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librarymouse's reviews
393 reviews
The Vela: The Complete Season 1 by Becky Chambers, Yoon Ha Lee, Rivers Solomon, S.L. Huang
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a fantastic read! The sound design kept me listening and engaged at a much slower pace than I normally prefer to listen to audiobooks at. One of my favorite about this book, which is so masterfully done by these authors, is that none of the characters are good. Some are selfish, others do what they must to survive, some have a self-sacrificing martyred savior complex about violences that were initiated and/or perpetrated before they were born, and others are so good and optimistic that it circles back around to folly as a failure to see the truth of the humanity they're trying to save.
If you love a good complex narrative, space opera, buddy comedy, found family story, or anything in between, this is for you. This is a fantastic combination of post and pre apocalyptic fiction, spanning an entire star system with all the class consciousness and political commentary that entails.
If you love a good complex narrative, space opera, buddy comedy, found family story, or anything in between, this is for you. This is a fantastic combination of post and pre apocalyptic fiction, spanning an entire star system with all the class consciousness and political commentary that entails.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, War, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Sexual content
Racial slurs tagged for fictional slurs against a fictional people, but very reminiscent of white nationalism
When Dogs Dream by Jean Ekman Adams
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
😠They're so baby! Great book for kids and adults, bringing attention to the lives and dreams of stray dogs in the American Southwest.
Mushroom Rain by Laura K. Zimmermann
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Informative with beautiful illustrations! I want the illustrations as posters!
Loving, Ohio by Matthew Erman
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
This was a really well done, trippy Midwestern gothic centering on teens raised in and around a neo cult whose rhetoric may or may not be true, but whose methodology leaves blood and grief in its wake. For a quite short book, it took me a while to read, flipping back and forth between pages and seeking detail in the illustrations. This is a great exploration of the impact of high demand religion on families and the unique strangeness of the Midwest.
my only critique is what happened to her dog, who protected her, and to her cat? What happened when she left. She couldn't take them with her on the bus, but it didn't look like they were in the house after she left. Did she leave them behind? I hope she left them with Ana.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia
Greetings from Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood by Claire Hoffman
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Greetings from Utopia Park is a unique autobiography when it comes to the genre of memoirs written by cult survivors. Hoffman's grappling with her conflicting feelings on the value she's found in transcendental meditation and the fraud and extortion of the community committed by the organization that taught her the method lends itself to a more in depth an nuanced understanding of her childhood experiences than other religions I've read about. The luster of childhood and the idea of belonging slowly falling away is something so many of us can relate to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Medical content, and Cultural appropriation
I don't think it counts a slur by common understanding, but the townies in Iowa come up with a name to hurl at the meditators as a cruelty. It's not racialized.
That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Pretty much every one of the characters was immediately dislikable. Faye's point of view was an enjoyable, to a point, as a lens through which to watch the plot unfold though she, too was similarly flawed to her peers with her voluntary isolation and her unacted upon longing for friends. The plot and interpersonal conflict was engaging enough that I continued on reading despite the unlikable nature of the characters. Jurczyk has a way of exploring vulnerability and desperation in her characters, their grisly deaths and injuries, and their mourning rituals. The twist ending was very unexpected, but made sense given what we are shown of Kip.
No one in this book is innocent, and there are questions of guilt left unanswered in such a way that no one is absolved.Faye imagines a life for herself with Umu as her best friend, replacing Ro so quickly after his death at her hands, because she's read so much about bonds that form over shared trauma. It's unclear whether or not Davey killed Soraya because she got the permanent job over him. He decapitates Mary and Faye doesn't intercede when the fight between Mary and Davey leads to Umu's death. The two survivors are killers by the end of the night and while neither is in trouble with the law when they're taken out of the bloodbath that is the basement, readers are left hanging whether or not they will be held accountable for the carnage. Kip having licked one of the green books for a meme, honestly makes sense given his entitlement and lack of care for the work others are doing beyond what his name can give him access to. My only issue with this is that Kip goes from zero to sixty in his cruelty before disappearing. It seems like something he's kept under wraps, with the exception of his entitlement, throughout the flashbacks later in the novel, as opposed to being a side of himself he'd share with five other people. I wasn't able to find anywhere whether erratic behavior, delusions of grandeur, etc. are symptoms of acute arsenic poisoning. Depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment are symptoms of ongoing arsenic exposure. Maybe he was just a dick. Faye climbing into the collapsed shelving and hiding near Soraya's corpse to keep away from Davey after he kills Mary is such a sad, memorable scene.
No one in this book is innocent, and there are questions of guilt left unanswered in such a way that no one is absolved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and Classism
MAJOR WARNING FOR GORE
Also heads up for Davey being a major pervert.
Santa's First Christmas by Mac Barnett
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was a sweet Christmas story, detailing the first year the elves realized that Santa never got to celebrate Christmas. Mac Barnett does a fantastic job illustrating the scenery and characters with a smudgy, dreamlike quality, while still expressing complex emotion on the faces and movement of the characters. I really enjoyed the bear dressed up to deliver presents, and Santa's joy at the gifts the elves gave him.
Like Crazy: Life with My Mother and Her Invisible Friends by Dan Mathews
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Dan Matthews writes near identically to Augusten Burroughs. At points throughout this memoir, I wasn't sure how to feel about it because of that comparison. However, by the conclusion, I found that I really enjoyed Dan and his family's perspective on their mother, her life, and her death.
I still hold dislike in my heart for PETA and the horrific actions its taken to kill captive animals rather than leave them in captivity. Their all or nothing stance on animal freedom and their equation of pets to slaves is one of my many gripes with the organization, but Dan's part in PETA's activism and his dedication to veganism seem, at the very least, to be affiliated with the good works PETA has done.
Overall, an enjoyable, fast, strange read.
I still hold dislike in my heart for PETA and the horrific actions its taken to kill captive animals rather than leave them in captivity. Their all or nothing stance on animal freedom and their equation of pets to slaves is one of my many gripes with the organization, but Dan's part in PETA's activism and his dedication to veganism seem, at the very least, to be affiliated with the good works PETA has done.
Overall, an enjoyable, fast, strange read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Re: Dracula by Bram Stoker, Tal Minear
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a great way to present the Dracula novel in audio form. I started with a good chunk to catch up on and finished in just about real time. Really well done audio, and some awesome, often corny original songs added into the mix - I say corny with the utmost love.
I do have critiques of the novel itself, like how the doctors consider Lucy's receiving a blood transfusion from more than one man as polyandry/as a slight to her reputation, marking her as a whore. The male main characters also fall into the exact same pitfalls as Victor Frankenstein when he destroys his creation's half made wife and fully disregards the possibility of revenge harming anyone beside himself, leading to the death of his betrothed. In them killing and redeeming Lucy after Dracula had made her a part of his harem in his slow killing of her, how could they not suspect Mina would be in danger of the same fate as her best friend while living next door to the vampire? I did enjoy the "dracula polycule" moments in the book, as is related to the sexualization of Lucy Westenra, especially since John, Quincey, and Arthur remained close and devoted to each other even after Lucy's death.
Overall, wild book from start to finish, while also somehow managing to be boring often.
I need to read this again, in its book form.
I do have critiques of the novel itself, like how the doctors consider Lucy's receiving a blood transfusion from more than one man as polyandry/as a slight to her reputation, marking her as a whore. The male main characters also fall into the exact same pitfalls as Victor Frankenstein when he destroys his creation's half made wife and fully disregards the possibility of revenge harming anyone beside himself, leading to the death of his betrothed. In them killing and redeeming Lucy after Dracula had made her a part of his harem in his slow killing of her, how could they not suspect Mina would be in danger of the same fate as her best friend while living next door to the vampire? I did enjoy the "dracula polycule" moments in the book, as is related to the sexualization of Lucy Westenra, especially since John, Quincey, and Arthur remained close and devoted to each other even after Lucy's death.
Overall, wild book from start to finish, while also somehow managing to be boring often.
I need to read this again, in its book form.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Genocide