mauricekofi's reviews
46 reviews

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

This deeply impactful novel contains lessons that Baldwin wrote for his time that persist into our modern era. As the saying goes "the more things change, the more they stay the same". American Christianity being more a basis of power, prejudice, discrimination, and frankly a weapon of white supremacy has lasted through the decades since Baldwin's death. The tip-toeing around the formative and revolutionary change to this nation's structure with white liberals and "progressives" continues to dominate political discussions of the left. And the right's continued and futile struggle to maintain white supremacy in its oldest and most barbaric forms has become more pointed and violent as they gasp they're final breath. The only thing that has changed since Baldwin's lessons and promises in "the fire next time" is that indeed Bobby Kennedy was correct. We did have a black president, just over the forty years he promised we would. What little has changed to satisfy the promises of "We the people" and all the victims produced by the government established in that great document.
The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood

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emotional funny reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

I would say that Masood's prose and writing is what makes this book fun to read. He is indeed clever and funny in his own way, and at least with Anvar's story relatable.
That's not to say Zahra's side of the story is any less interesting, but it's missing a certain element that would have made it more heart wrenching. It may also be that Masood was writing more from research than personal experience when it came to Zahra, while w/ Anvar it is quite clear he's writing that character as a reflection of himself. All in all, it's a good read and worth your time as a palate cleanser.
Chaos Vector by Megan E. O'Keefe

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adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

The action and drama in this second installment was very good, and it felt more like a story as compared with the first book. Even then, I can't help but feel that the twists and turns were either cliche or so random that it did not even follow the logic of the lead characters. One chapter will end with a sure conclusion only for the beginning of the next to through doubt into that. And while twists are fun in any story, the number of twists pile into the last quarter of the book sometimes felt unnecessary. That's not to say there aren't any good twists and surprises. Some of them had me at the edge of my seat. However, it felt like I was going through the motions of the next reveal, like "oooooh, nobody literally saw that coming, at all".
Artemis by Andy Weir

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

The Martian by Andy Weir

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adventurous dark funny informative inspiring tense 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

4.5

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

Y'all know me with Jemisin. All I'll say is that she can have everything I am and will ever be. She is that amazing of an author that truly it saddens me we only get two books in yet another amazing series from her, but at the same time I completely understand. The Great Cities duology is truly a homage to the beauty and imperfections that is New York, and as a result America at large. That within this country exists the dichotomy of the Americans who live the real America and those up top who believe they can dictate our lives. But as Jemisin shows in this book, white Western power structures can only last so long until they lose, and they keep oppressing because they know they will eventually lose. That is how history has proceeded, and that is how it will continue. They know that, we know that. And ultimately, Jemisin knows that.

TAKE ME FOR ALL I AM JEMISIN, I AM YOURS FOREVERMORE!!!!!!!!
Missionaries by Phil Klay

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challenging dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

What this book lacks in explicit criticism of the American war machine and empire, it makes up for with the logical disillusionment of its ground-level actors. The soldiers, civilians, war journalists, terrorists/combatants, etc. And within that is the the criticism, the disconnect of high-minded global "solutions" from military and govt officials with the people on the ground dealing with the consequences of such solutions. I do not believe Klay embodies the values and beliefs of his characters, but rather the characters are clearly representations of the systems and ideals that operate in this world America attempts to influence and impact. And despite the disillusionment of each of its actors, none of the characters seem to lack self accountability in regards to their actions in these conflicts. The soldier is fully conscious of how he contributes to the machine, even if his agency is limited to his own self.
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

What can I say, Jemisin has done it again for me. Truly this series deserves every award it has received, and more. I absolutely loved this book and know I will love the next and the rest of her books.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

This book absolutely broke me and made me whole, over and over again. All I will say is I should have listened to my friend when she told me she cried as a child reading this book, it's not for the light of heart. Yet still, Hosseini impacts a critical understanding of life and consequences for those in the global south, through the lens of an Afghan boy, grown into a man, who lived in privilege before his country turned to ruin by the policies of European and Western powers. My review does not do justice for how wonderfully sad, informative, and foundational this book is. In a post-Afghanistan war America, I dearly wish more Americans and young students read this book, to ask themselves why we are taught the things we know about other countries and challenge when and where American "intervention" is needed.
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Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

To be honest, when I first picked up the blade itself and read that Joe Abercrombie is considered the father of modern fantasy, I thought "yet another British man who presumes more of himself". But now I understand. Abercrombie's antithesis to the classic fantasy story and hero's tale, his creation of sorely flawed characters in a sorely flawed world, with a message of meaningless and nihilistic tendencies that is the only consistent driver in his, he deserves that title. It does not make him the greatest fantasy author I've read yet (Jemisin still takes the cake for me, and I'm more partial to Peter Newman), he has clearly inspired the great many fantasy stories I grew up on and love. Bayaz, the true villain of this tale, from start to finish, who acts a wise wizard like Merlin of old when he's really an ambitious and dangerous snake; Logen the great brute who in any other story would have seen his redemption realized, only to arrive at the end of his beginning; Jezal, a man who's character improved only to be punished for his vanity and aspirations later on, trapped in his own lackluster dreams; Collem West, his friend, a lesson of how the common man soars and suffers at the whims of his "betters", only for them to be the idiotic fools themselves; Ferro, a woman who had the counsel of the true wise man of this tragic tale, Yulwei, only to squander it for something as small as revenge. Abercrombie is indeed a master of his craft, a teller of stories where all you gain is the pointlessness of life, and yet are no less satisfied for having read the tale.