sskinner155's reviews
125 reviews

If You See Me by Audra McElyea

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dark emotional mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.0

No man is worth all of this. The mystery was good and I was racing to the end but felt let down by it. The reveal was good but not the reasons behind it.
Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo

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emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

3.5

An introspective into the mind of a woman who is studying the last wild wolf pack. 
A short book that centers a woman’s need for family and community with wild animals over her own marriage and well being of the last wolf pack. I thought this book would lean more horror but sits squarely in sy-fy.
Weyward by Emilia Hart

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

2.5

This book is well written and has beautiful prose, the generational story telling is great with amazing characters and foreshadowing but I didn’t like some of the choices the author made for these characters.
At sixteen Violet gives herself a medical abortion after she is raped, both the rape and abortion were violent act and the narrative depicts them as such. However violet later regrets her decision for the abortion and somehow doesn’t have any more children. I hate this, while it perfectly fine to have a character regret a decision the made in haste the idea of condemning her to be childless and guilt ridden takes away why she did this, because she was raped. I feel like the narrative was punishing Violet for this choice. In fact during each story someone either consider or has an abortion and it felt as though the narrative was passing judgement on these characters for their choices. And it made it hard to enjoy the story.
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Duped: Why Innocent People Confess and Why We Believe Them by Saul Kassin

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informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

A great dive into the sociology of false confessions. The author does a great job explaining how people find themselves in these situations, how the deck is often stacked against them and how there is failure at all points in the justice system. 
The whole book is easy to understand and follows with real cases some more infamous then others and a breakdown at the end on how to prevent innocent people becoming victims themselves.
Matcha Made in Heaven, Vol. 1 by Umebachi Yamanaka

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Cute, like the setup. Will probably continue, want a bit more though in the next volume.
Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough by Dina Nayeri

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informative sad slow-paced

3.0

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

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dark funny tense fast-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

Idiots trying to get away with murder. The type of feminism where you hate women but hate men more. If someone says they have a dark sense of humor have them read this book. Absolutely loved, made me laugh out loud.
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Can't Say Goodbye by Eden Finley

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lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Fun and sexy, nothing to serious, great spicy scene and likeable characters. Age gap, MMM. 
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

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

3.5

When I first started this book it took me awhile to get into it but once the pilgrimage portion started it became easier to follow and I ended up enjoying it enough to continue with the series.
Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan

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emotional funny hopeful medium-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

2.5

No my favorite but still there was some good stuff, I like the setup for the fake dating and the journey that Madhuir went through accepting her culture.  Most of my issues came from the pacing and Arjun’s relationship with his mother.