cclift1114's reviews
1286 reviews

The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense 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? No

5.0

Klune is a master at writing precocious, funny kids that make you fall in love with them. There were definitely aspects of this book that have already been done before, but I loved the relationship dynamics. I found myself laughing at the things Artemis would say, and then tearing up at the end. Of course, part of my feelings towards the book might be wrapped up in the fact that had I been choosing a name for myself as a young child, there was definitely a time when I would have chosen something way too close to Artemis Darth Vader. But I think a lot more has to do with this book just being sweet and heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. 
Debido a la tormenta by Jennifer Degenhardt

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

4.0

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

I do enjoy a good mystery and this book does a teen mystery pretty well. I liked the characters and how it felt like a twist on the setup of the Breakfast Club. There were some parts that were a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed the twists. 
The Situationship by Abby Jimenez

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

4.0

Two reasons to read this short story: Dick Rock and Kevin Bacon (the pig). Need I say more?
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

Very similar to the first one, this time with Mosscap getting the opportunity to get to know more humans. The writing stood out to me even more with this one, with the descriptive language being so beautiful. I hope there are more of these books to come. 
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

How does someone make a book that’s cozy while also contemplating what it is to be human, all in such a short work? I’m not sure, but Becky Chambers manages it here. I especially resonated with the discussion Dex and Mosscap have about purpose in life. 
This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

I feel similarly about this book as I did with the first one. I liked the messaging and the positive representation in the book. I do think it was pretty rushed and there wasn’t enough time to fully develop some of the magic systems or the world-building. I think the duology might have actually benefited from being a trilogy, with another book preceding the first one, in which we get to see the original war played out. I think then there would’ve been more time to do further world-building as well as develop the characters and their relationships more on the page. 
The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez

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

4.0

This short story really had everything you hope for with an Abby Jimenez romance: 
-Cute, lovable main characters? ✅
-Cute, adorable side characters? ✅
-Cute, funny banter? ✅
-A bit of gravitas from the characters dealing with pretty serious issues, beyond their relationship? ✅
-Witty/funny/silly names for pets? ✅

I suppose the only issue was it really should have been a full length novel. 

Also, I want a whole novel about Izzy and Gabe now, too. 
The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

While I think most people intuitively know a lot of the information that Haidt sets forth in this book, it is nice to have the data to back it up. I appreciate that he doesn’t just lay out the problems with phones and social media and video games for children and teenagers, but also lists a variety of different solutions at different levels that could help negate some of the negative effects that we are currently seeing. I also appreciated the structure of the book, with him clearly outlining what was going to be discussed and summoning up the most important points of each chapter at the end of it. I hope that parents, schools, and communities will work to implement some of the changes that he has proposed here. 
American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church by Andrew L. Whitehead

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

I would highly recommend this book for any Christian American, and even for those that are not Christian, in order to better understand how white Christian nationalism has come to be so dominant in America and how it undermines the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. I was surprised at how intersectional this book was in addressing how white Christian nationalism seeks to attack all kinds of minorities. I appreciated Whitehead’s treatment of this topic and how he can speak to these issues so well having been raised in American Christian Evangelicalism. One line in particular that really stuck with me on how white Christian nationalists operate was the idea of the inverted golden rule, in which you “expect from others what you would do unto them,” especially when working from a place of fear.