nuhafariha's reviews
1167 reviews

A House Is a Body by Shruti Swamy

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

These stories are like pressing your forehead into a cool glass of water and looking at the world through droplets. It is disorienting but also oddly satisfying. Each story focuses on different South Asian women's experiences of marriage, pregnancy, girlhood, romance, and intimacy.  I am excited to read more.

Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I thoroughly enjoyed this deeply psychological novel exploring modern love, loneliness and community. After the death of his mother, an unnamed protagonist decides to try an unnusual career - a Rental Stranger who can be hired for different positions, anything from a missing father, a grieving widow, and a drunken brother. By introducing the concept of the Other as kin, Tang asks to consider the isolation and loss of social bonds in today's harried world. I wish there was more time to think through the ending - I was confused by the sudden trip to LA and sex scene.

Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

This debut fiction marks sharp remarks about class, gender, and privilege. I enjoyed how the author didn't try to defend the protagonist's mistakes. 

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.75

Warm, cozy romance that is, save for a few curse words, very family friendly! I especially loved that the protagonist was a brown woman.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Wow this book made me laugh and cry and wonder are we all living the same experience?? As a first generation immigrant, I can identify with Zauner's struggle to connect with her mother and heritage, her love tempered with feelings of isolation and wanting to fit in. Oh and boy will this book make you hungry! 

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.5

Not as good as the others in the series!

Uncomfortably Happily by Yeon-Sik Hong
Did not finish book.

Got bored

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.

It just didn't resonate with me like her other books.

Pretty: A Memoir by KB Brookins

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

 Thanks Knopf and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available May 28th 2024.

Searing and vulnerable, KB Brookins' Pretty is an exploration of what it means to be a Black trans male in the American South today. Told through prose essays and bursts of poetry, the memoir follows KB from childhood in Fort Worth to adulthood in Austin, TX. Alongside personal experiences, KB meditates on a range of subjects such as hospital care for trans people, working in the nonprofit industry, and pursuing an MFA. One of the most powerful parts of this book was when KB takes accountability for past abusive behavior - it showed true vulnerability with the audience. 

You Get What You Pay For by Morgan Parker

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

Thanks Random House and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available.

There are no words to describe what a gift Morgan Parker's You Get What You Pay For is as a collection. Weaving the personal and political, Parker discusses how enslavement and colonization continue to impact race and social structure in the US to this very day. She grapples with the trauma and inheritance of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and the shortfalls of reparations. Some musings can get a little dense, but overall this book is a detailed and precise interrogation of what it means to be a Black woman in America.