samarakroeger's reviews
582 reviews

Informative and well-written, but NOT about Vesuvius. Focuses on daily life in Pompeii pre-79 CE, which is interesting in its own right but not why I picked this up 

like if One Hundred Years of Solitude had less characters to keep track of and was shorter (I always wanted something more like 20 years of solitude instead). 

this is a moving story of two sisters living in indentured servitude in rural Brazil, exploring being silenced by the government, by men, by your overlords, and by your own hand. I also agree with the comparisons to Elena Ferrante’s work. At times it is very on the nose, but a powerful story nonetheless. 

Tiya Miles impresses again!

I honestly didn’t know anything about this topic (feels like an oversight of the American educational system) — I think it’s important to know that slavery and slave trading was happening in the north, that Native Americans were also enslaved, that it isn’t properly acknowledged or remembered even in Detroit. 

I fail to see who books like this are even for. It’s already outdated!  If you’re interested in politics, you already know 90+% of this and probably won’t be swayed by it. 

Also, it’s not like anything in here is a shocking revelation. I pay attention to American politics (unfortunately) and some behind-the-scenes descriptions of Anthony Blinken meeting with foreign leaders are about all you’ll get out of this.  Woodward is skilled at writing a moderately exciting narrative, though, and this is easy to read at least. 

I can’t even blame trumpies for thinking this is pro-Joe propaganda (because it is, let’s be real). 

the middle section felt unnecessary. lots of metaphors related to scaffolding, building, bodies, etc.  at times felt like Elkin tried to include too many themes, but overall I thought it was an interesting and well-written novel, though not particularly original. 

CAN WE ALL NOT SEE THE MASSIVE RED FLAGS OF THIS EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATIVE AND CLINGY-ASS MAN???

and so much telling with very little showing and all I got for it was an aggressively mid sex scene dear god this should have been a psychological thriller instead

This passage from the endnotes sums up my biggest complaints about the collection:

I never want to see an ampersand again, especially when paired with waaay too much alliteration and gimmicky homophonic wordplay. I’m done with poetry written with the collective “we” as a shield to hide behind. It was jarring (in a good way?) to read her best poem, The Hill We Climb, at the end of the collection — it uses the word “and”!

This collection felt super rushed (I blame the publisher) and incredibly outdated/out of touch at this point. It’s my fault for finally reading it 3 years after it was published (and 4 years after it was relevant) and having no interest in 200 pages of over-generalized pandemic poems better suited to a high school poetry project, but still. Also, her style can really work for motivational settings like a commencement or an inauguration while feeling vapid and basic when written on the page. 

While Amanda Gorman might not have truly found her own voice and mastery of craft yet as a writer (ironic given her propensity for boat-based metaphors), she is clearly a supremely talented public speaker. I’d be somewhat interested in a more personal and succinct second collection from her, if she was given the time and support to properly polish it. 

it took me a long time to get into this book -- I didn't feel invested in it until Esme shows up nearly halfway into the book.  given the very slow start, I'm really glad I kept going because this is a novel that gradually builds on itself and kept improving as it went on.  granted, there were easily 150 pages that could have been cut with very little consequence to the story.

I was surprised by how deeply moved I felt by the ending and I'm trying to not let that paper over the cracks of some of the shortcomings.  

I really enjoyed this! I think it’s actually New Adult and not really YA (characters are 18 and 20) — which is probably a reason why I got on with it. I don’t get why people thought this was too scandalous or ~spicy~ to be YA, though — it’s totally age-appropriate for an 18 yr old to be sexually active and there’s no on-page smut or anything. 

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much actual chess was in the book (especially compared to most sports romances where the sport itself feels like an afterthought), even if it veered into the improbable for the sake of a well-paced plot. I do feel we were robbed of some juicy games in the world championship though — I would have happily read another 100 pages of tense, exciting chess games and relationship development, lol. 

this was fantastic!  I'm impressed by Miles' narrative abilities (Isabel Wilkerson should be taking notes) and I'll definitely read more nonfiction from her.  I didn't expect this book to focus so much on women's work and textile history (another interest of mine) but I'm grateful it did!