caseythereader's reviews
1744 reviews

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

- Listen, if you’re going to read a dragon academy book this year, make it TO SHAPE A DRAGON’S BREATH. Not only is it beautifully written and set in a detailed, complexly built alternate history, but it goes fully in on colonization and its fallout and effects.
- Anequs is the newest entry in the pantheon of bright, strongminded girls in fantasy. She knows what she wants and will do what it takes to get there, pushing back against the Anglish’s attempts to force her down.
- I loved that this book got at how colonization and wh*te s*premacy hurts everyone - Native people, poor people, women, queer people, neurodivergent people, literally anyone who dares to not conform in any small way.
- I will concede that it’s a bit overlong, with some scenes feeling repetitive. Yet at the same time, I didn’t want it to be over. I could have followed the daily doings of Anequs and her friends forever (and look forward to continuing to do so in the sequel!)

Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg

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challenging emotional reflective 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? No

3.75

Thanks to Pride Book Tours for the free copy of this book.

- YOKE OF STARS is a small novella with a huge world packed inside.
- The universe of this book has one of the most unique creation stories I’ve ever read, and a fascinating social/cultural system among its many peoples.
- It took me a few chapters to understand what was going on, given how unlike anything I’ve read this is. I honestly can’t even explain it succinctly. You just have to explore it for yourself.
- Lemberg’s prose is beautiful, and you truly feel that these characters are giving their oral histories to you.

Content Warnings

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Content Warnings

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thanks to FSG Books for the free copy of this book.

- INTERMEZZO is Sally Rooney’s most ambitious work yet. It digs deep into the lives of four complicated, messy people who all to some degree have no idea what they are doing.
- Rooney is so good at keeping the reader engaged even when “nothing” is happening. Long conversations, extended mental monologues. When something does happen in this book, it’s often a character making a bad, barely defensible choice. And yet, I was compelled to keep reading.
- One of the central pieces of this book is ableism, both external and internal. Ivan doesn’t have an on-page diagnosis but he reads autistic to me, and Sylvia has chronic pain following an accident. Much of the emotional turmoil of the story centers on the characters’ feelings about it all. It’s a lot to chew on, and I’m still turning it all over in my head.

Content Warnings

Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Thanks to Macmillan for the free copy of this book.

- Anna Marie McLemore delivers another atmospheric, emotional, deeply queer story with FLAWLESS GIRLS.
- I loved the imagery of this book. McLemore winds together the opulence and eerie atmosphere beautifully, and I could envision it all as I was reading.
- There isn’t a whole lot to FLAWLESS GIRLS. The plot is one-track and unfolds pretty linearly among the few fully drawn characters. It’s really all about the beauty and the feelings here.

Content Warnings

When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.75

Thanks to Carina Press for the free copy of this book.

- There is so much to love in A LITTLE KISSING BETWEEN FRIENDS. Friends to lovers! Great banter! Black love! Stud representation! Super spicy scenes! S3x work treated as real work!
- I loved both Cyn and Jucee. Higgins is so good at characterization: both women and their friends and family felt like people you could know in real life.
- I unfortunately had real trouble with the third act breakup, though. !SPOILERS! It comes about because of a biphobic statement that seems to come out of nowhere and not fit with the world of the book. Then the characters discuss it to death with their circles, but when they finally talk to each other it’s quite nearly just glossed over for love.

Content Warnings