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dododenise's reviews
379 reviews
Les Normaux: A Graphic Novel by S Al Sabado, Janine Janssen
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
AAAAAH THIS WAS SO CUTE!!! I loved everything about this: the characters, the relationships, the world, the art style. It’s all stunning!
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
The King's Men by Nora Sakavic
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love this book and this world more than I should.
Flopping in a Winter Wonderland by Jason June
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A cute christmas romcom. It’s all it is and all I needed it to be. A good time.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Abandonment
The Raven King by Nora Sakavic
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a reread.
This book has no right to get me this invested. It’s like a drug. It’s hurting me and yet I just keep going faster, wanting more. I still stand by my previous review: The second half of this book made me physically hurt. It just had its claws in me. And yet I love it.
I also remembered even less of this book than I thought I did so the fact that this was a reread didn’t help with preparing me at all.
This book has no right to get me this invested. It’s like a drug. It’s hurting me and yet I just keep going faster, wanting more. I still stand by my previous review: The second half of this book made me physically hurt. It just had its claws in me. And yet I love it.
I also remembered even less of this book than I thought I did so the fact that this was a reread didn’t help with preparing me at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Minor: Death of parent
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book made me think a lot.
My mom asked me to read this to hear my opinion as a psychologist. I definitely sent her some very long messages as I was reading.
Now looking at the whole product, I am not entirely sure what the point was. A lot of things happen. But in the end they illustrate the same story: troubled people need help instead of being treated horribly. And a misogynistic overly policing system like that will also not know about basic pedagogy and psychology or how to teach it (that school was filled with horrible teachings).
I think what makes it a bit lacklustre now that I am finished is that I feel like this story could have been told in a more “enjoyable” manner. Writing a book about how policing mothers will be more damaging for everyone involved is an important one. Yet I sit here disliking every single character other than the daughter. All this book really gave me was thinking about parenting and how child protective can be improved, and being upset about how stupid the people and system in the book are. This might as well have been a nonfiction book philosophising about pedagogy/child protection and I wouldn’t have to deal with the unbearable characters (I understand the point of the unlikable characters but that approach rarely ever works for me and it didn’t now either).
My mom asked me to read this to hear my opinion as a psychologist. I definitely sent her some very long messages as I was reading.
Now looking at the whole product, I am not entirely sure what the point was. A lot of things happen. But in the end they illustrate the same story: troubled people need help instead of being treated horribly. And a misogynistic overly policing system like that will also not know about basic pedagogy and psychology or how to teach it (that school was filled with horrible teachings).
I think what makes it a bit lacklustre now that I am finished is that I feel like this story could have been told in a more “enjoyable” manner. Writing a book about how policing mothers will be more damaging for everyone involved is an important one. Yet I sit here disliking every single character other than the daughter. All this book really gave me was thinking about parenting and how child protective can be improved, and being upset about how stupid the people and system in the book are. This might as well have been a nonfiction book philosophising about pedagogy/child protection and I wouldn’t have to deal with the unbearable characters (I understand the point of the unlikable characters but that approach rarely ever works for me and it didn’t now either).
The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
(this was a reread and this is a new review)
This book is better and still as bad as I remember it. It is better because this time I was able to keep track of the characters, whereas last time I felt overrun by them. It also helped that I knew what I was getting into this time around.
My main criticism remains: this book feels like a prologue. The storyline is not fit for an entire book. The pacing is off and in no shape or form is this the story a book should follow. There’s a reason why many books follow similar arcs. It makes this book a drag even though it really doesn’t need to be. The characters are intriguing already. But if everything around it doesn’t work, then reading this book is a piece of work. And the party scene will probably always remain one of my most hated moments in books ever.
If only looking at this book I’d say the author probably is homophobic and ableist (and I’d assume bigoted in other ways too). The constant slurs, the way Nicky is written as the only visibly queer character in this book… It’s just not great. I assume it is not like that, she definitely redeems herself somewhat with more visibly queer characters later in the series. But it still makes this book problematic.
If I didn’t love these characters and made me somewhat enjoy this book I would’ve given it an even lower rating. I’m excited that this is over and I can get into the good stuff with the next books.
This book is better and still as bad as I remember it. It is better because this time I was able to keep track of the characters, whereas last time I felt overrun by them. It also helped that I knew what I was getting into this time around.
My main criticism remains: this book feels like a prologue. The storyline is not fit for an entire book. The pacing is off and in no shape or form is this the story a book should follow. There’s a reason why many books follow similar arcs. It makes this book a drag even though it really doesn’t need to be. The characters are intriguing already. But if everything around it doesn’t work, then reading this book is a piece of work. And the party scene will probably always remain one of my most hated moments in books ever.
If only looking at this book I’d say the author probably is homophobic and ableist (and I’d assume bigoted in other ways too). The constant slurs, the way Nicky is written as the only visibly queer character in this book… It’s just not great. I assume it is not like that, she definitely redeems herself somewhat with more visibly queer characters later in the series. But it still makes this book problematic.
If I didn’t love these characters and made me somewhat enjoy this book I would’ve given it an even lower rating. I’m excited that this is over and I can get into the good stuff with the next books.
The Pale Dreamer by Samantha Shannon
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A nice little introduction into this universe. Definitely makes me curious about the series and to start the bone season.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
I went into this book highly critical of whether I would like it. I haven’t read a single historical fantasy book I enjoyed before. And yet, here we are, me giving this book a four star rating.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It painted beautiful pictures and swept me right along the adventure. The characters were interesting and engaging and the world was so rich and wondrous.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It painted beautiful pictures and swept me right along the adventure. The characters were interesting and engaging and the world was so rich and wondrous.
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
The concept was intriguing but the story itself is just not doing enough for me. I didn’t care for the characters and the plot was uninspiring and boring for the most part.
This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves
emotional
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
4.0
This book made me realise I am very much not the intended audience for it. But I am fine with that, since I am well aware I’m going into a young adult novel as an adult. This book is written for teen boys who are figuring out their sexuality. And I think that is very valuable.
I went into this book mostly because I heard that the love interest is Palestinian. Gosh he’s a cutie. Probably my favourite character in the book. The book also goes a little into what it’s like to be Palestinian and live in the US. Not all that much, which is expected and probably also appropriate for a writer who is not Palestinian himself, but still to a degree to raise awareness about the struggles.
The book teaches a lot of valuable lessons for teens. Enrique seems overly naive sometimes. However, that works great to showcase the dangers that can come from certain mindsets and for the most part the book discusses the issues that arise from it. It never becomes condescending with it, but approaches it with empathy. Sure, they do some stupid things, get themselves in icky situations, but at the end of the day they are just teens trying to figure themselves and the world out and that is okay. And thankfully there are adults and friends to support them along the way.
Enrique is a very horny character. That is cool, he’s a teenager, teens can be like that. But I did feel uncomfortable at times when it came to some intimate scenes. I felt like they were still a bit too descriptive. Quite frankly, I did not want to know that much about what these teenage characters were doing.
First and foremost this book is about Enrique’s journey and character development. It deals with his sexuality, romantic feelings and expectations, friendship, identity, homophobia, mental health, and probably some other things that don’t come to mind right now. This book does it in a very real and raw way.
I went into this book mostly because I heard that the love interest is Palestinian. Gosh he’s a cutie. Probably my favourite character in the book. The book also goes a little into what it’s like to be Palestinian and live in the US. Not all that much, which is expected and probably also appropriate for a writer who is not Palestinian himself, but still to a degree to raise awareness about the struggles.
The book teaches a lot of valuable lessons for teens. Enrique seems overly naive sometimes. However, that works great to showcase the dangers that can come from certain mindsets and for the most part the book discusses the issues that arise from it. It never becomes condescending with it, but approaches it with empathy. Sure, they do some stupid things, get themselves in icky situations, but at the end of the day they are just teens trying to figure themselves and the world out and that is okay. And thankfully there are adults and friends to support them along the way.
Enrique is a very horny character. That is cool, he’s a teenager, teens can be like that. But I did feel uncomfortable at times when it came to some intimate scenes. I felt like they were still a bit too descriptive. Quite frankly, I did not want to know that much about what these teenage characters were doing.
First and foremost this book is about Enrique’s journey and character development. It deals with his sexuality, romantic feelings and expectations, friendship, identity, homophobia, mental health, and probably some other things that don’t come to mind right now. This book does it in a very real and raw way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use and Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence