jdamae11's reviews
91 reviews

The Three of Us by Ore Agbaje-Williams

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

3.25

I was so engrossed in this book told from the POV of 3 very aggravating people. It was so funny & sharp & I really enjoyed the writing style even though I wasn’t sure I would at the start. I think the build of the 3 POVs is really well done, having you spend time in the wife’s perspective first then moving to the two people who control her in different ways yet have convinced themselves they’re not controlling her. I think the last POV of Temi is so built up with so much anticipation and it really doesn’t let you down. If you don’t like unlikable / unreliable narrators, this won’t be your vibe but I loved it. I really hope this author publishes another book soon! 

Spoilery: 
I’m SICK at the end like everything was getting juicy like we were eating good with the drama in the last 10% & then it just ENDED? HELLO?
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

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

4.0

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Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You by A'ja Wilson

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Black Friend by Ziwe

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funny reflective fast-paced

3.25

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Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Times of a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

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challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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

3.5

genuinely enjoyed this but really just wish we would’ve spent much more time with Medusa / being in her perspective. The parts focusing in on her and her Gorgon sisters were my absolute favorite. I really appreciated one of the central questions posed in this novel which was “who gets to decide who the monsters are?” It seems pretty clear that those who have power and have gotten to run the narrative for too long are the true monsters, not thinking twice about the extreme (and often fatal) harm they cause to others less powerful than them. Even though we know how the myth goes it still was a heartbreaker when Medusa was killed genuinely needlessly by Perseus, especially with the way Haynes painted her and her sisters with such empathy and love, I genuinely was so sad for them and wished they had gotten better. Lastly I really loved the perspective of post death Medusa as the gorgoneion, because I too found Perseus to be pathetic and annoying and wanted him to die for his senseless killing of Medusa, so really enjoyed living in her COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED pissed off POV. 
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Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

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challenging hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

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funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

Samantha Irby has done it again! This collection had me ugly laughing in public and turning back just to laugh at the same lines again. But it also made me pause and reflect for a while on some tough stuff. Every time I finish anything by this author I feel just way less alone in this chaotic human experience, and I can only hope that I’ve somehow gotten funnier from being exposed to her brilliant wit too. This book was perfect to end 2023, the year that has humbled me more than any other LOL. *Fitting that I read the “Body Horror” essay after just turning 27 this month, because I too as a teen thought that 27 was “the definitive full stop age I needed to have my shit together by” and now that I’m here I could not laugh any harder at that concept. And this book helped me laugh even harder at it! 
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Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness by Peter H. Rossi

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challenging informative sad slow-paced

2.5

*I had to read this book to assist one of my student advisees through a "sociology of homelessness" class.* I deeply care about this subject and went through my own studies in both undergrad and grad concerned with these issues from a sociological perspective, so have been able to develop a pretty good foundation to grapple with these subjects. I really appreciated all this book had to offer but must admit it was very dense, heavy with (important) statistics that could made it a bit harder to access and digest. I learned a lot from the sheer amount of information presented, but I could tell it was an overwhelming endeavor for both me and my student to get through the charts and stats at times. Very important subject and gives more of a historical overview of homelessness and why it continues to exist today