corabookworm's reviews
215 reviews

One of my favorite classics so far! The Aeneid is a fantastic and exciting adventure mimicking the Odyssey and Iliad, and Allen Mandelbaum's translation was very easy-to-read. I love when classics actually feel like I'm just reading a silly lil fantasy book!

Slewfoot isn't really, as the summary implies, about a "battle between pagan and puritan." Rather, it is about a young woman named Abitha, struggling against her evil brother-in-law and the puritan village that supports him. So just keep your expectations less "big religious war" and more "badass woman."

I really really enjoyed this book. It had elements of horror but was almost more of a thriller, with every page seeped in tension and suspense. I was captivated both by Abitha's battles against evil religious men and by Samson's pursuit of his true identity. And the way it all tied together in a fireball of rage and magic and creepy creatures... perfection.

If you like stories about weird forest monsters, feminine rage, and witches, you'll enjoy this one. I highly recommend it.

I definitely liked this book more than the first, just because Will's storyline was super super intriguing. Still a bit slow-paced/uneventful for my tastes but a really good fantasy book!

I had to read this book for my English class and while it wasn't a bad book to read for school it wasn't something I really enjoyed.

First, the bird-in-the-chest thing. My English teacher said (SO many times) that this WASN'T a metaphor for anything, it was really a JUST bird in his chest and that's what the book was about. But it's really hard to read this book and not notice parallels to queerness/transness or just feelings of "otherness". But if it was an allegory, it felt kind of incomplete and disjointed. And if it really WASN'T a metaphor, then it was just an example of magical realism that fell flat for me. Because magical realism doesn't really intrigue me when its ONE thing happening to ONE guy for the ENTIRE book. It only kind of vaguely branched out at the end? But otherwise it was just centered around him and the bird in his chest didn't really matter for most of the book, if that makes sense. It feels like it would've been almost the same story if the bird hadn't been there.

Second: what the heck were the adults in this book. Like it was kind of interesting to analyze them and realize the author made them not-great on purpose. But WHY would you constantly smoke around your severely asthmatic kid. And WHY do the adults just give kids drugs and alcohol for fun. Like what.

Final problem with this book: I just really didn't want to read about an underage boy doing drugs and having sex and masturbating this much. You know? Like, I get it's a coming of age story and those things play a part. But it's just very much not my cup of tea.

Now, the GOOD stuff: This book wasn't actually bad! It just wasn't my cup of tea! Under the magical realism/metaphor stuff and the weird sexual stuff, this is a very bright and sweet coming of age story. Owen was sweet, Gail was hilarious, and I treasured his interactions with Tennessee and Clyde and all his other people. Reading about queer kids finding groups of queers is just such a specific feeling of comfort and I really enjoyed that about the book. There were several funny moments and lines. Many of the ''issues" I had with this book could definitely be brushed away knowing that this is a debut novel and simply wasn't the kind of book/content I like to read. If you like coming of age stories with an added element of sci-fi/magic/whatever, you may enjoy TBWABIHC.

Interesting book, I loved the kind of odd vibes as the author twists stories and reality together. It was cool!

Probably would’ve been a better book if I could actually pay attention but since it was an audiobook I kept tuning out. Also either not much happened or I missed all the stuff that happened, but it felt like the characters were kinda in the same situation at the end of the book that they’d been in the whole time. Like maybe I missed it but I don’t feel like the climax changed much. But it was a good book! Interesting plot and good plot twists!! Lovable characters! Everyone likes Will!!

I enjoyed this book! The story itself was intriguing and the audiobook narration was really good. It definitely had an element of fairy-tale weirdness to it that I liked but also idk. If you like weird, dark fantasy books you’d probably enjoy this one.

Read this for a Women's Lit class and really enjoyed it. It's short and quick, written in an intriguing writing style, and packed with tons of emotion. Parts of it were uncomfortable to read, just because of the blatant racism and sexism, but I think that's also kind of the point. Good book overall!

For a book I had to read for school, this one was pretty good. Carrasco explores some interesting topics, and the book is well-paced while providing plenty of information. Sometimes I felt like he said a lot of words while actually saying very little but I could also just be not smart. 

Reread this book after 4 years—I was worried that my enjoyment wouldn’t withstand the test of time, especially bc I tend to not enjoy straight romances nowadays. But I really liked this book! The romance was a little rushed and insta-love-y, sure, but it was cute, and Rook is so incredibly silly. And the whole atmosphere of this book is just perfect for autumn. The fae are intriguing and unique, and the story is fast paced and short. And the audiobook narration was lovely! Overall just a perfect quick fantasy fall read.