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librarymouse's reviews
347 reviews
The Park Bench by Christophe Chabouté
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
The book started slow, but as the different actions and characters began repeating, I was reminded of what I like about Chabouté's storytelling. His work requires a minimal amount of text to be understood. I adore the puppy and his routine!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Cancer, Death, and Grief
The Tea Dragon Tapestry by K. O'Neill
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I am desperate for poster prints of some of the illustrations from the Tea Dragon trilogy. This third and final part of the series is beautiful, bittersweet, and so incredibly cozy. Kay O'Neill is a master of creating a space in which grief and uncertainty are simultaneously unknown, unknowable, and heartbreakingly beautiful. The intergenerational community in the novels is lovingly rendered. The Tea Dragon Tapestry takes place in and creates a world I yearn to be a part of, in which the beauty of the everyday is valued and there is a devoted sense of communal care and love in all its facets between the different characters. I love how Kay O'Neill renders disability in their books. They've created a kinder world.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant
dark
funny
fast-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
4.5
This was a short read. I'm glad I read this after Into the Drowning Deep. It answers the mystery that looms over that novel. It was good to get to know Anne after only knowing her through Tori's memories of her. The entire mermaid performer troupe being torn to bits soon after a different scientist makes a quip about chumming the waters was poetic and heartbreaking. The mermaids' mimicking of human speech is haunting, especially seeing how adept they become at it in the Into the Drowning Deep. In this book, they are a marvel of nature and are understood to be more animalistic than the humans would otherwise expect them to be from myth and legend. The parallels between this novella and its sequel with the kindly, older cameramen caring deeply about the people they're charged with filming puts those who are often relegated to the background or who are erased from the storytelling into the forefront of the novel as they are heroes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
dark
funny
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
5.0
Seanan McGuire as herself and as Mira Grant always has such a strong writing style, making her characters funny even in the darkest of settings and situations. I read this before I read Rolling in the Deep, and I'm glad I did for the sense of mystery that choice allowed. McGuire is very good at feeding readers bits of information that become pertinent to the plot in such a way that plot twists feel more like pieces of a puzzle finally fitting together, as opposed to the rug being pulled out from underneath the reader. I do really enjoy how competent the characters are and I loved the disability representation. Having multiple physically and socially disabled characters in a story added so much nuance to the storytelling and the interactions between characters.
Heads up: It's very gory. Remember going into the novel that mermaids originated from myths in which they lured sailors to their deaths to eat them.
I was listening to this on audiobook while driving, and when I got to my destination, I paused it and told the friend I was meeting "There's not much book left, and it's not getting better 😐," in reference to the characters' situation. The storytelling was uniformly enjoyable!
The book does finish quickly after extended suspense, but I think I may enjoy that a good part of it was left unresolved. Tori coming to tolerate and then to love(?) Olivia was good closure for the plot point of Anne's death that started the novel, offering the possibility of Tori being able to move forward from her sister's death, if not move on from it. I hope there's a sequel. There's enough still left unfinished for one, though I've seen that the publishing company may have rejected McGuire's proposal.
Heads up: It's very gory. Remember going into the novel that mermaids originated from myths in which they lured sailors to their deaths to eat them.
The book does finish quickly after extended suspense, but I think I may enjoy that a good part of it was left unresolved. Tori coming to tolerate and then to love(?) Olivia was good closure for the plot point of Anne's death that started the novel, offering the possibility of Tori being able to move forward from her sister's death, if not move on from it. I hope there's a sequel. There's enough still left unfinished for one, though I've seen that the publishing company may have rejected McGuire's proposal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Cannibalism tagged for humanoids eating humans
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Madeline Miller exceeded my expectations with this one. Circe as both character and story is lovingly rendered, and the culmination of her constant change and constant striving for more at the end of novel is more than I could have hoped for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Slavery, and War
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Neema Avashia's experiences, growing up as the child of Indian immigrants in Appalachia, as she notes in the book, are incredibly unique! Her storytelling about how her unusual upbringing has shaped her experiences later in life questions the lines along which identity is normally divided in the consideration of political and social identities. I really enjoy the ways in which she writes about her childhood and the adults who loved and protected her.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide
Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray
medium-paced
2.25
This read like a noir mystery in which the narrator gets progressively more unhinged as a novel progresses, however in this case it was the narrator becoming progressively more unhinged. He wasn't great with his handling of trans identity, he used a slur in the first chapter, and the amount of hubris he has was frankly quite off-putting. The pacing was good though I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Dysphoria
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
dark
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
There are so many banger lines in this book! I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book as the sequel to a retelling of a well known horror tale, but this book is so strong on its own! I love the continuation of Angus and Miss Potter's acquaintance, the new additions to the cast of cha acters, and the exploration of Easton's home country. I also really enjoyed the addition of situationally and indivi ually specific pronouns!
I just about cried in the library reading the scene with the horses when Hob's face slid off like a moth wing, sticking to Easton. That scenario and Easton's own terror was like an externalization of my actually real nightmares. Great writing, but that scene hurt so bad. But at least dream Hob didn't seem to be in pain as he crumbled.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
While there is no intentional cruelty, there is animal injury during a dream sequence in the last third of the book. More detail is listed in the spoiler part of my review.
Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology by Jess Zimmerman
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This was a good read, but there is more autobiography and less focus on the mythological monsters than I was expecting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Grief
I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition by Lucy Sante
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Lucy telling her story of transition, braided into her childhood and life before her egg cracked, feels like a stream of consciousness conversation with a friend.