Scan barcode
micaelamariem's reviews
728 reviews
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This was a great read, inspired by Mayan mythology which I got to learn more about as I parsed my way through this. I love the themes of narrative and myths and accepting and/or changing destiny. I love the slow burn. I love the bittersweet ending. I love the descriptions of everywhere in 1920s Mexico contrasted with Xibalba. I love the healing journey the characters go through to end the cycle of trauma. There’s just so much here to love. It took me a while to get into it but that was just a me thing because I was so busy. Once I forced myself to be still, I really loved this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
lighthearted
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
5.0
I didn’t know how I’d like this because I’m not a big graphic novel reader but this was so cute! I wish there was more, but I guess I have to wait to get the second! This was just a nice fluffy feel good read, and it was nice to have something short and easy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Classism
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was definitely interesting, but not as good as the original trilogy. I didn’t feel the same pull into the world, and the characters weren’t as compelling.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
While not as good as Fourth Wing, I still enjoyed this book! It still sucked me into this fantasy world which is the escapism I’m always looking for. I love the dragons and the revolutions. I hate the jealousy trope though as well as the miscommunication trope and this was chock full of it. I am hoping that part of the relationship is all resolved and won’t have to be revisited in the rest of the series. I love Andarna so much. And the whole fourth wing second squad flame section. A lot of my theories were wrong but I’m looking forward to seeing where the books will go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Sign Here by Claudia Lux
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This book would’ve been better as a thriller without any of the paranormal/hell/demon stuff. It sounded cool but those were the parts that bored me. Reading about the family on earth was interesting, but overall could’ve been done better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
Around my birthday a couple months ago, I went to a used bookstore and picked up a few gems, including this one, which seemed perfect to read around Halloween.
The Girl Who Drank the Moonby Kelly Barnhill is a middle grade fantasy novel about a town that sacrifices a baby each year to the witch in the woods under the belief that she would curse them elsewise. The witch doesn't know why the town is abandoning their babies, but she tries to save them and give them each a loved home. Until one day, she accidentally enmagiks a baby by feeding her moonlight and decides to raise her as her own. Over the novel there are secrets that lead to the discovery of why the town must sacrifice babies and how the story began. The novel actually won a Newberry award!
The author, Kelly Barnhill, is a teacher turned author who loves promoting the arts for children.
I really enjoyed this story for a middle grade novel. There were a few themes that really struck out to me: the danger of sorrow vs hope, the fragility of memory, as well as some motifs of paper and birds and magic.
The worldbuilding of the novel is great, showing a vast landscape for readers to escape into, complete with its own laws and myths and origin stories.
The writing style was a little confusing and a lot whimsical. Half the time I wasn't quite sure what was going on but I enjoyed the ride, reminding me kind of like the show I just watched called Over the Garden Wall.
I loved the characters as well, each one combatting their own fears and sorrows. My favorite character was the Simply Enormous dragon Fyrian who was always childlike and naive, but had blocked out his own trauma which perhaps kept him this way.
Perhaps the main idea of the book is the hope and sacrifices we make for whom we love can combat sorrow. The witch and the girl formed a tightly-bound relationship like a mother and daughter and held hope for each other. The swamp monster and the dragon seemed to also care about each other. The boy from the town found his own love and hope, ready to change the world, as did the madwoman.
I would highly recommend this book to middle grade readers who like whimsical quirky things with deep messages and meanings or who like to make their own inferences in stories.
Overall, this was a four star read for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I’m not really sure why, but this book really didn’t grab my attention. The premise was good but I think the writing fell flat. While using the pictures was a great way to do something different, it was a stretch and felt too forced sometimes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Again, as someone not into thrillers, this was brilliant! I do tend to appreciate characters that are psychologists because it’s my career field. It’s hard to write a review without spoiling much so I’ll just say I wasn’t expecting the twist! I recommend this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I have been so busy but I finally finished my second read of the month! I just read Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide, a book published by Square Fish, an imprint of Macmillan. This book has been on my radar for a couple of years--I didn't know much about it other than it was dark academia and had BIPOC and Queer representation. I didn't need more information than that to decide I wanted to read it.
I'm so glad I finally did read it. What blows my mind is that the author, Faridah Abike-Iyimide is younger than me and was eighteen when she started writing this book. As an aspiring author, I'm both jealous and in awe. She's a British novelist who just graduated with her BA in English Literature and is now pursuing a Master's in Shakespeare Studies.
Ace of Spadesis a young adult thriller branded as "Get Out" meets "Gossip Girl" but personally, I felt like it was more "Pretty Little Liars." The novel jumps between two perspectives: Chiamaka, a Blair-Waldorf-Wannabe who wants to do anything to stay on top; and Devon, a young man who wants to stay under the radar until he gets into Juliard. In their senior year, anonymous message blasts start delving out secrets these two are hiding and publicly humiliating them. For some reason, these blasts are only targeting Chi and Von, the only two Black students at their high school. They need to get to the bottom of this before reputations are ruined...or worse.
For the most part, I thought this was a brilliant book! As aforementioned, I am in awe that the author was so young when she wrote it--but perhaps that's just because when I was eighteen, I was still in my angsty poetry phase. I thought the writing style really worked for this type of book and really captured the contrasts between Chiamaka's and Devon's personalities. While I didn't necessarily like Chi at first (she seemed spoiled and arrogant and unlikable), she definitley grew on me over time.
Processed with VSCO with m5 preset
The mystery in itself was thrilling too. As someone who is not usually into mysteries, I knew it was good when I was starting to tally my own suspects for who could be behind the blasts.
My one dislike of the book was the ending. That seems too vague--I'm trying not to give any spoilers away, but to put it a bit more specifically, it felt to me like there was too much unsolved. Maybe that is part of the point, the more I think about it, though. Maybe the author is trying to say that systemic issues can't be fixed overnight (which is a big theme of the book) but we need to do all we can to fix the system. Progress is slow, but we shouldn't stop moving forward. Still, I wish I could understand how we got from the last chapter to the epilogue.
Overall, I'd give the book four stars--would've been five if the ending was more satisfying to me, but it may be to others! I highly recommend this book.
That being said, there are a few content warnings! This book may be hard to read for some people as there are graphic descriptions of violence, racism, hints of sexual assault, bullying, classism, a portrayal of post-traumatic anxiety, and hints of murder.
If you're still interested in reading the book, try also checking the author out on Instagram here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Murder
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! The best thing was the worldbuilding and I wish I had more of it. The characters would drop hints of it with referencing fairy tales and histories I had no knowledge of and really wish they could have expanded on! I also loved the themes of a constant power struggle, the horror of politics and being a woman, how everything may seem impossible, etc. the magic was both terrifying and fun as were the characters! I do wish the romance went a little deeper. I feel unsatisfied with that, but perhaps that says more about me as a person. I also was frustrated with how much waiting and repetition there went into some of the chapters although the adventures made up for it. Overall, I’d recommend, especially to those who like short dark fantasies!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism