Review: The Killing Code by Ellie Marney

  • Title: The Killing Code
  • Author: Ellie Marney
  • Genre: historical mystery
  • Intended audience: young adult
  • Format read: ebook
  • Publisher: Little Brown Books
  • Pub date: September 20, 2022
  • Content warnings: death, murder, blood, racism, antisemitism, nazi symbols, homophobia, arson and fire, mentions of sexual assault, serial killer, violence against women
  • Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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Review: Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang

  • Title: Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: an Archane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution
  • Author: R. F. Kuang
  • Genre: historical fantasy
  • Intended audience: adult
  • Format read: physical book
  • Publisher: Harper Voyager
  • Pub date: August 23, 2022
  • Content warnings: violence, racism (anti-Asian and anti-Black), death, murder, gun violence, child abuse, mentions of slavery, colonialism and colonization, sexism, suicide, classism
  • Rating: 5/5 stars
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Review: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

  • Title: Lessons in Chemistry
  • Author: Bonnie Garmus
  • Genre: historical fiction
  • Intended audience: adult
  • Format read: ebook
  • Publisher: Doubleday Books
  • Pub date: April 5, 2022
  • Content warnings: sexual assault, sexual harassment, death, grief, death of a loved one, car crash, suicide, mentions of homophobia, references to child sexual abuse, bombs
  • Rating: 4/5 stars
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Review: I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

  • Title: I Kissed Shara Wheeler
  • Author: Casey McQuiston
  • Genre: contemporary romance
  • Intended audience: young adult
  • Format read: eARC
  • Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
  • Pub date: May 3, 2022
  • Content warnings: homophobia, bullying
  • Rating: 5/5 stars

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Blogmas Day 11: Reviewing Every Book I read in my Harlem Renaissance Class

Welcome back to the eleventh day of blogmas! I am so happy to have you here for my book reviews today.

I briefly mentioned a few times that I did a lot of reading for school this semester. That’s because I was taking two English classes this semester! (Something I am never doing again by the way, there’s a reason I’m not an English major). So for the last two days of blogmas I am going to take the time to review all of the books I read in those two classes. Today I am going to cover all the books I read for my Harlem Renaissance class.

As a quick note, in case you aren’t familiar, the Harlem Renaissance covers a period roughly from 1917 to 1935 where there was a renewed interest in African-American art. During that time, there was an incredible amount of paintings, books, music, and other art being created. Moreover, it was becoming more widespread. Since I took an English class on the Renaissance, we focused mostly on the literature of the time period. We read lots of poems and excerpts of books for class, as well as six full books.

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Review: If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich

  • Title: If This Gets Out
  • Author: Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich
  • Genre: contemporary fiction
  • Intended audience: young adult (16+)
  • Format read: eARC
  • Publisher: Wednesday Books
  • Pub date: December 7, 2021
  • Content warnings: underage drinking, drug use, drug addiction, homophobia, forced closeting, toxic parents, car accident, eating disorders, racism
  • Rating: 4/5 stars

As a note to potential readers, I would say that this book straddles the line between young adult and new adult. The characters are 18, and while there is no explicit sex or even much cursing, there are lots of more mature topics. I would recommend it for readers 16+.

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Review: Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

  • Title: Fat Chance, Charlie Vega
  • Author: Crystal Maldonado
  • Genre: contemporary fiction
  • Intended audience: young adult
  • Format read: ebook
  • Publisher: Holiday House
  • Pub date: February 2, 2021
  • Trigger warnings: grief, fatphobia (external and internalized), mentioned death of a parent, mentions of sex, underage drinking, diet culture, strained/toxic relationship with parent, racism
  • Rating: 4/5 stars
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