samarakroeger's reviews
585 reviews

The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring

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dark emotional sad
  • Strong character development? No

3.0

I think fans of Fredrik Backman's Beartown or Elizabeth Strout's Amgash books would like this more than I did.  I thought Backman's and Strout's books were fine (3-3.5 stars, max), but others seem to love them.

the writing (for me) left a lot to be desired.  I just don't vibe with close third person present tense (where we follow WAY too many characters, especially given how short this is) and it had some try-hard cheesy attempts at suspense that Backman would be proud of.  we never got to really know any of the characters we briefly followed; the emotions felt surface-level.

I will likely end up giving this to my mom, who will undoubtedly like it more than me.  it would make sense as a book club pick.

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Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey

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emotional lighthearted
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

sig is such a walking red flag!!!  also lots of this book doesn’t really line up with the previous book in the series (not to mention Tallullah reading like an entirely different character) and a lot of the plot felt overly convenient and contrived. tbf I do not read romance for the plot. I kept wishing that Abby Jimenez had written the childhood trauma side plot bc I KNOW she would’ve adequately addressed the emotional heft of that better. 

also I just didn’t think this was that scandalous of a relationship? they’re adults and not blood related and didn’t grow up together … has gossip girl just desensitized me?
I Don't Care by Ágota Kristóf

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dark reflective sad

3.75

teeeny tiny short stories in a teeny tiny book (pamphlet?).  def not as good as The Illiterate but nice to dip in and out of
The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found by Mary Beard

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Informative and well-written, but NOT about Vesuvius. Focuses on daily life in Pompeii pre-79 CE, which is interesting in its own right but not why I picked this up 
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior

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dark emotional reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.25

like if One Hundred Years of Solitude had less characters to keep track of and was shorter (I always wanted something more like 20 years of solitude instead). 

this is a moving story of two sisters living in indentured servitude in rural Brazil, exploring being silenced by the government, by men, by your overlords, and by your own hand. I also agree with the comparisons to Elena Ferrante’s work. At times it is very on the nose, but a powerful story nonetheless. 
The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits by Tiya Miles

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challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

Tiya Miles impresses again!

I honestly didn’t know anything about this topic (feels like an oversight of the American educational system) — I think it’s important to know that slavery and slave trading was happening in the north, that Native Americans were also enslaved, that it isn’t properly acknowledged or remembered even in Detroit. 
War by Bob Woodward

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informative

2.5

I fail to see who books like this are even for. It’s already outdated!  If you’re interested in politics, you already know 90+% of this and probably won’t be swayed by it. 

Also, it’s not like anything in here is a shocking revelation. I pay attention to American politics (unfortunately) and some behind-the-scenes descriptions of Anthony Blinken meeting with foreign leaders are about all you’ll get out of this.  Woodward is skilled at writing a moderately exciting narrative, though, and this is easy to read at least. 

I can’t even blame trumpies for thinking this is pro-Joe propaganda (because it is, let’s be real). 
Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin

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4.0

the middle section felt unnecessary. lots of metaphors related to scaffolding, building, bodies, etc.  at times felt like Elkin tried to include too many themes, but overall I thought it was an interesting and well-written novel, though not particularly original. 
Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

1.0

CAN WE ALL NOT SEE THE MASSIVE RED FLAGS OF THIS EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATIVE AND CLINGY-ASS MAN???

and so much telling with very little showing and all I got for it was an aggressively mid sex scene dear god this should have been a psychological thriller instead
Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

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hopeful inspiring

1.5

This passage from the endnotes sums up my biggest complaints about the collection:

For continuity of the book’s voice, for many quotations and original documents used in the erasure poems, I have inputted the ampersand in place of “and,” as well as the first-person plural “our/we/us” instead of other narrative pronouns. 

I never want to see an ampersand again, especially when paired with waaay too much alliteration and gimmicky homophonic wordplay. I’m done with poetry written with the collective “we” as a shield to hide behind. It was jarring (in a good way?) to read her best poem, The Hill We Climb, at the end of the collection — it uses the word “and”!

This collection felt super rushed (I blame the publisher) and incredibly outdated/out of touch at this point. It’s my fault for finally reading it 3 years after it was published (and 4 years after it was relevant) and having no interest in 200 pages of over-generalized pandemic poems better suited to a high school poetry project, but still. Also, her style can really work for motivational settings like a commencement or an inauguration while feeling vapid and basic when written on the page. 

While Amanda Gorman might not have truly found her own voice and mastery of craft yet as a writer (ironic given her propensity for boat-based metaphors), she is clearly a supremely talented public speaker. I’d be somewhat interested in a more personal and succinct second collection from her, if she was given the time and support to properly polish it.