lowkeymarie's reviews
557 reviews

Frostbite by Jason Shawn Alexander, Joshua Williamson

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

2.75

Content Warnings

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Go to review page

reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This wasn't really my cup of tea, but I absolutely see why it's valuable for teaching!

Now that I've read it, it's even clearer to me how beyond ridiculous it is that this book was recently being considered for restriction/removal in my state in my state because of one upright parent who said it was making her kid and all his classmates uncomfortable. Fuck book bans. 👎

Content Warnings

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

Go to review page

challenging dark hopeful reflective tense 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

4.5

The Lion's Den by Iris Mwanza

Go to review page

dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-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

3.75

Content Warnings

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 57%.

DNF 12/24/24 @ 57%

The mystery/thriller side of this is not particularly compelling, and the romance side is a total drag. The main characters have no chemistry, barely any personalities, and the intensity of their feelings towards each other feels completely unearned. I think in order for this premise to have worked it would need to much faster paced, with main characters that have more of a rivalry to keep it fun and spicy.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I'm not sure if it's because I went in expecting something a little different or maybe because my mind is preoccupied this time of year, but I did struggle with the pacing of the first half of this book. I think I would have preferred a bit more of a tighter focus in the beginning as it felt a bit slow and bloated. And that's really the only thing I have approaching criticism of this book as everything else was magnificent and heart-wrenching and infuriating.

This story and these characters are going to stay with me for a long time. The author's notes in the back revealed some extra details as well as the inspiration for telling this story, which makes it feel even more important.

I'm eager to read more of Tananarive Due's works (although I'm going to need some time to emotionally recover, ngl).

Content Warnings