innerweststreetlibrarian's reviews
432 reviews

The Power by Naomi Alderman

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

5.0

W O W! 
I really needed the first half of this book after the grinding misogyny of the last one I read, but oof it got really hard to keep going once I was about halfway through. Definitely needed more contemplation time between chapters to process what was going on. And that was quite a LOT. Very, deeply thought provoking, and a tad horrifying. Basically excellent. 

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A Planet for Rent by Yoss

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

3.0

This is a challenging collection of short stories. Some are quite horrific. 
I found the parallels between this post-alien contact earth and Cuba quite fascinating, and that is what drove me to finish. 
The things I didn’t like, were the sloppy editing (so many typos), the use of the term “social worker” to describe sex workers, and the really strong sexist tone throughout the book that really dates it. 

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Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

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

3.5

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

The idea of being stuck somewhere with no idea when you’re going to be able to leave probably took on a whole deeper meaning by the time this one was ready to publish. Another excellent read. 
The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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

A wonderful conclusion to an excellent story. I’m sad it didn’t end up being a trilogy just so I could spend a little longer in that world, but the explanation of why it had to be like this makes a lot of sense. It must be unnerving to have life imitating art in such disturbing ways! 
Nation by Terry Pratchett

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adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Somehow this delightful book escaped my notice until it turned up in a street library one day. It’s always fun to see a beloved author trying out some new ideas, and there’s some interesting parallel universe stuff going on here, but quite different to what he explored in the Long Earth series. This is much more about relationships, culture, survival and community, with a bit of world building thrown in. 

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Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

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adventurous hopeful reflective slow-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

4.0

I enjoyed this too, but found it a slower read than the previous ones. It was a bit more challenging to keep track of all the different characters. 

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A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this one too! I liked the way the book is structured, flipping between the two intertwined stories. 

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Ye Gods! by Tom Holt

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

2.75

It’s moderately amusing, not riotously funny. I think the humour is a bit dated and tired, maybe it was hysterical in the 90’s. 
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mckenzie

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

3.75

This is not at all what I expected, even though on reading back, it is exactly as described in the blurb. For some reason I got it into my head that it was a fantasy! 
Instead, it’s a very stressful exploration of two deeply flawed people and their families as they prepare to get married. The whole way through I just wanted them to TALK to each other and go get therapy. 
There’s some quite graphic medical content that I wasn’t expecting either, even though it literally said on the back that one of the main characters is researching traumatic brain injuries. It was really interesting, but not a relaxing holiday read at all. 

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