papercraftalex's reviews
356 reviews

Hospital Issued Writing Notebook by

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

4.0

Hospital Issued Writing Notebook is a very creative poetry collection about hospitalization and disability. Flore does a good job with analogy and with fully immersing the reader into his experience. My favorite poem of the collection was "HALLUCINATING WHILE MY FRIEND SMOKES POT AND LOOKS AT ME LIKE I'M JESUS." It really encapsulated Flore's storytelling ability. I don't think I was always fully onboard with the language used ("The juicy fart of paranoia" is not a line I ever thought I would read), but overall it's a good collection.

Thank you to Querencia Publishing for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
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Finna by Nino Cipri

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Finna was a very enjoyable, short, queer, anticapitalist sci-fi story. The author did a good job encapsulating how dead end jobs make people stuck and did a great job dropping the reading into the story without over-explaining. It felt reminiscent of "This is How You Lose the Time War" in that they both don't have high amounts of world-building, but still manage to convey a beautiful story.
The Arrival by Shaun Tan

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adventurous challenging reflective fast-paced

5.0

I've never read a graphic novel with no words at all, but the lack of words added so much to this story about immigration. It was absolutely touching and a very creative interpretation of how it feels to flee from your home. I saw this on a list of must read graphic novel and I definitely agree!
Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin

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

4.0

Children's books have a good way of being absolutely terrifying and adorable at the same time. Snow & Rose encapsulates family, friendship, community, and nature in an amazing way. I've never read the original fairytale, but this book certainly has fairytale charm. The illustrations were gorgeous and I'd love to have them framed. The characters all have charms and quirks, but I found Snow to be very annoying. It's realistic representation to little siblings! The story did feel disjointed for most of it, but I loved how it came together in the end.
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The Black Queen was definitely an entertaining and fast read, but it lacked a lot of depth. A lot of Black reviewers are pointing out that the narrative is mostly the white girl and the titular Black queen is just a plot device. I fully agree. The characters aren't fully fleshed out and often act stereotypical. The mystery itself is somewhat predictable; I didn't know everything, but I got most of it right in the beginning. It's also blatant copaganda. Duchess spends so much of the book saying her dad works so hard and is so good as if he's not upholding a disgusting institution. The ending was really cliche and
Tinsley was never actually held accountable for the terrible things she said
. This was one of my most anticipated reads and I'm pretty disappointed. 
Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

5.0

Middle grade books always have this beautiful tingle of magic in it that heals my inner child. Song For a whale was stunning; the characters were all so real and I felt Iris's pain and loneliness so deeply. The way loneliness and community are represented in this novel are so deep and nuanced. I particularly love the small chapters where we follow Blue 55. I was crying so hard by the end. This book made me feel the most hope I've felt since before the pandemic. Please read it.
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

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

3.0

When I first started reading this book, I was terrified. There was palatable suspense and the characters and plot were set up perfectly. Then it went downhill. The villain
s were</> was kind of ridiculous and really unexpected
and borderline antisemitic, like a group that sacrifices children to gain worldly power? That's just spicy blood libel
and the ending was laughably bad. I'm rating it 3 stars because it had a 5 star beginning and a 1 star end.
she is the poem by June Bates

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

This is very instagram style and does run into a problem with too many cliches and not enough poetics, but I really enjoyed it. It's warm and it's so wonderful to see something so unapologetic lesbian. Read this if you're looking less for flowery language and more about authentic queerness.
Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

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mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book was lackluster at best. It was very addictive at the beginning, but the end was disappointing and it never really developed. I guessed the person who did it right away, but it was very unsatisfying.
Mostly because her reasons were "it's God's will" and not anything of actual substance.
It was very religious with a devote main character, rare challenges to the religion, the "it's not the religion that's bad, it's the individuals who use it for evil!" excuse, and negative portrayals of atheists. Her one character is a pile of Black stereotypes with white skin slapped on top, and the main character calls him white trash, which is played off as funny when it's just bigoted. It was an intriguing premise that did not follow through.
Gender Is Really Strange by Teddy G. Goetz

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informative medium-paced

5.0

I haven't read any of the other "Really Strange" books, but now I'm interested in them! It was a short and beautifully illustrated guide that still managed to cover a wide variety of topics. It discussed the etymology of gender, how colonialism affected gender and gender roles, the medical side of gender/sex, and what to do if you're struggling with your gender identity. It did well at explaining each of the topics while giving pointers of where to research first. It's like baby's first gender analysis when Judith Butler is far too difficult. The art style was what originally caught my eye and it was consistently beautiful throughout. I absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in the biopsychosocial elements of gender.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.