Zell

I liked the idea of this book but it felt unrealistic and the pacing was so off. The first 70% of the book was so slow and repetitive. The cult wasn't fleshed out, and this didn't feel like a good representation of a cult experience.

Such an interesting and compelling collection of stories. Alzayat writes in such a unique style, and her talent is evident here. Some of the stories hit me harder than others, but all of them were at least good. I really enjoyed the statements made here, and the culture that is woven through it all.

I've really enjoyed some of this author's other books, but this one was a little disappointing for me. It was a great concept, but the characters felt underdeveloped and emotionless, and the plot felt a little repetitive after a while. Whitehead wrote another great historical book (the references to the Tuskeegee syphilis study were a surprise for me and I appreciated that detail) but it just lacked emotion for me.

This book was so so so good. I loved the cultural references both to queer culture and Asian-American culture during this era. An absolutely beautiful love story and a fantastic piece of historical fiction. I wish I had this when I was a queer teen.

Ugh. I was really disappointed by this book. Everything felt overexplained and overly flowery. I felt like Shan spent the whole book being in her own way, making poor decisions and doing her job badly, all the way through to the end. She was an uninteresting and unsympathetic character.

This was an incredibly strong book on black boyhood, the importance of family, and growing up queer. I loved the content. I found myself wanting more, and I think the structure of specific anecdotes rather than a cohesive narrative contributed to that. But overall great!

Fantastic book about intergenerational trauma, the changing racial landscape of the 20th century, blaxploitation films, family, love, and queerness. I adored Angela, and loved the story told through the three generations of women. Beautifully written and still relevant 17 years later.

This felt like two books - I really liked the first one, it was weird and meta and some seriously great commentary. The style didn't carry over well to the second half, and I found myself struggling to maintain interest in it. This had potential, but i don't think it fully achieved what it set out to do.

I really liked the descriptions of Kya's world. They were beautiful and tranquil and atmospheric. I thought the murder trial storyline was weak and the dialogue was stilted. Owens is better at descriptions than she is at realistic conversations.

A very interesting book about an interesting family. Annie is a very strange child, and her parents seem abnormal too, but all the characters are vibrant and feel real. Annie is a great narrator, and I think her character is well developed. I would love for this to be longer, and for us to see other perspectives.

Amusing light read. Diane was funny and relatable in parts, but I was let down by the lack of substance in this book. It just felt predictable and boring, lots of filler.

This book made me viscerally uncomfortable in the best possible way. The body horror was so descriptive that I found myself reacting out loud to it as I read certain passages. Noemi is a fantastic, funny, and strong main character, and Francis is a great ally. This book had such a strong atmospheric Gothic vibe, I loved every minute of it.

I loved these stories! Ohlin has such a confident, vivid narrative voice, and her characters are unique and relatable. I felt drawn into their world, which can be difficult to do in this format. Nothing negative to say!

A fantastic look at the food of Mexico City. I also loved how the author included restaurant pics and recommendations. I would have liked descriptions for the pictures throughout the book.

A very strange book. I think it had a compelling premise, and there were definitely some interesting/intriguing parts. But it felt implausible and the end was disappointing. Also, the thing with the sister was weird - incest is NEVER necessary for a good story.

Ana is such a vibrant, strong protagonist, and this story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. The end was disappointing, but in a way that makes it more realistic. Overall a strong story and a compelling plot and narrative style.

I loved the memoir sections of this book. I would read a memoir from Bowien without any recipes involved - his experience was fascinating and the strongest part of this. The recipes were cool to see but maybe not accessible for the average cook. I think this should be 2 books- one with more recipes and less memoir, and one just memoir. I'd probably read both.

Beautiful pictures and great history lessons. I really liked the human rights perspective this author has even when discussing the food of a region. I did find myself wishing the pictures (both of the recipes and in the informational parts) were labeled with what they depict.

A solid book and a solid argument against the death penalty in America. I did find these stories a little dense, but they're also written from the perspective of a legal expert so I can understand that. I would love to see some citations for these stories, and places to find more info on the cases discussed here.

This book was half memoir, half non-fiction, and I felt that it suffered from not choosing a direction and sticking to it. Some of the entries discussed the fruit in question factually, while others discussed Lebo's life. I liked both, but often expected one and got another. Overall an interesting book but it felt like it lacked direction due to the structure of the chapters.

Beautiful, meandering contemplations on the world as seen through a dying artist's (failing) eyes. Lovely and poetic, sometimes aimless but other times truly poignant and breathtaking. A totally unique view of the world.

This book was just extremely meh for me. I wasn't attached to any of the characters and didn't feel engaged with the story. The plot feels very predictable and boring, and I just felt like there wasn't any point. It had some good moments and lines, and was well written. It just didn't grab me.

I thought a few of these stories were well done, but Lavery missed the mark with most of them for me. I like the concept, but felt that for some the weirdness/”meta” nature of the story overpowered the plot. Bummed to say this didn't work for me :(

I wanted to like this book. But the dialogue is so choppy, and clunky, and it drags on. And the descriptors are such terrible run ons. I felt like the main character had no real personality traits, nor did the supporting characters. Some of the depictions of war were good.

Solid recipes, good stories and history lessons, and well laid out instructions. Felt like it was a rose-tinted version of events on the USSR and only focused on positives, rather than being realistic.