historyofjess's reviews
2096 reviews

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Bashardoust is a master at weaving grown up fairy tales and this take on Snow White (though there's very little that binds it to the original tale) is so rich with character development and nuance. I loved the two main characters and it was both difficult and engaging to know more about the circumstances of their rivalry than they did. There's so much love at the core of this novel and it was a delightful read.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

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emotional reflective 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

3.5

There is a lot that I really liked about this book, despite the fact that literary fiction isn't generally my jam, but I also feel of two minds about it. On the one hand, the conceit of the book—telling the stories of twelve different Black women, whose lives fit together like puzzle pieces—is what is unique and compelling and kept me reading, wondering who I was going to meet next and following the Easter eggs of who popped up in someone else's story. On the other hand, I would have really liked to spend more time with a smaller number of characters and grown closer to them, so that the way they fed into each other's lives packed more of an emotional wallop. As it is, when one of the women I'd already met wandered into someone else's story, I found myself having to remember why I knew her and what her story had been and it ended up being a bit of a distraction. I also didn't really need the last section where a bunch of folks ended up at the same party, it kind of undercut the graceful way that the stories wove together (though the epilogue was a really lovely note to end on).

This is a truly lovely book and I absolutely recommend, there are just a few bits that kept from really loving it, despite everything that's really great about it.
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

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

2.5

It's impossible not to compare this to the superb television show it was based on. While a lot of the shape of the first season of The Leftovers is here, including several of the characters, it's so lacking when held up against it. There's nothing really propelling the book forward and no one is as interesting or lovable. The connections between the characters aren't as strong. It just doesn't fulfill the promise of the premise the way that the adaptation does. I'm glad it exists because that's how we got the show, but it's wild to me that such a rich text sprung out of somethign so shallow.
The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

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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

3.75

This was a ton of fun. It's queer. It's got fun superhero stuff in it. And, perhaps most fun of all, the character is a manic kid with ADHD trying to figure out what that means for him and those he cares about. I could have done with a little less cop stuff (the main character's dad is a cop and it leads to more than a little copaganda with anything involving him and his colleagues), so I've knocked it down a peg for that. The reveals weren't exactly surprising to me, but I'm not entirely sure they were supposed to be given that it seems like everyone but Nick had also figured them out, so it's not really surprising that the reader would be expected to be ahead of him, as well.
My Plain Jane by Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand

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

3.25

I didn't find this volume as much fun as My Lady Jane, but I still enjoyed this read as it was similarly light and whimsical. The resolution was a bit silly, but that's expected with this series, since it's intended to be a confection of a story.
The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce

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adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Tamora Pierce is one of those fantasy authors that I missed as a kid, so I was always intrigued by her work and, after reading this, I can't say I'm super excited to dig any deeper. There's some stuff that I liked in this book, largely the relationship between the four foster sibling as it went from the awkwardness of their coming back together and blossomed into a new bond between them. I wasn't over the moon about the women-get-kidnapped-and-forced-into-marriage plot and it was particularly frustrating because, of the four siblings, Sandry was the one who I wanted to give a good shake more than once.

I would have liked to see what this fun group of misfits with different kind of magic could have done with a plot that was a little less repetitive and a much less of a bummer. This could have been more of a good time than it was.
Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This felt like a disappointment. After spending two books with these characters, it didn’t really feel like this volume was all that interested in who they’d become or in who they were together. A lot of the energy felt focused on outside sources and new folks, which felt like a real let down. What’s more, the villain was fairly boring to me (and I’d been excited to see where the cliffhanger lead). Not how I saw this trilogy ending. 
Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

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

4.5

I was unprepared for the sheer joy and wholesomeness of this book when I started. It's an absolute gem. It's queer and witchy and so incredibly sweet from start to finish. I can't recommend it enough.
The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate the Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence by Lisa Mosconi

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informative medium-paced

3.0

I was excited for this to be different view on menopause focusing on what happens with the brain—something that freaks me out the most about this impending change in my body. It started out strong in that regard, but never really fulfilled my hopes and then, it swiftly went downhill. The latter half of the book is the same crap you're going to read in any book like this (and really, in any book about managing your health), such that pretty much anyone could write it in their sleep. Get exercised, eat better, sleep better, manage your stress. Yeah, thanks, I never would've guessed a doctor would suggest any of those things. As the author delved into these well-trod subjects I started to get annoyed with her sheen of "I understand this is not easy for everyone," because the more she went on, the more it felt like she was acknowledging privilege without actually understanding it and this really tipped for me when she started talking about avoiding "toxins." I don't even disagree with her on a lot of this stuff and take some of these precautions myself, but when she started talking about buying furniture made with "natural fibers" to avoid the chemicals that are put on them, I was about ready to scream at the sheer privilege blinders of such a suggestion.

Bottom line, there's some interesting stuff in the first half of this book and I particularly appreciate that she devotes an entire chapter for people going through gender affirming care and how that impacts menopause. But once she starts droning on about how to be healthy, feel free to chuck it across the room.
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

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reflective slow-paced

2.0

Ooof. This was a slog. It’s very overwritten and, for a memoir, often seems far more interested in the thoughts and lives of others than her own. Occasionally it seemed liked there were actual nuggets of something interesting in here but the writing and the jumbled format made any real sense of purpose utterly incoherent.