immabehazzie's reviews
255 reviews

12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

This memoir gives a different look, or more, a deeper and more honest look into slavery. During the entirety of reading this memoir, I was disturbed, heartbroken, disgusted, and horrified. There was no holding back about the cruelty that the author and other slaves endured.

This is a very hard read but one that I think is needed.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

There’s so much to take away from ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ that I don’t know if I could write it all down in one go. In less than 200 pages this memoir took me on a ride of emotions and had me constantly contemplating things that I had never given much thought to.

Mainly, though, when I finished the book I realized how natural and how accepting of death some people can be when so many people view it as the end. No more learning, no more growing, no more you. However, in the end, our lives are not just ours. Our lives belong to everyone we meet. It’s about the impact and love we leave on others.

I wish that I had read this memoir sooner but I also don’t think I would have been able to fully appreciate it until now. Less than a year ago I would have allowed myself to smile, laugh, and cry all during the same story. I don’t think any book has touched me like this. 

It’s a good way to get the point across that our lives are more than being born and dying. It’s all the good and bad stuff that makes us who we are in between that defines our lives and how we approach others. 

Dog Songs by Mary Oliver

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

This is a book of poems about dogs, our connection with them, and their impact on our lives. I knew that I would enjoy it as the author is Mary Oliver but I didn’t think that I would love it as much as I did! 

After finishing I had to sit with emotions that I wasn’t expecting to feel for a while. I was filled with love and nostalgia. It was the same feeling that I had as a kid when watching Homeward Bound. 

Dearest by Jacquie Walters

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It took a minute for me to get into it. It isn’t until halfway through that this novel turns into a horror novel. While the first two parts felt slow and built up the stakes, the second half took off running and made my heart race until I finally finished the book. It felt like reading a Mike Flanagan show. 

The first half takes the time to paint the struggles that Flora, a new mother, is going through. Between the physical and emotional demands of her new baby and also feeling the need to connect with her estranged mother the second half is much more fast-paced. 

The second half is much more fast-paced and is the part that will leave you unable to put the book down until you finish it. Without spoiling it, I’m glad that I stuck it out. This novel does a good job and showing the difficulties of motherhood through using popular ideas from the horror genre. 
Bunny by Mona Awad

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was Heathers meets Mean Girls meets Alice in Wonderland and it was just as chaotic, unnerving, strange, and addicting as it sounds.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

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adventurous emotional inspiring tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

It’s everything I expected it to be, honestly. The Fellowship of The Ring sets up a great adventure and the characters well. It’s fantastical and magical in only the way Lord of The Rings can be. 

If I were to nitpick, though, there were too many songs. It helps round out the fantasy but draws away from the story that is taking place. 

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

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

4.75

This book has had everything I have been wanting in a book for a long time. The Magic world felt tangible. Real. It actually impacted the lives of the characters and even after the climax of the book it still followed them. 

The family dynamic broke my heart but the sister dynamic was so real. Sometimes the person who you are closest to is the one who you hate the most. 

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

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dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I can’t believe that I put reading this book off for so long. I wasn’t sure what I expected, perhaps something like a podcast recounting the events described, but it wasn’t anything like that at all.

I felt disturbed, sad, angry, and so many other emotions while reading this novel. Honestly, that’s exactly how you should feel reading a book like this or hearing about crimes like the ones depicted in this story. Even though this story leads you to believe this is true crime adjacent, this novel does one things those other books, podcasts, and shows don’t do, and that’s focus on the victims and the people who love them and have to grieve them.

This story makes a point of not paying attention to the man who committed the crimes but to the women who were impacted and that is what makes it so good.
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Weyward by Emilia Hart

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I wanted this book to be intriguing and good. However, by the fourth chapter, I realized things weren’t going to go anywhere and I was just bored. It was repetitive despite there being three different point of views. Each pov went the same way, looking for their mother or ancestors, getting abused by men, and getting pregnant. 

I’ve seen less pregnancy in a book of midwifery than in this novel. 

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The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

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

2.75

I had expected more. Who doesn’t want to read a story about a magical fox who is on a mission to avenge her daughter? However, I found the writing to be repetitive and drawn out. The last half of the story is better but overall, I found myself bored and struggled to pick this book back up after I put it down halfway through.