strabbyfieldz's reviews
58 reviews

Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems by Wanda Coleman, Terrance Hayes

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I don't think I've ever read a poet so fervently, so intensely. Coleman's work is absolutely unlike any other because she expresses herself so fully, entirely. I am so happy to have access to such works and it is a crime that I have never heard of her lyrical mastery until this point. 
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Loveless by Alice Oseman

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

this book was an average-ish YA novel but the asexuality and nuanced discussions around being ace really elevated it!!! I learned a lot. my one gripe was that Sunil's pronouns were he/they but the narrative only ever referred to them with he/him pronouns??? maybe I'm missing something there idk. 
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This Is Shakespeare: How to Read the World's Greatest Playwright by Emma Smith

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funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Emma Smith is the only Shakespeare critic I actually enjoyed reading during a level, a trend she has continued with through this book.
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Little Witch Academia, Vol. 2 by Yoh Yoshinari

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

that whole mouse chapter felt off to me somehow??? it was very random lol, but lwa always is to an extent. the art style fuckin slaps!!!! I loved the comedic timing of the panels and the expressions and the full page spreads of moments for emphasis even if it was a bit crowded at points it freaking slapped 
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Handbook of Japanese Mythology by Michael Ashkenazi

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informative slow-paced

2.75

had some very fun and interesting passages (foxes have jewels of tax evasion, who knew) but while the repetition and backtracking was useful, alongside the very light touch given to most of the stories and myths discussed it did become fairly frustrating. 
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Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

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emotional lighthearted reflective sad 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

2.0

i would've adored this book were it not for the bit about América Vicuña and all the other uncomfortable or wrong elements like the racism (I could be wrong but man, some of the descriptions of the Black characters felt anti-Black and also one of the main protags was like fairly racist???). Regardless of messaging or whatever with América, it felt pointless, uncomfortable as heck and rendered the touching(??) love story of the main protagonists much less easy to root for freely. 
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Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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? No

3.0

the interviews at the back were so sweet and interesting, and I loved a lot of small bits of the book but there were a few bits of like... "ironic" racism/homophobia things for me to really enjoy it. the series is good.
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The Princess Bride by William Goldman

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

cannot believe that the whole morgenstern / goldman meta is this effective purely because goldman's narration suuuuuucks so hard and 'morgenstern's' doesn't lol
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Tomie by Junji Ito

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

4.5

a little repetitive (which I kinda love because it reflects how Tomie continually regenerates until she's an idea, a concept, an echo of the former school girl malleable to the shape of whatever society demands) and definitely rough around the edges (which again I can forgive because on a meta-level it works as a way of Tomie's identity being completely consumed and her influence and power growing stronger as the art style improves) but man do I love this manga. idk if its a Duchess of Malfi type deal where the intent was more to be shocking and ended up with loads of really interesting ideas about being a woman, but dang Ito really did strike gold and wrote something evocative, horrifying and also pretty tragic. 
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The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

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

3.75

some parts of this book made me want to cry because I had no other way to express how I feel, it was such a strange overwhelming feeling of connection to an idea to a person to a theme that it hurt in a way. but then other parts jarred with me, especially spencer's plot line... why did the book frame him becoming a landlord as a good thing??? also idk something about Francis and his narrative felt strange in that he only really came into focus at the end. BUT that being said I got so absorbed that my eyes now sting from reading for like 3 hrs lol
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