lon3rston3r's reviews
58 reviews

I have read this book so many times and I never get tired of it! Octavia is truly an amazing sci-fi writer and this Is my favorite of all.

I liked this book! The main character is a ride or die and I gotta admire that, even though she's stupid. It just shows the length some people go for their family. I did, however, find the ending to be anti-climatic.

I started reading this book during the 2020s and I got to the part where it talks about the White Flight and the hardships Black people faced when they moved to the suburbs. It focused on one story specifically and ended the chapter recounting the harassment and constant assault this individual's family faced. He had to move his family back to the city and had to pay two rents because nobody would buy his house from him due to racism and he grew poor keeping up with all the bills and committed suicide. At the time I was reading this book, I was following a story about a Black woman in Ohio who's neighbors were constantly harassing her and her children. They were getting the town to turn on her. Her hateful neighbors' influence was so strong, they wouldn't even pick up her trash. They would walk around and near her house with guns at all times of the day and night. The police wouldn't help her and it got to the point where she came to the internet for help and random Black men would come and guard her house at night. So after finishing that chapter (I believe it was the 2nd) I bawled and put the book down for a while. 

When I picked it back up, after reading more literature similar to this, I felt like this was a book for white people who were starting their journey to being more aware and educated. I still feel like this today, but I will eventually go back and finish.

This is a well written book talking about the physical, mental, and emotional consumption of the Black people who were enslaved. I got this book because I felt that it would be harder to get my hands on due to its content. It does talk about metaphorical consumption and I would have to read it a couple more times to really grasp the argument the author laid out.

This is a very hard and emotional book to read, and I found myself taking a lot of breaks in between. The case of Recy Taylor is a sad one and I admire her strength to stand up and speak her truth. This book was my first real introduction to Rosa Parks and the work she did for the NAACP outside of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. Why do we not mention this more often?! The campaign that Rosa Parks was a meek and demure old woman worked at the time of the boycotts and was necessary, but I fear it might have prevented us from learning more about her! She is an absolute (and I mean this in the most respectful way possible) bada**! 

I really liked this book! It was a unique and refreshing premise and I loved the main character, "Bea". Her upbringing should make her seem like a terrible person, but in this age, she's being very smart and strategic. Very "sprinkle, sprinkle" of her. While I liked the build up, this book sort of fell into that problem where the conflict builds and builds, then the conclusion is kind of just put together. I found it unsatisfying, and it kind of seems like the author is leaving the story open for another book.

THIS PART OF THE REVIEW REVEALS SPOILERS:

I hated the ending of the mother coming back to kill the best friend for her daughter. It just felt out of nowhere and thrown together. I'm glad "Bea" ended up on top, but I guess I was hoping that she would either realize her true self and abandon this whole persona, or save herself. I have a strong suspicion that there will be another book because her little attraction to the one guy who sleeps with all the wives seemed unresolved.

This was a good read, but it was nothing too complex. The character, Dr. Simon Neely, is a paleontologist dealing with the trauma and guilt of his younger sister disappearing during a museum visit where he was her chaperone. He moves back to his hometown and takes a position at the very museum it happened. He's dealing with a mysterious spirit that seems to haunt the museum at night. On top of that, a mysterious note surfaces that claims to want to help Neely "find her bones". Real f*cked up considering he's a paleontologist.

The main character is extremely unlikeable and clearly has issues they refuse to solve. The story takes place during COVID and I don't enjoy that scenery, but I got over it because we can't just ignore what happened to us all (I don't care if you read to escape real life problems) and I was waiting to see if it was integral to the story. It wasn't. The story spends more time mentioning the details of the lockdown and masks which again, doesn't really add to the story. The museum being closed during all of this did miss an opportunity to expand on the supernatural/paranormal aspect of the story. Even with its flaws, I still enjoyed the book.

THIS PART OF THE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS:

I liked the connection between the spirit of the dinosaurs and wanting to reclaim what was lost to them and the symbolic meaning of paleontology and recovering stories through bones. One of the biggest letdowns in the book was that the mystery of the museum being haunted and the mystery of what happened to Simon's sister weren't connected. So the haunted musuem plot got lost underneath Simon's desire to find out what happened to his sister. The reveal wasn't as satisfying as I expected and again, I think the author missed an opportunity to connect those mysteries.

I was almost scared to read this book because of how long it is. I forgot how good a book can be when the author takes their time. It was like watching a movie in my head. Chbosky took their time laying our the story, the environment and the characters. I fell in love with and fully immersed myself in Kate and Christopher’s story. I started off rooting for them! The build up was beautiful and the conclusion, although unexpected, was nice. I liked all the surrounding characters and fell in love with them too. I was not expecting the book to take the

biblical and “good vs. evil”

path it did, but I stuck with it and was satisfied with how it was resolved given how much buildup there was. It did kind of drag towards the last two sections and I struggled to get to the end. While I don’t dislike the ending, this book is a victim of the phenomenon of the author building up a big, bad villain then having to dig their way out of the hole and find a way to destroy the nearly indestructible monster they created. But I enjoyed the journey so I think it was a great read!