illtakethenightshiftx's reviews
186 reviews

Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us, and How We Can Fight Back by Julia Serano

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
Audio format isn’t working for me :/ will be finding a print copy asap bc this is so interesting!
Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens

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

4.0

Looking for a Portrait of a Lady on Fire read-alike? Then look no further! I really loved this novel, the prose, the characters, and the storytelling structure. I loved seeing the world through Blanca’s eyes and learning about her life and the lives of George, Chopin, and the children. It’s definitely a minimal plot kind of story 
Also the YEARNING and how imperfect/human the characters are?! *chef’s kiss*
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Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

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

2.0

Eric LaRocca is a great short story author and this novel felt like it should’ve been 3-4 separate short stories in the same anthology. Nothing felt cohesive and when the two main narratives came together it was so quick and didn’t make a lot of sense. Also, considering this audiobook was only about 5.5 hours long, it was so wordy! 

Honestly, it felt like a draft that needed more work, between the use of language and extremely heavy-handed themes. The story as a whole was underwhelming and I didn’t find myself attached to any of the characters (which is a bad sign!). I’ve only been blown away/completely impressed by one of LaRocca’s short stories and found their other works underwhelming, so I honestly don’t know what I was expecting from this novel. 

If you really like LaRocca’s work, you might enjoy this.

I also cannot stress enough, check the content warnings and read other reviews.
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Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

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adventurous emotional reflective 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

Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens

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

4.0

This is everything I wanted Outlawed to be and more!! Westerns aren’t really my thing, but if it’s queer and feminist I AM IN!! The characters felt real and fleshed out, as did the setting of Dodge City. I felt like I could have stepped into the pages and walked down the street. The writing style was absolutely beautiful as well. I loved so much about this book! There were some pacing issues, but overall a really solid read that scratched an itch I didn’t know I had.
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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challenging informative fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Should be required reading for everyone, and I mean everyone. It’s heavy and bleak at times, but there’s so much hope, love, and little moments of joy interwoven into the narrative. Incredible characters, narrative structure, and prose. Wow, wow, wow. I’ll be chewing on this novel for a long time.
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Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun

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medium-paced

4.0

kicked my feet, cried a lil, suddenly wanted to know when my bookstore meet-cute will happen 🥹
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One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I didn’t think I was going to finish this, but my kindle said I had 20 minutes left so I figured I’d finish it 🤷‍♀️

This book was fine. As in, it was a book that I read that had characters who did things and talked about their lives/situations. But there was no really plot, just vibes which isn’t really my speed, but can be effective when done well. There were elements of magical realism that were mentioned in the blurb, but those elements really weren’t explored on a deeper level.

I was totally sold on the blurb, but wasn’t sucked in once the story got underway and there are no quotation marks (!!) which made the story difficult to follow, especially given that there were only a handful of characters. I’m not sure if things were literally lost in translation, but this story really didn’t do it for me. I need to be able to connect to at least one character, but I couldn’t connect with anyone.
Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee

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emotional reflective 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

4.5

Pomegranate is a special book. I’ll carry Ranita with me forever.
Full review to come
On Palestine by Ilan Pappé, Noam Chomsky

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
audio format isn’t working for me. switching to physical once I can get it from the library!!!!