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spinesinaline's reviews
815 reviews
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Vomit
How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
This book has a lot of thought-provoking points on community, based on the author’s own experiences as well as interviews with people in her sphere across the United States. There’s also a good amount of time spent on privilege and folks coming from different backgrounds in life, so it feels like a well-balanced approach.
I especially liked Birdsong’s discussion of friendships, how societal norms tend to lead people to isolate with our romantic partner but intentionally prioritizing friendships is an important step in building this community around you, and these friendships are should be just as worthy and valued as romantic relationships.
The book lends more towards a memoir at times and there were moments that felt very personal in a way that was alienating, to myself and I imagine other folks interested in building community. In one section, the author writes about a desire to have more intimate dinners with friends, a way for folks to drop in relatively unannounced so they can spend more casual time together. To do this, she emails 20 of her closest friends. Imagining twenty close friends who also happen to live in the same area so they can drop in for dinner is mind-boggling, so at times it felt like the author skipped over the initial step in building community for those who don’t already have a surrounding of dozens to hundreds of people in their lives. Still an interesting read and many points I’ll be thinking over in the future.
I especially liked Birdsong’s discussion of friendships, how societal norms tend to lead people to isolate with our romantic partner but intentionally prioritizing friendships is an important step in building this community around you, and these friendships are should be just as worthy and valued as romantic relationships.
The book lends more towards a memoir at times and there were moments that felt very personal in a way that was alienating, to myself and I imagine other folks interested in building community. In one section, the author writes about a desire to have more intimate dinners with friends, a way for folks to drop in relatively unannounced so they can spend more casual time together. To do this, she emails 20 of her closest friends. Imagining twenty close friends who also happen to live in the same area so they can drop in for dinner is mind-boggling, so at times it felt like the author skipped over the initial step in building community for those who don’t already have a surrounding of dozens to hundreds of people in their lives. Still an interesting read and many points I’ll be thinking over in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual assault
This Is How You Start to Disappear by Astrid Blodgett
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.25
So I’ve got to say, I have a slight grudge against this book and the publisher for not offering any content warnings. The blurb mentions an injured dog being put down but not that the very first story, on the first page of the book, in the first sentence, begins with detail of a dog’s death. It’s hard to come back from that and want to finish the rest of the stories.
While the opener wasn’t a favourite, I did enjoy some of the stories but it was a pretty tepid short story collection for me. I enjoyed a lot more of the stories nearer the end of the collection. Heads up that the mention of trauma in the blurb is a continuing theme throughout, there is a lot of delving into death and sexual assault. Thanks to ZG Stories for a copy to review.
While the opener wasn’t a favourite, I did enjoy some of the stories but it was a pretty tepid short story collection for me. I enjoyed a lot more of the stories nearer the end of the collection. Heads up that the mention of trauma in the blurb is a continuing theme throughout, there is a lot of delving into death and sexual assault. Thanks to ZG Stories for a copy to review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, and Sexual assault
When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A lovely book and beautifully illustrated, simple messages that carry a strong punch
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Colonisation
The Book of Living Secrets by Madeleine Roux
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thanks to Frenzy Books for an ARC to review!
I am not often a reader of horror and this one gets very, very close to the uncomfortable. This book had been sitting on my shelves for some time before I finally worked up the nerve to read it. It follows two high school girls, Adelle and Connie, who are obsessed with their favourite book and when a strange man who runs the local magic shop offers to cast a spell that will transport them inside that very book, they tentatively accept. Only the characters and this beloved setting have had strange developments when left to their own devices.
Content warnings for death, grief, gore, blood, excrement, panic attacks. There are some extremely disturbing scenes that I mostly tried not to think too much about. If you enjoy creepy stories, this is sure to be up your alley.
I am not often a reader of horror and this one gets very, very close to the uncomfortable. This book had been sitting on my shelves for some time before I finally worked up the nerve to read it. It follows two high school girls, Adelle and Connie, who are obsessed with their favourite book and when a strange man who runs the local magic shop offers to cast a spell that will transport them inside that very book, they tentatively accept. Only the characters and this beloved setting have had strange developments when left to their own devices.
Content warnings for death, grief, gore, blood, excrement, panic attacks. There are some extremely disturbing scenes that I mostly tried not to think too much about. If you enjoy creepy stories, this is sure to be up your alley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Excrement
Junie by Chelene Knight
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thanks to ZG Stories for an ARC to review!
It’s as much a story about the history of Hogan's Alley as it is about family, particularly the mother-daughter relationships the blurb mentions, girlhood, and some beautiful explorations of art. It’s a deceptively quick read as the chapters are short and sweet (sometimes only three pages), each ending with a short snapshot that shifts into first person, offering us a more intimate view of the different characters’ inner feelings.
While I found the prose beautiful and the story heartfelt, I just wanted more! More delving into these characters and their individual stories and much more than the brief paragraphs we go exploring their wants and desires and needs. Still a beautiful book and I’ll certainly seek out more from this author.
It’s as much a story about the history of Hogan's Alley as it is about family, particularly the mother-daughter relationships the blurb mentions, girlhood, and some beautiful explorations of art. It’s a deceptively quick read as the chapters are short and sweet (sometimes only three pages), each ending with a short snapshot that shifts into first person, offering us a more intimate view of the different characters’ inner feelings.
While I found the prose beautiful and the story heartfelt, I just wanted more! More delving into these characters and their individual stories and much more than the brief paragraphs we go exploring their wants and desires and needs. Still a beautiful book and I’ll certainly seek out more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Racism
Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin
hopeful
mysterious
slow-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
3.75
Thanks to HarperCollins Canada for an ARC of this one. I was very intrigued in both a Toronto setting and a loose retelling of Persuasion, but it felt like it really missed the mark on the second. It is a compelling story: the main character is struggling in her career after a devastating theft by her business partner, and now has to face her ever-successful ex-beau.
The part that really brought this down for me was the love interest. Persuasion is in part a story of young lovers separated by family and finding each other again as adults, with all the maturity that this passage of time has brought them. This book has some of that except the love interest has none of the maturity. The main character has a lot of valid reasons and feelings that her young self expresses and I wish we could’ve seen other characters validate this as well, especially around her concerns of sexist treatment. Instead, she’s made to feel wrong and somehow the villain in this relationship, with no responsibility placed on her ex/love interest. This book got so close to some real revelations but ultimately felt short in making this man some beloved fictional placeholder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexism, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Ableism and Mental illness
The Space Between Here and Now by Sarah Suk
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
Thanks to Frenzy Reads for an ARC! This is a really fun premise, a little fantastical while still being set in our real world.
It's such a wonderful group of characters and there's a beautiful, complicated father-daughter relationship that delves into all the messy, tense, awkward, loving, and painful moments that can make up such a relationship. I really enjoyed the family drama here, plus the mystery aspects which added some surprises to the plot.
It's such a wonderful group of characters and there's a beautiful, complicated father-daughter relationship that delves into all the messy, tense, awkward, loving, and painful moments that can make up such a relationship. I really enjoyed the family drama here, plus the mystery aspects which added some surprises to the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Burning Girls by Veronica Schanoes
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I had had this novella on my TBR for some time before realizing this year that it was available for free on Tor.com! It was so much more devastating and disturbing than I ever anticipated.
It’s almost a familiar tale with this more historical take on Rumpelstiltskin. I don’t know how much of this version comes from actual shared tales but in this version the “Rumpelstiltskin” character is a demon who the family have managed to make deals with in order to keep their descendants safe. Taking these more fantastical aspects, the author also creates a traumatic story of a family experiencing the Jewish pogroms in Europe and their difficulties in immigrating to a new home.
I would not say this was a feel-good story and I’m not sure I would’ve read it if I’d known where it was going but it certainly gave some interesting additions to what I knew of this tale and the more real history.
It’s almost a familiar tale with this more historical take on Rumpelstiltskin. I don’t know how much of this version comes from actual shared tales but in this version the “Rumpelstiltskin” character is a demon who the family have managed to make deals with in order to keep their descendants safe. Taking these more fantastical aspects, the author also creates a traumatic story of a family experiencing the Jewish pogroms in Europe and their difficulties in immigrating to a new home.
I would not say this was a feel-good story and I’m not sure I would’ve read it if I’d known where it was going but it certainly gave some interesting additions to what I knew of this tale and the more real history.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Murder
Simple Recipes: Stories by Madeleine Thien
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
The blurb hints at it but these stories are about complicated feelings around family. They are not easy reads though many of them seem to start that way, slowly reeling you in until you’re aware of the tense or awkward or downright abusive undercurrents guiding each character.
Many of these stories focus on father figures and their relationships with their children. Some of my favourite stories were “Simple Recipes”, a story of a father who teaches his daughter how to prepare rice but has a fraught relationship with his son; “House”, where the children await the return of their long-missing mother; and “A Map of the City” about a father who brings his daughter to his furniture store each day and longs for his home country.
There are so many Vancouver touches in the stories, mentions of city landmarks or street names that were a lovely little touch to pick up on as a reader in the same city. As with most short story collections I read, I would love to go through this one again to find even more to enjoy in each story.
Many of these stories focus on father figures and their relationships with their children. Some of my favourite stories were “Simple Recipes”, a story of a father who teaches his daughter how to prepare rice but has a fraught relationship with his son; “House”, where the children await the return of their long-missing mother; and “A Map of the City” about a father who brings his daughter to his furniture store each day and longs for his home country.
There are so many Vancouver touches in the stories, mentions of city landmarks or street names that were a lovely little touch to pick up on as a reader in the same city. As with most short story collections I read, I would love to go through this one again to find even more to enjoy in each story.