tariana's reviews
157 reviews

Laurie by Stephen King

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adventurous emotional sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

My Laurie is called Grace đź’ś
A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science by Barbara Oakley

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challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

I’ll probably do a reread soon to review everything it taught me. Too much information to digest on a first read, also I want to make sure I’ll start applying the learnings to my life.
The Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

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dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

What an amazing journey of self discovery, healing and freedom. I still have no words to describe how this book has changed me but I know it did. It opened my mind and taught me different ways of living, different relationship dynamics, different ways of experimenting sex and aging. It has also broken my heart with so many stories of abused women, some of them while still little girls, some of them with the consent of their own mother, who should know better and protect, and stories about the prejudice african women suffer when living abroad, being seeing as good women to have sex with but not to be married with, even by african men. This book is a reminder that violence against women is very real and still present on our society.
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Third Eye by Felicia Day

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

Lighthearted mystical comedy. I had a fun time listening to it.
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

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dark emotional sad tense 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

The book just kept me anguished but I couldn’t stop reading it. The ending was difficult, I felt nauseated, unhopeful and once again, anguished. I had to take many pauses, I could only complete it after I told my husband that I needed to share everything that was happening so I could put out my feelings. Well done, RF Kuang, I missed reading books with so well written characters and I’ll certainly miss Rin, Kitay, Venka, the Trifecta and the Cike. Now let me go grab a lighter book to read so I can emotionally recover from this.
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Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

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adventurous dark sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I believe this is my favorite book os the series, it has much more depth than the previous one, Eragon is learning how politics work and he is also constantly challenged in an ethical point of view. We can also notice his mind changing from the teenage’s worries to the worries of a warrior. He also starts to realize that the world doesn’t evolve around him and Saphira is allowed to have her own secrets from him, as the survival of her species is more important than his feelings.
El mentiroso by Mikel Santiago

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

4.0

Half unexpected ending, the story was very self driven so it was fun to listen to and try to figure out the end.
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What a heartwarming story even though it is about a murder. Or it seems to be about a murder until you realize it’s about much more than that: it’s about friendship, about encouragement, about not taking people for granted. It’s really inspiring, some notes she makes about the Chinese culture, like kids looking after parents advice not because they need but as a sign of respect and to make them feel useful, really got into me. I grew up with this urge to do things by myself, always hated when people tried to help as I’d see it as lack of competence of my part and that people was doubting of my capabilities trying to teach me how to live. So it was good to have a fresh point of view of life. I really need to have fresh pov.
On another note, I am in love with the style of the writing, I wish one day I’ll be able to write something with the same style, sarcastic and audacious.
Mon mari by Maud Ventura

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

5.0

I don't even know where to start talking about this book. I read it through my French Class Book Club, recommended by a fellow student. I hated the main character all the way through it up to the epilogue. She lacks communication skills, she is super emotionally dependent of her husband, she is mean, she has “Bentinho” vibes, and she is a bad mother (if you decide to have kids for whatever reason, own your responsibility and take good care of them, they didn’t ask to be born).
Despite all of that, the book really kept my interest through its writing, there’s a dark mysterious tone that makes you curious about what is going to happen, specially because the story is narrated through a week of the characters life, as the days pass you get more excited about the plot.
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Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon---And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller

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informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.0

Long before Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, there was Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Their feminist lyrics won over young women in the 60s and 70s, at the height of the hippie movement and female sexual liberation. If today it is still difficult for a woman to be successful in the music world and remain relevant after the age of 30, just imagine what it was like for them. Although their lives were made easier because they were all from middle to upper class families, they still suffered society's prejudices, the impositions of how they should behave as women, mothers and wives. And I felt sad to realize that the world simply forgot about them and I keep wondering what the future will be for the current generation of feminist singers. Will they still be able to stay relevant after 40? Or are they doomed to oblivion? The younger generations know who Madonna and Cindy Lauper are.
In addition to these questions, observing their behavior in relation to their partners, parents, children, friends made me question my own stance and try to be more emotionally independent and take control of my life without expecting others to take any attitude towards myself.