yourbookishbff's reviews
590 reviews

This had a slow start for me, and while it took me a bit to sink into the narrative, I'm glad I stuck with it, because it's an incredibly relevant examination of diverging opinions and methods among Palestinian rights activists over the last several decades. Raja Shehadeh is primarily writing of his father's work and advocacy as he finally reads through his professional papers years after his murder. Both practicing attorneys interested in both domestic and international law, father and son held seemingly contradictory - but likely very complementary - views on Palestinian statehood. Shehadeh reflects on his own dismissal of his father's work while he was alive, and the emotional gap that kept them at odds despite such similar passions. 

Through his father, Aziz, we see how a generation displaced at the start of the Nakba navigated newfound refugee status. We experience, through his legal battles on behalf of his fellow refugees, the maze of international law that sought to silence and dispossess them, and we witness how colonial powers like the UK and the US sustained an ancient game of international monopoly to ensure Palestinians lost their land, their homes, their assets and their hope of self-determination. 

Most fascinating to me were the examinations of Aziz Shehadeh's work on the frozen bank accounts of Palestinian refugees and his later political advocacy for a two-state solution. These accounts of his work are timely reminders that Western powers have worked against peace for decades and have used proxies to divide and silence those who dared to use pen and paper to fight for it. Shehadeh's belief that a military solution would never serve Palestinians long-term, and his unflagging determination to work within a system built to ensure his loss is, ultimately, heartbreaking to witness, with the knowledge of all that would come after his death.

Highly recommend this concise memoir for those interested in learning more about the Nakba generations and fights for Palestinian statehood through the last several decades.

The Message is an immersive and compelling collection of four distinct essays. Each essay gives Coates room to reflect on his life as a lover of words and on his career as a journalist, and each explores how stories told well can both illuminate and haunt. He's grappling with a lot in this collection, examining, in particular, where he's fallen short in his own career, where overconfidence and a lack of accountability have enabled him to perpetuate limiting narratives. These essays are starkly vulnerable, as he consistently seeks out the fault lines in his own understanding of the world, measuring reality against his expectations in an effort to ask better questions. From Senegal to South Carolina to Palestine, his reflections are human and urgent, calling us to read and write more responsibly, to protect stories and their tellers, and to question the narratives of Empire.

Loved this follow-up to The Jasmine Throne! This deepened our existing conflicts so deliciously - internally for both Malini and Priya as they navigate their individual gifts and callings and externally for their nations as they grapple with the cost of Empire and the possibility of not-so-mortal interference. I loved the slow-boiling tension, rapidly rotating POVs (one of my favorite elements of this series so far) and the light horror elements woven in (I was disappointed to get less time in the Hirana but we make up for it with the Yaksa!). The romantic longing is so well done (the epistolary moments at the start were a perfect way to bring their angst on page) and I cannot wait to see how these two navigate all that will come next. And Bhumika!!!! [internally screaming] 

I revisited Jane Austen after at least a decade since my first and only read, and this was so much more enjoyable than I remembered. Austen's dry humor, snappy banter and over-the-top characters had me smiling from start to finish, and I so appreciated the commitment to demonstrative personal growth for our main characters. An English classic deserving of the moniker. And the narration by Kate Reading?! Perfect.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! Reformed rake x wallflower, with loads of sexual agency and consent (lessons in seduction, anyone?!) and believable, well-developed character growth for both main characters. I particularly appreciated how Shupe explores two under-confident characters - one who masks their low self-esteem through social performance and likeability and one who retreats as much as possible to limit rejection and social discomfort. The beauty in this love story lies in how each character brings out the other's self-confidence without veering into codependency - a delicate balance and really well done.

I loved everything about this. I was nervous about Tommy (he's a PEELER?!) but I should have trusted Sarah would give us exactly the character arc he needed. Imogen has always been a delight - her love of chemistry, loyalty to her friends, confidence in her abilities - and Tommy is an excellent foil to her, starchy where she's uninhibited and quiet where she's chaos. We get explicit declarations of fidelity (my heart!!), loads of caretaking and touch-her/him-and-you-die energy, and some absolutely fantastic moments with the Belles. 

And the epilogue?! GIMME DUCHESS'S BOOK YESTERDAY 

HEED CONTENT WARNINGS. This was DARK and angsty and felt reminiscent of Stevie Sparks for me? I loved it, but I did have to set it aside a few times because I was simply too stressed to pick it back up. Peckham tackles a lot here. Her "Society of Sirens" is truly a found family of women outcasts who have discovered community and security within their shared "radical" politics (radical, ie, women should have rights equal to men), and I grew to love how they support and protect one another throughout this first installment. Sera, our female main character, is managing bucket-loads of trauma - ruination as a teen and its extended personal, familial and communal fall-out - when she meets our male main character, Adam Anderson, handsome and self-restrained Scot raising his two children after the death of his beloved wife in childbirth. Both characters are navigating reproductive agency and childbirth-related trauma, grief and loss, political pressure (Sera as a radical feminist and Adam as a Scot during a tense time in England), alcoholism (and its generational impacts), and classism. Given the heavy subject matter and significant barriers for these two, I really appreciated that Peckham focuses on personal healing for each individually - at the exact moment when they could have become a toxic and codependent hellscape, she pulls them apart and recommits each to their individual paths. Without that moment, this wouldn't have worked for me. Each character is challenging to read at times - they hurt one another repeatedly - but ultimately, their path back to each other feels real and hard-won, and I appreciated seeing their unconventional and perfectly wholesome happily-ever-after. 

Mimi Matthews excels in writing familial dynamics that make the reader feel almost claustrophobic. Her insight into parent-child relationships, grief, and the conflict between duty and desire, makes each installment in this series feel like a slow unburdening for our main characters. Our female main character in The Lily of Ludgate Hill, Lady Anne Deveril, is in her seventh year of mourning her father and has become the primary support for her still-grieving mother, a role that has kept her largely in the shadows of her own life - much to the frustration of our ever-pining male main character, Felix Hartford. This is a beautifully executed second-chance romance between two people who were simply too young and too over-burdened to sustain their relationship seven years ago and must now determine how vulnerable they are willing to be as they recommit to one another and themselves. I loved the slow-and-steady approach Matthews took to their rekindled trust and renewed courtship, and my only complaint is that our secondary conflicts weighed down the third act a bit much for me - this felt like it could have been shorter. Otherwise, I really loved this, and I cannot wait to read the fourth and final installment after the excellent preview we get of our two main characters.

Not the right mood - will return to this!

This was a joy, and surprisingly mysterious and high stakes! I love Vasti's lean into (historically authentic) absurdity, and the opening scenes were hilariously melodramatic. Lydia was such a compelling character in Ne'er Duke Well, and to see her absolutely wreck a big, burly, pure-hearted Scotsman feels so RIGHT. I loved seeing how she and Arthur learn one another's minds, and how her secret and scandalous political career is foundational to how she's understood by him and his family. Lydia deserves to be a whole person, and the exploration of how her family has shielded her - a misguided attempt to protect her - from conflict and anxiety was so well done. To see her and Arthur again self-confidence and a sense of individual purpose through their journey was so moving.

And this political plot!! I didn't see it coming and loved where it took us. This made for an exciting third act that propelled us headlong into difficult discoveries, and thankfully brought along a cast of loveable side characters, too.

The interwoven epistolary elements and chapter starts were brilliantly done and helped land an emotional gut punch in the third act, and I give 12/10 stars to these love declarations. Such a fun follow-up to Ne'er Duke Well, but one that can easily stand alone for new readers. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy.