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dpearson5257's reviews
594 reviews
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? No
3.75
This was fun! Very age appropriate, love the spooky vibes, love the cultural references! Very easy to get into.
Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
There was a lot here and for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did not expect a full out death/bone/corpse book lol that’s on me🥴 but it was quite entertaining. There were parts that I think I drifted from my interest not because of the story but because the world just kept expanding and I had hit overload lol but overall a wild ride and will hopefully read book 2!
Her Vicious Beasts: The Beginning by E.P. Bali
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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? No
4.5
adds all current books to my Amazon cart*
I’m a shifter girly (minus wolves) but this is definitely feeding the ZA and Bonded hangover for sure.
What we know…
- this girl has been hidden away, we don’t know why but she is fated to 5 mates, again we don’t know why lol
- her dad is an ass hat
- I absolutely love the animal cast system in this world, it’s feeding my Bio soul right now!!!
- meeting the characters so far has been a whirl wind, they’re colorful, and feisty and literally touch her and die energy lol
What we don’t know…
- literally so anxious to meet her mates and what anima they hold!!! Eeekkkk 🤩🤩
- can’t wait to enter this illustrious school for the misfits and see what chaos the crew gets themselves into
I’m a shifter girly (minus wolves) but this is definitely feeding the ZA and Bonded hangover for sure.
What we know…
- this girl has been hidden away, we don’t know why but she is fated to 5 mates, again we don’t know why lol
- her dad is an ass hat
- I absolutely love the animal cast system in this world, it’s feeding my Bio soul right now!!!
- meeting the characters so far has been a whirl wind, they’re colorful, and feisty and literally touch her and die energy lol
What we don’t know…
- literally so anxious to meet her mates and what anima they hold!!! Eeekkkk 🤩🤩
- can’t wait to enter this illustrious school for the misfits and see what chaos the crew gets themselves into
The Three of Us by Ore Agbaje-Williams
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read the reviews and I’m just convinced folks went into this with different expectations because this was comical!!!
3 POV’s, no one is truly like able except the Husband. The friend has codependency issues stemmed from childhood trauma. And Wife, welp she’s just stuck in the middle trying not to drown between these 2🤣
In the span of 1 day…one would think not much can happen..welp you are wrong!
I think there’s lots of relational dynamics that can be observed here. And the audio is the way to go, the narrators do a great job bringing the characters to life!
3 POV’s, no one is truly like able except the Husband. The friend has codependency issues stemmed from childhood trauma. And Wife, welp she’s just stuck in the middle trying not to drown between these 2🤣
In the span of 1 day…one would think not much can happen..welp you are wrong!
I think there’s lots of relational dynamics that can be observed here. And the audio is the way to go, the narrators do a great job bringing the characters to life!
Family Meal by Bryan Washington
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This is one of those pieces of literature that will work for some and not work for some.
It’s split into 3 POV’s and all are written differently which I found to be really interesting, almost giving us that physical difference that we are now in someone else’s pocket. One POV is not linear which really threw me for a loop and was not my favorite timeline wise but I actually did enjoy their story.
Overall this is a story of grief and loss, and the evolution of friendship and family. Family can be messy and friendships can suck sometimes but at the end of the day, as long as you have some good people in your corner, someone will always have your back! Life truly wasn’t meant to be done alone and I loved that about this book.
The ending is a bit unresolved for my taste but I can definitely understand why that POV was chosen🥹
It’s split into 3 POV’s and all are written differently which I found to be really interesting, almost giving us that physical difference that we are now in someone else’s pocket. One POV is not linear which really threw me for a loop and was not my favorite timeline wise but I actually did enjoy their story.
Overall this is a story of grief and loss, and the evolution of friendship and family. Family can be messy and friendships can suck sometimes but at the end of the day, as long as you have some good people in your corner, someone will always have your back! Life truly wasn’t meant to be done alone and I loved that about this book.
The ending is a bit unresolved for my taste but I can definitely understand why that POV was chosen🥹
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This just didn’t work for me. The pacing was much slower than I enjoy and I would say this is more of magical realism in a historical setting rather than historical fantasy. There were some moments that intrigued me but really not enough to want to read book 2. And not really sure if this is a slow burn but the romance was just not there lol
The Push by Ashley Audrain
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Yep..just…yep
I honestly didn’t know what to exactly expect, I just knew it had to do with motherhood but right off the bat I got “Kevin” vibes (which I literally just watched for the first time). I really enjoyed the authors writing and the post partum rep, because yes motherhood can be really good but also it’s really freaking hard sometimes and this is an area that we really just don’t talk about. I wouldn’t even call it taboo, it’s just we as a society want to romanticize parenthood and shame folks who struggle with it. Which in my head I’m like…sooo you’re just a perfect freaking parent, Jesus in parent form huh?
Anywho, I really enjoyed this, I loved the intrusive thoughts and the real ugliness of what some people can experience. The ending left me a bit unresolved.
I also feel like there’s a certain responsibility as parents to our kids that some people just really don’t grasp. The whole “my kid could do no wrong”, like come on now, you were a kid once and I’m suuuure there was shit you did behind your parents backs.
I honestly didn’t know what to exactly expect, I just knew it had to do with motherhood but right off the bat I got “Kevin” vibes (which I literally just watched for the first time). I really enjoyed the authors writing and the post partum rep, because yes motherhood can be really good but also it’s really freaking hard sometimes and this is an area that we really just don’t talk about. I wouldn’t even call it taboo, it’s just we as a society want to romanticize parenthood and shame folks who struggle with it. Which in my head I’m like…sooo you’re just a perfect freaking parent, Jesus in parent form huh?
Anywho, I really enjoyed this, I loved the intrusive thoughts and the real ugliness of what some people can experience. The ending left me a bit unresolved.
I also feel like there’s a certain responsibility as parents to our kids that some people just really don’t grasp. The whole “my kid could do no wrong”, like come on now, you were a kid once and I’m suuuure there was shit you did behind your parents backs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Emotional abuse
The Last One to Fall by Gabriella Lepore
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
Was super intrigued by the synopsis, the beginning was super gripping but then just lacked intrigue. Lots of people to keep track of and short chapters weren’t really a benefit, moving too quick and not really grasping who is who or where we are in the story. And I swear within the first few pages the big boom happens but literally at 47% we’re no closer to finding out who done it lol
Hook Shot by Kennedy Ryan
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
Teheeheee this was so much better than book 2!
My goodness I was concerned.
I will say this is a strong 4 for me, there were things that just irked my nerves and trying to stay neutral is certain situations and allowing empathy for things was a struggle.
I really enjoyed finally getting Keenan’s story. I liked Lotus in book 1, she was alright in book 3. I was not expecting the age gap that we got but I’m upset about it!!! There was one K-POV where he said something and I was like oh ewww please no this doesn’t sound like something he’d say lol but then he redeemed himself later.
Things that made me cringe….*spoilers*
- I must have missed how old they said Simone was because the way they talked about her and not wanting to uproot her life I thought she was like 7-10 years old. That child was a spoiled 14 year old and I can only blame the parents (not me getting flustered with fictional people 🥴) but they coddled her and made her more baby-ish than she truly needed to be. As a product of divorced parents who fought ALOT I just couldn’t see it. And then knowing my niece is this age and she has had conversations strictly from observing her parents interactions, yea no she was living in a different world and it was truly annoying. And baby mama was trash.
- then…I did not quite understand Lotus’ sexual decisions. I say this carefully because of her past and her coping but baby girl if you’re doing everything under the sexual sun and not penetration and then still going around spouting “we haven’t had sex” 😑 ma’am!!!!! Please stop talking it’s giving Gen Z🤦🏾♀️ grieve how you need but don’t call a goat a walrus. You claimed you were sexually aroused by someone and then yall hit the big O together! Still just trying to wrap my head around that one.
Overall though I do love how KR writes stories with very difficult and abusive topics to give victims a voice. I truly appreciate her research she does with each book and characters.
My goodness I was concerned.
I will say this is a strong 4 for me, there were things that just irked my nerves and trying to stay neutral is certain situations and allowing empathy for things was a struggle.
I really enjoyed finally getting Keenan’s story. I liked Lotus in book 1, she was alright in book 3. I was not expecting the age gap that we got but I’m upset about it!!! There was one K-POV where he said something and I was like oh ewww please no this doesn’t sound like something he’d say lol but then he redeemed himself later.
Things that made me cringe….*spoilers*
- I must have missed how old they said Simone was because the way they talked about her and not wanting to uproot her life I thought she was like 7-10 years old. That child was a spoiled 14 year old and I can only blame the parents (not me getting flustered with fictional people 🥴) but they coddled her and made her more baby-ish than she truly needed to be. As a product of divorced parents who fought ALOT I just couldn’t see it. And then knowing my niece is this age and she has had conversations strictly from observing her parents interactions, yea no she was living in a different world and it was truly annoying. And baby mama was trash.
- then…I did not quite understand Lotus’ sexual decisions. I say this carefully because of her past and her coping but baby girl if you’re doing everything under the sexual sun and not penetration and then still going around spouting “we haven’t had sex” 😑 ma’am!!!!! Please stop talking it’s giving Gen Z🤦🏾♀️ grieve how you need but don’t call a goat a walrus. You claimed you were sexually aroused by someone and then yall hit the big O together! Still just trying to wrap my head around that one.
Overall though I do love how KR writes stories with very difficult and abusive topics to give victims a voice. I truly appreciate her research she does with each book and characters.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
My review is based on the synopsis of David Copperfield and the foundation of it for this book, I have not personally read Copperfield but I can definitely see the influence weaved within this story. I think my biggest issue with this story is it’s just too darn long. The story essentially follows Demon from an unfortunate childhood where he’s literally been given the short stick in every situation and following him through highschool/young adult age and following his decisions and choices he’s made while trying to just figure it out. There is a lot to unpack within this story but i had difficulty connecting with any of the characters truly, which is hard for how long this book is, maybe with the amount of people we come into contact with throughout the story? And the amount of movement we were doing?
The writing was really well done, love the linear timeline and the mmm complexity of the characters. They weren’t just there, they actually had a purpose to the story and helped mold Demon. And it wasn’t too complex to understand the story and plot.
I do enjoy a nice slow paced story, where the meat n potatoes is character growth but I needed just a little bit more to really get my emotions involved. I love me a good sad piece of literature, maybe if this was a bit shorter I would’ve been able to stay in the story and not lose interest and really felt a bigger impact.
The writing was really well done, love the linear timeline and the mmm complexity of the characters. They weren’t just there, they actually had a purpose to the story and helped mold Demon. And it wasn’t too complex to understand the story and plot.
I do enjoy a nice slow paced story, where the meat n potatoes is character growth but I needed just a little bit more to really get my emotions involved. I love me a good sad piece of literature, maybe if this was a bit shorter I would’ve been able to stay in the story and not lose interest and really felt a bigger impact.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse