sfbookgirl's reviews
412 reviews

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

I’d like to preface this review by noting that the reason I gave it a low rating is that I was expecting something more sinister. I should have known from the pink cover that it would have had a happy ending. 😆 THE NO-SHOW is about three women who discover they all stood up by the same man…on Valentine’s Day. But, is there more to him than meets the eye?

Beth O’Leary portrays this man as a terrible piece of sh*t so of course, that’s how I think of him too. And I continue to think of him as that for the entirety of the book. So when readers discover he is not as terrible as he seems, I am devastated. How am I supposed to change my views about this terrible-seeming man after he was given a terrible reputation throughout most of the book? This less-than-great experience is a bit of a weird one, but I stand by my rating.

Content Warnings

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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challenging informative medium-paced

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

2.0

I hate to say it, but this was not an enjoyable read. CARRIE SOTO IS BACK is a “historical fiction” book that brings up a lot of issues revolving around race and the portrayal of race written by a white author. The book is about a Latina woman named Carrie Soto who is a professional tennis player. She is kind of a bitch and she knows it, yet does nothing to change her attitude because she is the bomb dot com at tennis. After seeing that a much younger player is closing in on beating one of Soto’s world records, Soto decides to come out of retirement to beat the sh*t out of this young player. This is the entirety of this book. Some good old rally between two characters that literally never ends.

In regard to the book’s race issues, it doesn’t sit right with me that TJR decides to have Carrie be Latina yet literally mentions it once. It gives off the impression that she was looking to “diversify” her characters without really doing the work to properly represent them. The icing on the cake is a quote written toward the end of the book:

“Gwen shakes her head. ‘You know damn well there’s another set of rules for you. Just like there’s even another set of rules for me.’

I look at her, understanding that as much as I know what it’s like to be a woman in this world, I have no idea what it’s like to be a Black woman” (301).

So yes…Carrie doesn’t know what it means to be a Black woman because she isn’t Black. Just like how TJR doesn’t know how to write a Latina woman because she isn’t Latina.

Content Warnings

Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel by Leigh Bardugo

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I’ll write anything Leigh Bardugo writes and DEMON IN THE WOOD is no exception. This one is a graphic novel prequel to the Shadow and Bone trilogy that focuses on the Darkling and how he came to be. While short, it packs a punch with fantastic character development and a deeper dive into the Darkling’s character.

I’d also like to mention that it’s worth reading on its own for the beautiful art. The dark and omnibus hues alongside detailed scenery complement the atmosphere that Bardugo establishes within all of her books. While it is not my favorite book in the Grishaverse, it is a fantastic short story that provides more insight into the Darkling’s motives.

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Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had a lot of fun reading the sequel of TOKYO EVER AFTER. While I found this super cute, I enjoyed TOKYO EVER AFTER just ever so slightly more. Without giving away any spoilers, I loved the love triangle and the further development of Izumi’s relationship with her parents.

If you haven’t read TOKYO EVER AFTER yet, I highly recommend it! It’s an excellent, slightly more modern retelling of The Princess Diaries with current teenage challenges set in Japan. If you are a fan of all things royal, you will definitely enjoy it. And Netflix, where is the show? This book needs one!

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Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

What isn’t to love about Heartstopper? I selected this one for my teen summer book club at the library and we watched the first two episodes during our discussion. We all loved it so much for its contemporary themes that discuss timely issues teens grapple with today. The graphic novel series is available in print and on various online sites for free (see Alice Oseman’s website for more details).

The series revolves around two teenage British boys named Charlie and Nick. Charlie is your shy, openly-gay studious student while Nick is a seemingly straight rugby player. They get paired up together in their homeroom and quickly become friends. Charlie falls hard for Nick even though he is sure that there is no way Nick would like him back. But love works in mysterious ways and sometimes results in surprising outcomes. I highly recommend reading this series and watching the TV show as well. It’s a delight.

Content Warnings

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This book was so unmemorable I truly do not even remember what happened despite reading it only a few months ago. I don’t recall much about what I didn’t like about the novel except for the fact that it dragged and felt unoriginal. Crouch set a really high bar with his other two novels so I was bound to be disappointed at some point.

Upgrade’s plot revolves around something involving genes and a man named Logan who discovers his genome has been hacked. And there is something to do with his mother being involved in a gene editing scheme? All and all, it felt like the plot went nowhere and I was just pushing myself to finish it. I recommend reading Dark Matter and Recursion though - those are the books I have placed into the hands of a lot of library patrons time and time again.

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Trust by Hernán Díaz

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Trust is incredible and it deserves all of the hype. This is my first book by Hernan Diaz and now I need to go back and read In the Distance, his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Diaz’s writing style is so succinct, unique, and adaptable to varying scenarios. In Trust, Diaz presents four different tales about New York in the 1920s and the infamous stock market crash. Each of these stories revolves around similar people, but the way in which they are presented is incredible. The primary characters in Trust are Benjamin and Helen Rask. Benjamin is a Wall Street tycoon who uses his extreme intellect to acquire an immense fortune and manage to avoid the wrath of the stock market crash.

But Benjamin and Helen’s tale is only one version of the story. In the end, we don’t really know whom to trust to tell the truth. The way in which each of these four seemingly separate stories come together is incredibly fun to discover. Each of the voices in these four stories are so different, which is what makes Diaz’s writing truly remarkable. He is truly in a league of his own.

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Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

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challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this one! I also chose it as one of the books for my teen book club this summer at the library and had a great discussion with three teens - getting teens to show up for a library program is an EFFORT. Despite the low turnout, Last Night at the Telegraph club was a great selection for its local attributes and for young readers who identify as queer. The book takes place in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the mid-1950s in which it is not safe for two young girls to fall in love. Amidst the Red-Scare paranoia and the looming deportation of her father, main characters Lily Hu and Kath risk everything, including the ones they love, to let their relationship see the light of day.

This young adult novel is excellent for adults and young readers alike. It is evident that the author Malinda Lo did a significant amount of research to make readers *feel* like they were walking the streets of Chinatown in the mid-1950s. I especially loved reading the author’s note which discusses the author’s decision to use time-appropriate language and goes into depth about the history of gender and community in Chinatown in the 1950s. I am super excited to read the companion novel titled A Scatter of Light. While on the longer side, Last Night at the Telegraph Club is an atmospheric and important read for all ages.

Content Warnings

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

Remarkably Bright Creatures wasn’t all that remarkable for me, but it’s one that is very popular amongst most readers. It’s a big hit for those that enjoyed A Man Called One as it follows a similar storyline with an elderly woman named Tova who finds solace in working night shifts at her local aquarium yet is occupied by the death of her son who mysteriously vanished 30 years ago. While working at the aquarium, Tova becomes acquainted with an octopus named Marcellus (my favorite character) who attempts to find the truth about what happened to Tova’s son.

While I enjoyed the novel, I would be perfectly happy for the book to be entirely composed of chapters from the perspective of the octopus. There are a few chapters interspersed here and there from Marcellus’s point of view, the chapters with the human characters fell short. Overall, it’s a lighthearted read, but nothing about it was special.

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True Biz by Sara Nović

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informative inspiring reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed True Biz! As someone who has always wanted to learn American Sign Language, this was a great read that had both a great storyline and delved into the history of sign language. I even learned a few signs from this book. While the plot seemed a bit unfinished at the end, I still enjoyed the atmosphere that Sara Nović established in a school for the Deaf. I love anything that takes place on an academic campus and True Biz was no different.

Like on any school campus, there is drama and River Valley School for the Deaf is no different. When a student on campus goes missing, all hell breaks loose. True Biz is the story leading up to this event in which we learn about several students, their relationship with each other, and their relationship with Deafness. This is very much a character-driven novel that I really enjoyed. I wouldn’t say it was one of my absolute favorites, but it is definitely worth the read.

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sfbookgirl's reviews 412 reviews

sfbookgirl's reviews
412 reviews