gbmillar2002's reviews
41 reviews

The House of My Mother by Shari Franke

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

sherri Franke’s house of my mother is a reflective memoir of her life and experience at the hands of her abusive mother. Her recollection of her struggles with depression, abuse, truth and how to break free from terror for her siblings is a true tale of love will push you to confront your own Demons. 

The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia by Mary M. Talbot

informative inspiring slow-paced

3.25

Informative comic about feminist and anarchist Louise Michael. 

The first half was quite slow and hard to follow (which could either be due to poor formatting or my unfamiliarity with this genre) but in the second picked up quickly. What was nice is that the end the author featured her sources and explanations of historical context. 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

An amazing family saga. They way Min Jin Lee explains the trials and tribulations of this family is impeccable. The unique perspective of  how Korean immigrants feel about Korea, Japon, the west and thei position in it is fascinating. 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I haven’t reread this book since I was 16 where I fell off finishing SJMs series after the 6ish book. But wanted to reread this and finish the series finally. And I am glad to say that this books is a quick and easy read. Very faced pace and not too complicated, devling into a layered world without difficulty. I look forward to reading the next book soon!!! 

Femlandia by Christina Dalcher

adventurous challenging dark reflective

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

2.75

This felt very white feminist. Not a fan. This could have been better if they explored life with men, as well exploring the idea of victim blaming and crazy angry feminists. 

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I feel if I knew about the classics I could appreciate the writing more. The 
Character development and story building was great but the plot was a bit rushed.

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.75

Disgustingly grotesque, it is an amazing deep dive within a English medieval village and its intersection between religion, feudalism and the perverse nature of what is denied. It is amazing, I haven’t had a book that had made me say WTF out loud before.

For example when they talk about the old woman breastfeeding marrick even though he is 13, combine this with his own freudian sexual
Behaviours it is bizarre

. Highly recommend for those who want a book that is out there, intense and graphic. Give it a skip if intense and taboo topics make you uncomfortable as moshfegh describes these issues in albeit ye olde English, in intense detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I feel like the child is an emblem for the grim reaper, going from one place to the next without attachment and care for emotions and connections but rather infomramtion. She takes life out of request rather than pity. However we see her develop her desire and her innate human need for connection. She realises Although she is divorced from the human world, she is not removed from the human reality of needing connection community and love

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 I really enjoyed the pacing of this book, it had a healthy mix of plot and personal woes of the protagonists. All the main characters self esteem and standing with other peers was an aspect of this group, it did not err onto misogynist ' I'm not like other girls behaviour' behaviour. Which I am glad about as I feel like alot of YA books leverage this to demonstrate the otherwordlyness of their character/their development

Self Care by Leigh Stein

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This book pointed out the irony of white feminism and how it interweaves capitalism, consumerism and the commodification of women's bodies in white centred female 'wellness' spaces. 
 
I enjoyed Stein's use of flipping between POV's, sometimes I find this to be overdone and can force you to sit through unneeded POV's for the sake of filler, however this wasn't the case. Sometimes the descriptions of how consumerist the individuals of the book became a bit overdone in some instances but throughout the vast majority of the book it was ok.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault