Tag: setting

Book Review, Memoirs/Autobiography, Non-Fiction, Self-Help

Born to Run by C.M.

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5 stars. I wear barefoot shoes. No not the kind that have toes and are super tacky, but like shoes that actually allow your foot to function as though you were barefoot kind of shoes. LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE BAREFOOT SHOE COMPANY references this book. Look it up, then buy some shoes and save yourself some terrible foot, knee, hip, and back problems for the rest of your life. Ok now for what you’re really here for: a book review.

This book is amazing and I gave it 5 stars because I loved it. I loved the stories and all the various people included in this journey through history about running. However, I will say the title is somewhat misleading because the “Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” only takes up a small percentage of the very end. But other than that, it will change the way you think about running and the shoe industry.

Book Review

The Hate U Give by A.T.

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5 Starrs. Wow. I’m behind on reviews. I read this, like, 2 months ago (today is 9/16) and am just now getting to writing about it. And, because I devoured it so fast, I vaguely remember anything I initially wanted to write about AND (lucky me) of course I didn’t take notes.
Anyway, forget all that and travel back with me to what I probably would have said had I written a review in a timely manner:
This book is brilliant. Each character was unabashedly themselves, the symbolism (which I read about in the acknowledgments at the end) was stellar, and I cannot help but say that this book is both ahead of its time in addition to being prophetic. It created a portrait of a beautiful family and neighborhood and showed them from an angle you never see on the media (even now). I sincerely hope that Thomas writes a million more books with such vivid points of view. Truly a remarkable work.

Book Review, Dystopian, Philosophy, Series

Series: Earthseed by O.E.B.

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The Parable of the Sower

4 stars. Whoa. I’ve been waiting to read this book for a while. I think a few years ago when I first purchased Kindred. The Parable of the Sower is basically prophetic. Like, the parallels between what is happening in the world now are glaring! I urge to you to pick up this book now! Lauren isn’t my most favorite narrator, but she gives a whole new perspective to survival. I also think a lot of her hyperempathy was lost in regards to smaller feelings, but I explained away my disappointment in the interest of time and pages on Butler’s behalf. But Butler sure knows how to weave a compelling story, and while raw dystopian novels aren’t really my cup of tea I am mildly convinced to read the rest of this series. Will Earthseed find peace? I don’t know! But do I want to know what happens between Lauren and Bankole (yikes! age gap) even less so. Who knows which part of me will win in the end.

Parable of the Talents

Who knows. Someday, maybe.

Parable of the Trickster

Unfinished by author before her death.

Book Review, Dystopian, Historical Fiction, Series, Steampunk, YA Science Fiction

Series: Dread Nation by J.I.

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Dread Nation

5 stars. I absolutely loved this concept, the execution, the characters. Every. Last. Word.

Except (yes, always the exception) I tired of the tribute to Friends episode titles that adorned every chapter title. To be fair, I have only ever watched one episode of Friends in its entirety and have done so several times. Why can’t I move past the first episode? you may ask. Well, this is a review about Dread Nation not Friends, so I’m moving on.

This book is not Friends (from what I can discern from memes, gifs, and the like), this book is a national treasure and everyone should read it! Don’t read it for the historical allusion to life after the Civil War or even the zombies, read it for the way it addresses the complex issue of race, passing, and deeply entrenched discrimination (and a little for the zombies).

Deathless Divide

4 stars. First can I just say: this is the book we all didn’t know we needed. Zombies, queer leads, awesome fighting, thoughtful character development. Boom! When I saw that it was going to be a book going back and forth between the two main characters POV, I was not exactly thrilled. “It’s just a lazy way to go about writing” I usually say to myself. But, boy howdy, I was wrong. I needed Katherine’s insight just as much as Jane. Though I missed a full-on Jane narration like in Dread Nation, I could never have imagined a better execution for the interchanging first-person narrative.

I don’t remember why I gave it four stars instead of five. I should have written better notes. I won’t change it and maybe someday I’ll remember why I didn’t think it deserved as good of a rating as the first one. I think I was probably too enthralled with the story to remember to write down what I didn’t like. Which goes to show how good the book was, I think.

(Remember how I talked too much about Friends in my review of Dread Nation? Turns out you can just ignore the chapter titles and then it doesn’t have an effect on you at all!)

Book Review, Children's Fiction, YA Fantasy

Race to the Sun by R.R.

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4 stars. Roanhorse builds a fantastic world. My mom grew up on the Navajo Reservation and I often read books about the Hero Twins as a kid (think Monster Slayer by Vee F. Browne). So besides that, I don’t think I’d really ever read a fiction book that focused on indigenous culture, it was wonderful to read an “own voices” book filled with delightful imagery and real challenges with a VERY teenage narrative flair. I loved it! I wish the struggle was a little more “real” just because splitting up and never hearing about how they each got their tokens for Spider Woman was rather frustrating. I would have very much liked to get insight on those side adventures or not have the team split up in the first place. Aside from that I was so proud of Nizhoni when she passed the trials that I didn’t even really care about the last battle, though it was intense but too fast paced.

RECOMMEND RECOMMEND RECOMMEND!