grumpyreading's reviews
971 reviews

Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Go to review page

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? It's complicated

4.0

đź“š Review: Jesse Q. Sutanto gets me every time. I’ve basically never put down one of her books until I’m done, and this one was no different. I loved the characters and the story, and the depth and detail she brings into her books. This book was so sweet, and I feel like we genuinely got to know the characters, and they got to know each other, before we got into the romance of it. This felt authentic and sweet, and I giggled throughout the whole book - especially the last 25% of it. While it was a lighthearted book, it also talked about a lot of important themes, and I definitely recommend it! 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

đź“š Review: Holy fuck. This book was absolutely stunning. By page 37, I had cried and laughed out loud multiple times, and had written down 7 quotes and had taken multiple photos of full pages of beautiful writing. I literally cried and laughed out loud through this entire book, and was an absolute mess at the end. In the middle of the night after finishing it, I woke up and thought about it and cried. This book explores themes of grief and loss and the anticipation of these, and what it means to love and the hurt that comes with it. It also talks about what it means to be a parent, and to love your children as they grow. Though I’m not a parent, I absolutely sobbed at this, and about thinking about my mom (how dare I move out and grow up, honestly), and how much love can hurt. The way she used sandwiches to talk about the ways in which Rocky knows her family members so deeply - how different they are, how similar, what their preferences say about who they are - was so beautiful. Something so mundane that drew on the theme of the emotional work many mothers do in tending to their families was so central to this book. The writing was STUNNING, and I loved this book. Catherine Newman writes “It’s just plain life, beautiful in its familiar subtlety, its decency and dailiness.”, and I feel like that’s what this book was. That, and so much more. 
There are so many beautiful quotes I wrote down while reading - I’m including them below. 

đź’« Rating: 6/5. This very quickly became one of my favourite books of all time. 

QUOTES: 
“It’s so crushingly beautiful, being human,” the mother sighs, and the daughter rolls her eyes and says, “But also so terrible and ridiculous.” 

“What does loss look like, in your body? Where is it? It feels like an air bubble stuck in your psyche. It feels like peering down into a deep hole. The vertigo of that. The potential for obliteration. It’s in your stomach. Your spleen. Or it’s just your heart losing its mind.”

“It’s too beautiful to bear — and too much to be worthy of.” 

“What, exactly, are we doing here? Why do we love everyone so recklessly and then break our own hearts? And they don’t even break. They just swell, impossibly, with more love.” 

“It’s almost painful, the way little children just trustingly hold out their hearts for you to look at - the way they haven’t learned yet how to conceal what matters to them, even if it’s just chewing gum or a plush dolphin or plastic binoculars.” 

“Grief bright in the periphery, like a light flashing just out of view.” - literally cried immediately when I read this line 

“There is so much more I want to ask him. About the texture of grief in the household of his childhood.” 

“But grief was like a silver locket with two faces in it. I didn’t know what the faces looked like, but it was heavy around my neck, and I never took it off.” 

“I would pick this life too, I know. I’d even pick the way that pain has burnished me to brightness. The pain itself, though? I imagine I’d give it up if I could.” 

“I’ve heard grief described as love with nowhere to go. To be honest, though, I sometimes feel like love is that already.” 

“Maybe grief is love imploding. Or maybe it’s love expanding. I don’t know. I just know you can’t create loss to preempt loss because it doesn’t work that way. So you might as well love as much as you can. And as recklessly. Like it’s your last resort, because it is.” 

“And we’ll be as young and as whole as we’re ever going to be.” 

“A transition is so much gentler than an ending.”

“… and what she told me was that I didn’t need to draw so many conclusions, to make so many decisions. That I could just live with all the different parts of life as they were. That I could be happy even though nothing would ever be perfect.” 

“It’s just plain life, beautiful in its familiar subtlety, its decency and dailiness.”

“Imagine trying to make that color yellow just from the soil and sunlight,” Willa said. She was leaning against my father, who was smiling and frowning and dabbing at his face with a handkerchief. “Like, if someone was like, here’s a bowl of dirt. Make two perfect shades of the brightest yellow you ever saw! You totally couldn’t do it.” We agreed that this was true. “So what is that? I mean, I know it’s nature. Photosynthesis. Adaptation. But is it magic too?” We thought that maybe it was.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Space Struck by Paige Lewis

Go to review page

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.5

I think this was okay but wasn’t outstanding for me. I liked most of the content, with some that I wasn’t really a fan of. I do think there were some stand out poems and lines, but overall, I don’t think I’ll think of this one again. 
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Review: I did not love this, unfortunately. I didn’t think I’d be super into it at first, but a bunch of people said they loved it so I was excited, but it didn’t hold up for me. I felt that there was a loooot of information that was maybe a bit of overkill (like yes I get world building, but some stuff we did not need). The characters were very flat and cliche for me, and I’m not always mad about cliche but there was a lot in this book that didn’t work. The book was a lot of escapism from poverty and not fitting in, but also had some problematic things to say or allude to about poverty, which were also contradictory of some other pieces in the book. There was also some harmful language in here and I just didn’t love it. I don’t think this was the worst ever and I get why people like it but to me it felt kind of pretentious and surface level.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Nevada by Imogen Binnie

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

đź“š Review: This was like a fever dream. I see why people say it was so influential in trans literature and in general - and I loved it. I think it was a great commentary on the individuality of being trans while also being existing as part of a community. This book was a joy to read, though it was definitely sad, but also had a lot of queer and trans and feminist theory. This style and writing isn’t for everyone, but I loved it and this book. It was so relevant when it was written and today, and I can’t wait to revisit it. Nevada was rough, gritty, queer, and powerful. TLDR - gender is a construct. 

Some of my favourite quotes:

"I have been trans since I was little.
There is this dumb thing where trans women feel like we all have to prove that we're totally trans as fuck and there's no doubt in our minds that we're Really, Truly Trans. It comes from the fact you have to prove that you're trans to psychologists and doctors: the burden is entirely on your own shoulders to prove that you're Really Trans in order to get any treatment at all.” 
“Six years on and it's still weird to be called Miss. Not bad, just like, oh yeah, I guess I did that. Who knows whether that part of being trans ever fades. Probably not. Or more specifically, probably not when you still have to shave, when your junk still gets in the way and makes your clothes fit wrong every morning. It probably doesn't go away until you are rich.”
“She wakes up around four thirty and feels rested. Do other people feel like this all the time? It's fucked up.”
“Because if he's being totally honest with himself, on some level James has already figured out that this girl is trans and while he hasn't processed what that means yet he is having this desperate magnetic attraction to her.
Like not even sexual. Just like, I want to be your Facebook friend or something. I need to grab you, to have you in my life. Whatever.”
“Plus the world has moved on from the narrative that says being trans is something to be avoided at all costs; it's moved on from the narrative that says the only way to be trans is to be young and tiny and pretty and into men and to transition and then disappear. There's a much better understanding of what it means to be trans now: you just are trans. The fact that your transition might not go smoothly because of the shape of your body or the shape of your family or the shape of your personality or the way that your sexuality has been shaped does not mean that therefore you can just decide not to be trans. You can't will it away. Deciding to will it away is a defense mechanism that is inevitably going to fail and you'll be back where you started: trans. Just older and more entrenched in a life that itself is not much more than a coping mechanism designed to keep you from having to be trans in the real world. If you're trans you're trans and if you're obsessed with whether you might be trans you probably are trans.” 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

Go to review page

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

đź“š Review: Beautiful, haunting, lyrical, disorienting, and dreamlike. Joshua Whitehead is such an incredible writer, and knows how to use words like no other. This book was graphic and raw and important and so beautifully created and I recommend it to everyone. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

Go to review page

informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

đź“š Review: I think Ace was a very informative book, and could be a great resource for people who are want to know more about the asexuality spectrum. While I think there were good perspectives, and lots of pieces that I think were worded in a way that would clarify asexuality for people, I do feel it was quite repetitive and dry, and at times contradictory to itself and disjointed. The author also made a point to say the book was situated in a specific context, but I feel that even within that context there was a lot left out. I think that if you have knowledge of the ace spectrum, you may enjoy this but won’t learn a ton. It is a good primer, but I think maybe not accessible enough unless you’re invested. For example, if you wanted a supportive friend to better understand your ace identity, this may be a good resource, but didn’t feel accessible for perhaps a family member who is not supportive and actively wanting to learn. Overall it was okay. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was beautifully done. Though I guessed what happened early on, the mystery still kept me worried and engaged, the characters were loveable, and this book was very special. The magical realism like elements also contributed to the story in an interesting way. The experiences of Sam were very real, and were beautifully written and important to read. I felt so connected to the characters and absolutely pulled in to the story, and thought about this book every time I set it down (which wasn’t often because it had me turning the pages so fast!). While this was a mystery, it was also a book about queerness, community, belonging, and self-acceptance. 
I think you’ll love this book if you like Holly Jackson, Karen M. McManus, or Kacen Callender. 
Some of my favourite quotes from the book are below! 
“I just - I saw you and thought I was supposed to know you.” 
“Her arms are around me. She is warm and sparks with energy and want. I always thought I'd feel like I was falling, but this is so much better. I suddenly feel every space between every atom that makes me up, and it feels like possibility. Life, here, electric between us. In this moment, Shep and I can do anything. Maybe even live. I'm anchored here, to her, and in this moment a tsunami could break upon our shore and we would be unmoved.”
“They’d be happy you hold their stories, I think.” 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope by Karamo Brown

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

This book was okay, but wasn’t my favourite memoir. Karamo talked about a lot of trauma and adversity like drug use, parenting, domestic abuse, abusive relationships, racism, and homophobia, as well as touching on experiences on TV in shows such as Queer Eye. He talked about lot about how he approaches challenges and what leads to his positivity in life. I feel like some of the things he spoke about are maybe a bit more nuanced than he was discussing. I appreciate his opinions and how he approaches these things in his own life, but felt sometimes it was portrayed as his way being the “correct” way, or like there wasn’t much attention given to other perspectives/nuances. (For example - language people use for themselves, names we go by, religious trauma and experiences. Some of what he was saying felt like toxic positivity, and I get he was trying to portray that a negative experience may not be representative of an entire system, but it felt like he was minimizing people’s experiences and feelings. He was also talking a lot about being a therapist while… not being one?) I know this is his memoir so that’s not really required, but worth mentioning. Overall, this was a decent memoir. If you like Karamo on Queer Eye, I’d recommend reading it. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Go to review page

dark 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? It's complicated

1.5

Yeahhhh I didn’t like this book. While I appreciate the general idea of bringing focus away from the killer in this story, and focusing on the women and their stories, I feel like this missed the mark. Though the author doesn’t say the name Ted Bundy (or a fictionalized version of it), this book was intended to portray the victims and survivors of his crimes. While it was supposed to offer a commentary on the exploitative nature of true crime, and the people who idolize serial killers, it felt exploitative in itself. The very very graphic accounts of what was done to the victims and survivors felt unnecessary at many points for the way the story was being told, and at many points it was confusing what was fact and what was fiction. By using some facts, real names, and real details, alongside fictional details, the story was blurred, and it felt as though the author was concerned with telling the stories of real victims, but did this in a way that was not very tasteful, was potentially insensitive to the victims and their families, and that took away from their actual stories (that many have told themselves as well). 
I also felt that some of the subplots were very surface level, and added confusion or unnecessary details at best. In general, the book was very slow and there wasn’t a ton that happened, and there was nothing outstanding about the writing or the way this was told. It definitely dragged on. 
While I appreciate the intention, I feel like this book could have been told as a new story (not based on a true one) and gotten the same points across in a better way, rather than continuing to be somewhat exploitative about these crimes. The author could have focused on this theme through fiction, and could have drawn attention to accounts written by victims/survivors/families of the crimes she is portraying. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings