You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

whatsmacksaid's reviews
1288 reviews

How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them by Barbara F. Walter

Go to review page

dark informative slow-paced

4.5

Illuminating and sobering.
Court of Tricksters by S.L. Prater

Go to review page

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.5

An easy and enjoyable read. However, I couldn't help but compare the main couple's relationship arc to that of Caught in the Basilisk's Gaze, which had the same general obstacles (primarily the LI's reluctance to open himself up emotionally to romantic love) but were executed more deftly and with deeper emotional resonance. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Holy shit, this was incredible.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
American Resistance: The Inside Story of How the Deep State Saved the Nation by David Rothkopf

Go to review page

challenging informative fast-paced

4.0

Needlessly provocative title on what's a surprisingly readable, mostly first-person account of the career civil servants who spent the length of Trump's administration trying to soften the harm he inflicted. As might be expected, the people who went on record were quite a bit more conciliatory toward their colleagues than the ones who didn't. And the author is *very* generous toward people who have made terrible decisions. For example, Kirstjen Nielsen may have tried to avoid implementing the family separation policy--there are no adjectives sufficient to describe the cruelty of such a banal name--"for months," but she didn't resign when it happened. She participated. 

That generosity extends to a whole lot of other people, and I get the point of it, but it was still hard to take sometimes.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Burning Girls and Other Stories by Veronica Schanoes

Go to review page

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Best read one at a time to savor them.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious tense
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I cannot WAIT for the next one.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Very, very dark--particularly the beginning, when we see how Cordelia lives with her mother--but equally excellent. This felt like the natural convergence between the author's fairytale and horror novels.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings