_soraya_pl's reviews
319 reviews

One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole

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

1.0

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza

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adventurous funny mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst

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  • 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

2.0

Self Struggle & Change: Family Conflict Stories in Genesis and Their Healing Insights for Our Lives by Norman J. Cohen

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This book is so long with so many characters and too many timelines to keep track of. 
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • 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

2.75

I’m not the target audience for YA but I was fighting tears. I think the concepts discussed are important but I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It felt like “How do you do fellow kids?” trying to guess what a high schooler would say. 
The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America by Aaron Robertson

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hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

Two quotes that stuck with me:

I am not God, but what I am saying is that I see God in us. 
God is in me. God who creates also inhabits, especially if invited to reside. It is peculiar that men, women, and children were enslaved, mistreated, and tortured to come and work for free in the United States of America, but the peculiar can be unraveled.

I had known the smells of churches as a child-sweet and nauseating potpourri, colognes and perfumes, and Wednesday night Bible study chalkboards. Some of my past churches had names that sounded like flowers: Bethany, Elim, Merriman. A thousand mothers and fathers raised me.
An Orphan in History: Retrieving a Jewish Legacy by Paul Cowan, Paul Cowan

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hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

3.0

The 2 parts of the book made sense as a separation to his family’s story then his own story. It is written in a “this happened then this happened then this happened” fashion so it does get boring to read. But it’s a good story of Cowan finding himself.