salam_'s reviews
572 reviews

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

This is the best short story collection I’ve read in a while, possibly even the best I’ve ever read. Every story was captivating and strong. 
Kim Fu’s prose is gripping, her writing style is beautiful and the themes she explores are the perfect medium between speculative, dystopian, and exploring the human condition at large. 
This book was described to me as “like episodes of Black Mirror” and that’s just my cup of tea. I enjoyed all the stories thoroughly, even the ones that I rated low were not bad, just didn’t have quite a punch like the others. Here are my rating for each story individually: 

Pre-simulation: 4.5/5 
Liddy, First to Fly: 4/5
Time Cubes:  3/5
#ClimbingNation : 5/5 ✨
Sandman: 3/5 
Twenty Hours: 4/5
The Doll: 3/5
In This Fantasy: 2.5/5
Scissors: 4/5
June Bugs: 5/5 ✨
Bridezilla: 2/5
Do You Remember Candy?:4/5 

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

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

3.5

The concept is great! And the way the author explored every avenue of this dystopian world was done masterfully.
But My main issue is that I didn’t like the characters, and because I didn’t like the characters I couldn’t get behind their motives and decisions that were displayed as THE RIGHT THING in the book + There were too  many of these POVs that you couldn’t form a deep connection to all/any of them so it fell flat.
The .5 is because of the emotional reaction I had at the end.. The end too, dragged for a bit too long. I would’ve liked for everything not to be perfectly tied in a bow. But something was done right because this book had me tearing up at more than once scene at the end. 
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

I liked it slightly better than her other poetry collection, but overall I was underwhelmed.  
Animal Farm by George Orwell

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Rereading it a decade later, still slaps! 
Reminded me of why I love dystopian fiction.
I'm A Fan by Sheena Patel

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I’m NOT a fan.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Maybe I’m being greedy, but I would’ve liked if the end was left a bit more opened ended instead of tied perfectly at the end. Am I the only one? Perhaps lol 
Would keep recommending this to everyone I know! 
The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I think I would say the same things about Killing as this one. 

That I wanted nothing but to read it all the time!
That This is all I ask from a thriller- to be thrilling 
Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, details about The Kind Worth Killing escaped me, so this felt like a whole new book, and not a sequel. Although you could read it that way. However I’d still rate Killing higher based on my enjoyment.   

That it was a page turner, and definitely started off strong! With a great hook, but as the book progressed it kind lost that grip a little, and it became more predictable for me.
 I was a little disappointed with the plot twists because I saw them coming. There was nothing I didn’t guess correctly. 


None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!
My first 5 stars of the year that isn’t a re-read. The booktubers who recommended it were right! 
This book had me on a chokehold the entire time! It was gripping, page-flipping, and interesting! 
This is how a good thriller is written! This is how complex characters are written! this is how a good ending is written!  
When I had a moment of free time, I just wanted to be reading it. I even kinda cheating in my buddy-read by finishing it before my reading buddy Salam 🤭🫣
I knew it was gonna be a 5-star while I was reading it, but the ending solidified that. What a journey! 
I would love to listen to it on audio, because people had been saying it reads like a podcast via audio. So maybe in a re-read someday.
I also want to check out this author’s other books. “The Family Upstairs” was on my radar, and now it’s up there on my TBR.
حمام الدار by سعود السنعوسي, Saud Alsanousi

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.
I realized that سعود السنعوسي is a one hit wonder for me. The only book of him that I’ve loved is ساق البامبو and I will not be picking up a book just because it has his name on it again. 
ارضاً سلاح by محمد الحسن سالم حميد

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

 إنه الكتب مكتوب باللهجة العامية حأكتب الريڤيو بيها أنا كمان.
القصائد فيها تشبيهات بليغة عحبتني ولمستني في "جرح الوطن"
صحيح إنه كثير من الكلمات أنا ما فهمتها أو ما بعرفها لكن ده كان عيب من عندي ما من عند الشاعر، بس لو كان عمل لائحة لتفسير المفردات العامية كنت حأقدر الشي ده،
شعر جميل، أجمل وهو مقروء فلو بتقدر إنك تقرأه جهرياً حتكون تحربة ممتعة جداً. 
في أبيات حزينة، في أبيات مؤثرة، في حب وحياة وثورية و وأمل! اتمنى من كل شخص ثوري يقرأ لحميد ❤️