averyjaye's reviews
33 reviews

Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante

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emotional lighthearted sad 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? No

2.0

Garbage.

An enormous slog that wastes it's unique framing device on useless, uninteresting detail. 

Thematically blunt as the flat side of a hammer that manages to miss hitting the nail on the head with every swing.

It started strong, but by the half-way point I found myself actively resenting this book, it's author-surrogate protagonist, and the "lol so random" tidbits of Little Blue that we're forced to wade through in an effort to get to the interesting bits (which, more often than not turn out to be uninteresting as well).
The Butterfly Lampshade by Aimee Bender

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

5.0

Unbelievably lovely. Aimee Bender writes like jazz. She treats words with dignity and reverence, as well as playfulness and joy.

A delightful meditation on mental illness, family, and self-actualization that is impossible to put down once you start reading.

Highly recommend.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

Casey Plett at her absolute sharpest, darkest, and most honest. Every story in the collection left me quiet and provoked for a time after finishing them. She speaks multiple languages throughout, the languages of transness and of alcoholism and of her Mennonite background, and finds the commonalities in those distinct modes. There are tales of isolation, of needing the world to be bigger, and of wishing it were smaller, all featuring a cast of women who I am convinced are real and breathing and more than prose.

I loved every night spent with this book.
Billy Bat 1 by Naoki Urasawa

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

4.0

Great fun sci-fi nonsense from Naomi Urusawa. He's always worth reading even if his work is a little uneven at times.
Network Effect by Martha Wells

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.
I'll come back to it, I just wasn't as in the mood for a sci-fi book right then and needed something more grounded.
Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones by Torrey Peters

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I don't understand how a person can stuff this much richness and meaning into a text that is only 75 pages long.
Under the Dome by Stephen King

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
This book is actually awful. How have I never noticed how deeply cringe Stephen King is before now?
Aliens: The World's Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life by Jim Al-Khalili

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
I'll come back to it. Too busy right now to read this. Very interesting though.
20th Century Boys 1 by Naoki Urasawa

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adventurous challenging dark funny inspiring mysterious fast-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

5.0

This review will be for the series as a whole:

Arguably, this is Urasawa's magnum opus.

A sweeping story told over the course of decades about childhood nostalgia, the complexities of growing older, and the social forces that shape who you become, all wrapped in a mind boggling mystery that will keep you hooked until the very last panel.

Here, Urasawa's art style is perfected. Every pen stroke is precise and useful, to a degree that is almost, but not quite, minimalist.

His trademark storytelling style, which utilized all the tools of non-linear storytelling, effective redirection, and constant intrigue is put to task like a machine in this series.

In this story, you will find tales of dangerous apocalypic death cults, UFOs, schools for psychic children, and a homeless God. In spite of its scifi weirdness, it is also a story that is consistently rooted in its characters.

If you haven't read Naoki Urasawa before, do yourself a favor and see what this legendary artist has to offer.