seen them printed on paper—or, in this case, scanned the QR code for “Metro” and been taken to a digital version because it didn’t fit in print in the way they imagined! What a gift!—there are literal layers to their genius. The piles of words (like in “more hope”) and the relentlessness of them (like in “the end of guns”) defies my ability to explain them.

Get your hands on this collection for the aforementioned, as well as “rondo” and “poem” and “Two Deer in a Southside Cemetery” and whichever of their words will be most moving for you. There is a lot in here that’s tough to stomach, but we are lucky to be alive at the same time as someone so committed to writing us through it.

Content Warnings

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

The Cactus League by Emily Nemens

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sad tense slow-paced

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

Content Warnings

Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-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

3.5

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Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid

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emotional funny reflective 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 know that there is a wide world of Hockey Romance Novels, for every pairing and every trope and every spice rating you could ask for. Very few of them are poignant portraits of grief and regret.

This book is about two former NHL teammates finding their way back to each other after the devastating implosion of their friendship more than a decade before. Riley was in love with Adam; Adam was afraid to be in love with Riley. Everybody got hurt.

On page 13(!) I texted a friend that I was already crying. I immediately cared so much about these fractured men and how they were going to do the hard work of reassembling themselves and each other. I typically do not choose second-chance romances because they are flimsy and unearned. Riley and Adam *worked* their way back to each other. It was painful, and I cringed, and I read the next sentences with great trepidation, as unsure as Adam as to how Riley would react. I tell you, Rachel Reid does not miss.

You know they live happily ever after because that’s a requirement of the genre; you will be so delighted to watch them get there. They deserve it. And it’s not all sad and angsty! I laughed so hard!

In addition to grief, there are a lot of factors in Riley and Adam’s lives that might hit close to home for you. Always check the content warnings.

I was hashtag blessed to get an advance copy of this ebook via NetGalley, so many thanks to whoever decided to accept my request. 🤣 By the time this book is released on March 3, 2025, how many times do you think I’ll have re-read it? (So far, three times since receiving it two weeks ago. 🤷‍♀️) I’ll buddy read it with you next spring, regardless.

Content Warnings

James by Percival Everett

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adventurous challenging dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I read this as part of a book club, and would not otherwise have chosen it, so that colors my review.

The project that this book undertakes—retelling Adventure of Huckleberry Finn and reimagining it from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man—is clever and thought-provoking. As someone who did not love Huck Finn and does not love the Americana of it all, some of this book’s excellence is lost on me.

I appreciated the choices that the author made to differentiate from the source material, and the correctives he makes to the White Savior narrative lurking therein. This book permits Jim and other enslaved people to claim their own liberation, form their own senses of self, and always be in on the joke and the subversion—rather than always the one mocked and humiliated.

The content warnings should not come as a surprise, given the subject matter, but be warned.

Content Warnings

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book_casey's reviews 393 reviews

book_casey's reviews
393 reviews