hi hello welcome to the third semi-annual reviewing every book I've read in the last
six months with just a single sentence each video so glad you could make it this is a video concept
that I tried out for the first time last year and you all seemed to really enjoy this format
so I thought why mess with a good thing let's do it again I'm not gonna ramble on for this intro
I'm gonna get right into the reviews but I will say before I start that if you are the kind of
person who prefers longer reviews of books or maybe you just have your interest peaked by a
couple of the books mentioned in this video and you want to learn more you can always check out
my Goodreads the link is in the description box always and you can find more verbose reviews of
every book that I'm going to be briefly reviewing in this video and since there's a lot to get to
because I've already finished 54 books this year let's just jump in our time machine and
roll on back to January with the first book I finished in 2023 amatka bizarre surreal Bleak
unsettling and disorienting amatka explores the multitudinous ways that language shapes
our world in this case literally five stars hidden pictures a transphobic House of Cards built upon
flimsy right wing dog whistles one star House of hunger an unabashedly Sapphic take on the legend
of Elizabeth Bathory a fast-paced heart-pounding story of Cruelty power and survival four stars
the body is not an apology while the message of radical self-love is a very important one this
book is going to feel incredibly surface level for any of you who have spent any time at all
in this space three stars kaikei an immersive and profoundly feminist retelling of the Hindu
Legend of ramayana that is a tragically beautiful exploration of motherhood Womanhood and trying to
do the right thing in impossible circumstances five stars The Butterfly House an overly complex
Thriller with fantastic atmosphere but a troubling portrayal of mental illness two stars the world we
make a gloriously weird ssf story about a group of seemingly randomly Yorkers slammed together
as they are transformed into the living avatars of their multifarious City just in time to fight
for their very survival part 2 5 Stars Legends and lattes the coziest book in the entire world
if you like coffee and being happy you should read it five stars moving right on into February
highly suspicious and unfairly cute disgustingly cute in the very best way a wholesome friends
to enemies to lovers why a romance four stars gutter child a blunt look at institutionalized
racism colonization and the Insidious nature of white supremacy told through the experiences of
vivid characters in a dystopian reimagining of our world four stars the davenports too many
identical romances and two little time spent on character development or any exploration really
of deeply relevant historic political movements three stars lessons in chemistry a piercing yet
often humorous look at gender discrimination and stem in the mid 20th century balanced perfectly
with a heartbreaking reality of a loved one lost far too soon five stars we are not like them a
book that dips its toe into a very complicated relationship Dynamic into racial friendship
and a heartbreaking reality of our modern world racially motivated police violence but lacks the
courage and conviction to dive deeper two stars tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow a captivating
exploration of a complex and contentious platonic relationship told through the lens
of video game development five stars Gallant a dark and unexpectedly poignant mystery with a
Faustian bargain at the center a tale of grief death and unraveling full of the sting of loss
and the yearning to belong five stars call us what we carry a profoundly Moving Poetry
collection about surviving the pandemic and being black in America five stars atlas of
the heart a book that shines in a tiny minute details distinguishing between emotions that
are often conflated or misunderstood but Falls flat when it Strays occasionally into anecdotes
personal asides and service level definitions of deeply complicated feelings four stars bad gaze
while I deeply enjoyed learning about a variety of lgbtqa plus figures throughout history I did
not enjoy the biracial nor did I enjoy the incongruity between the title and the actual
content of the book three stars whites a deeply thought-provoking essay that asks well-meaning
white people to do more than the status quo in their allyship five stars the survivalists a very
strange book but not in a good way tiresomely repetitive with paper-thin characters two stars
Severina a love letter to the literary told in a series of dreamlike vignettes exploring identity
love loss and the power of books four stars moving into March Hester a sublimely told tale of found
family feminism and resilience in the face of great adversity five stars scattered Minds a
controversial book about ADHD that is incredibly validating in the personal anecdote category and
deeply questionable in these scientifically backed theories category three stars scorched Grace a
mystery novel featuring a chain smoking heavily tattooed queer none slash amateur detective that
somehow managed to fall flat I'm still trying to figure that one out two stars Shades of Gray
an eccentric imaginative immersive and hilarious dystopic exploration of Conformity classism and
arbitrary hierarchies five stars the intimacy experiment a cute run-of-the-mill romance with
an interesting Dynamic a rabbi and former sex worker getting together that was never really
satisfyingly explored three stars monstrous book two a Frank look at the horrific realities of War
and what unadulterated hate born of fear of difference can destroy with the most badass
Sapphic MC I have ever encountered five stars driven to distraction Meandering plotting and
verbose three qualities that send those of us with ADHD running for the hills a book about
ADHD that is in no way ADHD friendly two stars parable of the sower harrowing reimagining of our
present in a world destroyed by climate change and unchecked greed written 30 years ago with
oppressions that is unsettling five stars moving into April Love and fury despite the beautiful
writing and interesting subject matter Mary is an exasperating protagonist constantly reinforcing
her own internalized misogyny and never learning to grow and change three stars how to think like
a woman a fascinating if somewhat shallow look at four female philosophers throughout history that
spend a little bit too much time sharing deeply personal details about the author's relationship
with her ex-husband three stars a radical guide for women with ADHD a feel-good pep talk for upper
middle class white wives in the American Bible Belt who have had their worlds turned upside down
by an ADHD diagnosis that loses all usefulness if you're a woman it falls outside of this incredibly
specific narrow and privileged demographic two stars taking charge of adult ADHD easy to absorb
explanations of complex neurological processes a plethora of practical tips and so much Insight a
must read for any adult with ADHD 5 Stars land of love and drowning a twisted family tree as
metaphor for the colonization of the Virgin Islands with generations of vivid characters
suffering from the ebb and flow of Yearning For Freedom yet craving belonging four stars
getting into May the collected regrets of clover a heartfelt exploration of grief loss and the Myriad
ways we avoid facing the inevitability of death five stars luster a portrait of a failed artist
full of lust and unwi loneliness and a quiet roiling rage bubbling just under the surface
five stars the bloody chamber a piercing 40 year old collection of feminist fairy
and folktale retellings that speaks to Modern issues of gender and sex as perspicaciously as
if it had been written yesterday four stars where the drowned girls go a transitional book in the
series that delivered very little in the way of character or plot development two stars loot a
fantastic premise wasted on poor execution and a very misplaced romance two stars lost in the
moment and found gut wrenching heartbreaking and hopeful this is a story that needs to be told five
stars hide if hide and seek was a game of life and death and Drew local abandoned amusement park was
a twisted hunting ground four stars entangled life a traips through the wonderful world of
fungi with surprisingly lyrical writing that is as dense as it is engaging 5 stars and finally
moving into June L'Enigme de la chambre 622 or the Enigma of room 622.
Un mystère amusant quoique un peu ridicule qui continuait facilement 200 pages de trop mais qui réussissait quand même à divertir.
a fun albeit slightly ridiculous mystery that was easily 200 Pages too long but still managed to entertain
trois etoiles three stars straight an interesting metaphor for homophobia that was as
poignant as it was horrific but spent a little too many of its very limited page count on repeatedly
spelling out the message three stars a gorgeous novel about the Monstrous shapes grief can take
in the monster it can make of all of us if we let it five stars it ends with us a clumsily handled
exploration of the difficulty of leaving an abusive partner masquerading as a romance
causing more harm than good one star a Restless truth a buoyant Sapphic Romp of a transatlantic
Voyage with murder magic and a menagerie four stars Yoda's helping for the final stretch
permanently incredibly helpful never distraction
not even once normal people romanticization of mental illness and abuse framed as the trials and
tribulations of star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the tracks two stars the Martian a
somewhat perfunctory Survival Story peppered with juvenile humor with a surprising amount of heart
that eventually won me over three stars death in her hands bear witness to the rapid deterioration
of a mind into panic and paranoia from the inside four stars Astrid Parker doesn't fail an adorable
Sapphic romance with a big gesture to Swoon over and a maternal reconciliation that made me
SOB like a little baby five stars the lesbiana's guide to Catholic School the emotional mail storm
that is learning who you are and coming out as a queer teen with a sibling relationship that felt
viscerally real and made my heart ache four stars Glassworks an intriguing and engaging exploration
of relationships and family spread out through time connected by a delicate thread made out of
glass the changed povs a few too many times for me to fully engage with the characters 4 stars
and finally the last book I finished so far in 2023 100 Years of Solitude an epic tale spanning
Generations commenting on the socio-political climate of Colombia laced with dark humor and
heart five stars and that brings us to the end of this video those are my one sentence reviews of
all of the books I've read so far in 2023 I hope you enjoyed this video let me know in the comments
below if you've read any of the 54 books I reviewed in this video and what your thoughts were
also let me know if you have any recommendations for me I am always looking for more books to add
to my TBR even though my TBR is already massive but it's fine if you haven't seen the two videos
I made like this in 2022 I'll have them Linked In the description box down below so you can give
them a watch 100 plus more one sentence reviews of books that I've read and hated or loved or felt
very blah about thanks again for watching this video leave some sort of bookish emoji in the
comments if you made it all the way to the end so I know you're a real one thank you as always to my
patrons for your support y'all are my favorite people on the planet and with that I'm gonna
get going thanks so much for watching and I'll see you really soon in my next one bye friends