whittaker's reviews
216 reviews

Bunny by Mona Awad

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

2.75

Bunny is a head fuck but not in a good way. It was enjoyable for the first half but the second half was just absurd but like... pointlessly. It wasn't an enjoyable or point-driven absurdity, it just felt like it was trying to be avant-garde and strange to be avant-garde and strange, despite Awad being a good writer. It tried to tie itself down to reality at the end, which seemed useless, after just going off the deep end of weirdness. I regret finishing it tbh. Too many pothole weirdnesses - it started off like an examination of pretentiousness and class and sex in grad programs, and ended in nothing. It served no purpose, it wasn't even enjoyable. It would've been 5 stars if it was just the first 50% (including the whole bunny-men nonsense) but it became a bore and a drag to read. I get why people didn't like this book now.
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really liked it. I don't have much to say to be honest, but it was enjoyable, well-written and had a good plot and a very good coming-of-age. Really informative too and I think it would be great to read and connect to if you aren't trans.
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

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

3.0

I read this fast, so maybe this in influencing me, but this was just okay. There wasn't much depth, if I'm honest, and it felt a little too cliche-d and predictable. Even the internal critiques of the characters failed to actually go below surface level. Nerdy girl who's secretly quirky - oh my god!!!! Yeah. The plot saved this for the most part, as the characters really did feel quite cliched and 2-dimensional. Maybe I'm being harsh, I probably am, but it felt like it was trying to be a book that could be so "revealing" to the YA audience, but it just fell flat and into over-done points. I don't know, the only characters I actually cared about were Raine and Daniel.

And yes, I recognise this is a YA novel, so it's going to be at a YA level - that is not my issue. My issue is it fell into a Tumblr trap of tropes and failed to explore the characters, no matter how much it felt like we were "exploring them" when reading. I'm sure most of Oseman's audience and the Heartstopper fans probably loved this book (and I liked Heartstopper), but it just wasn't amazing. I mean, I finished it 5 minutes ago and I'm already forgetting characters names.
Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson

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medium-paced

3.0

I liked this book but it dragged at times and I'll be honest, I put it down for a month because I just wasn't interested enough. but it was okay.
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, but it definitely needed trigger warning, and I couldn't find any in my copy. Well written, VERY dark, but very well written.
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Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book broke me quite a lot. I put a line in the corner of pages that individually made me tear up and in the middle-end every page had a line. I love Japanese breakfast and this book alongside Psychopomp made me feel so much - albeit a lot of sadness. I had to text my mum I love her, because I saw a lot of my relationship with my mum reflected in this. Incredible writing and a heart wrenching memoir. This was amazing.
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Idol by Louise O'Neill

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really liked this book but I'm also a bit confused by it. I think because the ending was so clear I rushed it because I wasn't interested or surprised by any secrets? It does have a good lesson, I just wish they hadn't made her insufferable and unlikeable - although that's part of the whole point, she was insufferable from the beginning but I really did enjoy how we went through her actually discovering the truth of it all - even if it wasn't "her truth".

I would like to add that I do like unlikeable main characters (I loved myor&r for a reason) but I agree with what a previous reviewer said - towards the end it got too extreme, too black-and-white, less grey, which didn't match the beginning of the book that hooked me in. Maybe it was the flashbacks that I had an issue with, I'm not sure, but there was just something that stopped me from loving it.
All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul Tran

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emotional medium-paced

4.0

So many of these poems were amazing - notably the one's that explored Trans' relationship with their father: Chrome, Sacred Heart, The First Law of Motion, The Landscape of the Fall of Icarus. I also really enjoyed Incident Report and Progress Report. The rest were okay in comparison to these, but these particular poems were heart wrenching at time, and so full of feeling at all times. My biggest issue with this collection, and the only reason it hasn't gotten 5 stars, if I'm honest, is the annoying issue with the end of the poems. So many of the poems end of on some cliche, cringe overdone word play that detract from the poem itself - e.g. in Scheherazade/Scheherazade: "There is no truth. Only a version. Aversion . A verge. A vengeance." and several other endings to verses in that particular poem that follow this - similar to "But I didn't mean the blade in your head, I meant the blade in your mind.". These just feel lazy and fake-smart to me - reminding me of Gabbie Hanna's poetry which I despise. Other than that though I loved the structural changes in style, the length, the language and the subtly. 

This was kindly given in exchange of a review by NetGalleyUK.
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Katy's Loss by Maxwell Winshire

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
Genuinely just not a good book
Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer

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inspiring fast-paced

3.0

This is a nice journal. Listen, I would call this a journal/zine, not necessarily a poetry collection, and not really a self-care collection. My favourite parts were when Artemis' story was referenced and the references to sexual assault - those poems actually felt unique and like they were impacting me. The rest felt like prettily written diary entries or tired tropes we've seen often now in poetry. Not bad, but it needs to be marketed differently, as a poetic journal (the artwork and collages support this), and I think to rely on a quote that compares it to self-care feels very fake. Best audience for this would be the Amanda Lovelace, Rupi Kaur poetry readers and not Greek mythology lovers who would expect a whole book about Artemis and her story. Again, it was just ok, and some of the poems definitely fell flat which is why it's not 4 stars.

I was provided the ARC by NetGalley and Central Avenue publishing in return for an honest review.