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lilacwhisker's reviews
181 reviews
Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.5
Angela Davis is such an interesting person and writer… I am hoping to read her autobiography at some point because she really is such an iconic author. This book took me a long time to read but was very much worth it!
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wowowowowowow. this book is both beautiful and entertaining, and beat all of my expectations. you would expect a book of this title to be quite boring, but every character Mandel writes is full of depth and her world-building is incredible... even though I suppose that world is based on one that already exists (made me love Earth so much,,, living on the moon sounds terrible tbh). although at first I didn't really care for Gaspery, his chapters (with a uniquely first-person perspective) really made me feel for and appreciate him. the version of time travel Mandel writes about is so refreshingly realistic and the way she writes about reality and human life are just wonderful...(although I a: I wish there was more expansion on Gaspery's choice to tell Olive about her death and b: the ending felt a little bit underwhelming and abrupt for my liking) really lovely. hoping to read some of her other stuff at some point!
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Didion is a great writer for sure, but this isn’t quite what I thought I was getting into. There was a lot of hype surrounding this, and I kind of thought it would have more narrative aspects, but really it was more like a stream-of-consciousness type book. This didn’t make it bad per se, in fact I do find it interesting, but not quite the 5-star legend that everyone seems to think is the best thing ever. My favorite thing about this book was the amount of intertextuality used; Didion is clearly very well read and her references give the story so much more depth… part of what makes this memoir unique (and especially memorable) is her usage of repeated lines throughout and how each instance they are used seems to reveal even more about their meanings. In my opinion, Didion is a very interesting person (she really feels like someone from her time, you know?) who very much needed to write this book to cope with her losses and heal. I would love to read her other books, some of which she mentioned in this.
Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
a book about hot dogs, cars, and love. being a werewolf is complicated… so this book was also kind of complicated in a lot of parts, and the time skips made it so some plots got lost, but wow wow wowww all the stuff that happens here is CRAZY how did those two raise a nephew
but for real I was tearing up and running around while reading this
fave quote:
but for real I was tearing up and running around while reading this
fave quote:
“With a werewolf, loving and killing, they’re the same act.”
Path of Stars by Erin Hunter
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
did I tear up at the ending? maybeeeeeeeeee
A Forest Divided by Erin Hunter
I think the best part of this book was Quiet Rain and Sun Shadow. even though I didn’t really like Sun Shadow’s bonus scene,
he was significantly less annoying here, and I LOVE Quiet Rain hating Clear Sky for his actions, because it’s crazy how fast some of the other cats got over his war crimes. and like I GUESS she forgave him but still it was good to see him feel guilty like that. the appearance of Star Flower was hilarious, and tbh her and Clear Sky are really similar, but maybe not in a good way. okay, the absolute worst part of the book was Gray Wing. I don’t care about him splitting off to do his own thing, I think that’s great for him, but the fact that there was a dangerous cat running around the forest and he didn’t want to tell anyone because he was afraid it would HURT THEIR FEELINGS??? like bro there are more serious things happening. I know for sure that the other cats are gonna kill him for that in the next book
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
he was significantly less annoying here, and I LOVE Quiet Rain hating Clear Sky for his actions, because it’s crazy how fast some of the other cats got over his war crimes. and like I GUESS she forgave him but still it was good to see him feel guilty like that. the appearance of Star Flower was hilarious, and tbh her and Clear Sky are really similar, but maybe not in a good way. okay, the absolute worst part of the book was Gray Wing. I don’t care about him splitting off to do his own thing, I think that’s great for him, but the fact that there was a dangerous cat running around the forest and he didn’t want to tell anyone because he was afraid it would HURT THEIR FEELINGS??? like bro there are more serious things happening. I know for sure that the other cats are gonna kill him for that in the next book
The Blazing Star by Erin Hunter
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I feel like Clear Sky’s crimes are being so quickly forgotten, especially with the other conflicts in this book distracting from his past actions. The One Eye plot did… something? for that? I guess by making Clear Sky doubt that his cats are loyal to him (which they SHOULD NOT be??). why has Clear Sky suddenly changed so quickly, becoming basically an entirely different character?? being religious does not change an insane person (cat) that much. besides that, the Star Flower plot was kind of hilarious, but also I now HATE Thunder for that… like he decides to give away very important battle plans to a cat he has just met because she is a pretty girl?? also I feel like this book would have been much more interesting if the Blazing Star didn’t actually heal the illness and Star Flower just lied about it to get Thunder to trust her— also, the StarClan cats in this were AWFUL!! like I know you guys are new to this but still, can’t you be a little less vague please?? ps thank you Warrior cats for giving us Holly
The Sun Trail by Erin Hunter
Turtle Tail pls get over him… also rip Storm?? weird death that should not have happened… warrior cats stop killing moms for the plot challenge: impossible Uhh but could have been worse lol
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
shoutout to Gray Wing for being SO stupid and SO boring as a main character. anyways, the worst thing about this book was the pacing, as whenever any sort of issue got brought up, it got resolved in like two pages. actually, the worst part might be Gray Wing and his romantic relationships
The First Battle by Erin Hunter
dark
tense
medium-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
3.75
warrior cats please stop killing off female characters pls Fluttering Bird, Bright Stream, Storm, Bumble, and now TURTLE TAIL have all existed just to make the main characters (Thunder, Clear Sky, Gray Wing) have depth or whatever. warrior cats please stop killing off she-cats with any importance to the plot whatsoever… hanging on to Tall Shadow and Wind Runner at this point. anyways, the Tom plot was weird (can’t believe THAT is how they killed Turtle Tail) and the final battle was pretty okay (Gray Wing said the infamous line) however the immediate StarClan/ghost cats appearance was a little strange and I hope it’s the focus of the next book! ps the Wind Runner and River Ripple content in this was great
Thunder Rising by Erin Hunter
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
better than The Sun Trail, but not as great as it could be. I appreciate finally being able to get a perspective from inside Clear Sky’s camp, and getting to see how absolutely insane he is?? anyways, I’m glad Turtle Tail and Gray Wing’s relationship is finally set in stone, and it’s actually really nice to see him care about her kits as his own, because we rarely get to see this kind of adoption in depth. the other big part of this book is the cats in the moor being unsure about who is going to become leader, and to be honest it’s kind of making me dislike Wind/Wind Runner, even though she obviously becomes leader later on— hopefully she can transition into her place as leader smoothly and in a way that still makes her seem likable instead of greedy for power. Big hopes for the next book, especially with Thunder!! (ps i NEED more river ripple interactions PLEASE i love him)