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caseythereader's reviews
1744 reviews
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Hate crime and Colonisation
Minor: Torture and War
4.75
- Liontas uses a variety of writing styles in this book, including a stream of consciousness like style that puts the reader right into what her mind feels like while recovering from a concussion.
- The section that stuck out most to me was the discussion of the cycle of brain injury and incarceration. It feels ridiculous to say I’d never thought about it before, but I hadn’t, even though it seems obvious in retrospect.
- Liontas writes about not only what it is like to have this chronic pain and illness, but to be a queer woman with this condition, and a queer woman with a legacy of trauma from her mother’s addiction.
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
- A TEMPEST OF TEA is the best kind of heist story. Set in a fantasy world, a ragtag crew comes together, each with their own motives (and desires).
- I love the characters Faizal has created. Everyone has an agenda, but they come to care for each other, sometimes to their own detriment.
- And the action! I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I cannot wait for the second book.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Racism
- 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
- Wow, y’all! CONDITIONS OF A HEART totally knocked me out. I enjoyed Mangle’s first book, but this one is on another level.
- I loved Brynn and her family, who all felt like real people each trying to do what they thought was best.
- Brynn is a fantastic protagonist, with a snarky inner monologue and a huge knot of complicated feelings to work through. It’s rare to see a novel unpick so many aspects of having a chronic disability, and this book tackles so much while still remaining a engaging read brimming with love.
- On top of the discussions of disability, the book also deals with classism and generational privilege and power. Also, quite importantly, there’s a cat cafe!
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
- THIS DAY CHANGES EVERYTHING is basically "eeee so cute!" in book form. I loved everything about it, from the queerness to the band nerdery to the running around NYC landmarks hoping for magic. It's beautiful queer joy wrapped in a book.
- I love that Abby and Leo are allowed to be grumpy and touchy, that they can feel both joy and frustration.
- It's also great to see a YA novel where the queer characters are still figuring themselves out: trying to find the right label, or decide that labels might not even be necessary at all.
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Minor: Deadnaming and Vomit
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Sexual content, Vomit, and Medical content
Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
- I loved Ruby Barrett’s previous book, but THE FRIENDSHIP STUDY blows it out of the water. I adored Jesse and Lulu, who each felt like real, unique people.
- The friendship study itself is sort of vague, but it gives the characters such a great “we can’t be doing this” setup that I was willing to forgive how unscientific it felt, lol.
- Jesse is a bisexual man dealing with chronic pain after an injury, and Lulu is a queer woman just beginning to think she might have ADHD. Both are struggling with where their lives are going and the way making new friends as an adult seems impossible. And amid all these feelings, this book is HOT.
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity and Car accident
Minor: Biphobia and Rape