nadine is reading

27 | she/her | reading goal: 66 out of 100. life goal: a work in progress.

[bloodmaarked]

tales from the café // toshikazu kawaguchi

first published: 2017 read: 31 august 2025 - 13 september 2025 pages: 208 format: e-book

genres: fiction; fantasy (magical realism); cosy; asian literature (japan) favourite character(s): honestly, no one in particular least favourite character(s): see above first line(s): "Gohtaro Chiba had been lying to his daughter for twenty-two years."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 thoughts: rating this a tentative 4* - i really enjoyed before the coffee gets cold, and i'm interested to see what else can come from this series, but i did find tales from the café far less engaging than its predecessor. sweet, but not really emotionally moving or heartwarming in the way the first book was. a little too played out, perhaps.

it got a little repetitive and, aside from expanding minimally on kazu's backstory, i don't think it brought much to the table. i was also a bit miffed that hirai seems to be gone for good, unfortunately - she was one of the most entertaining and loveable characters of the series. and i found it very hard to keep track of the characters - i'm not sure why the author decided that almost everyone's name needed to begin with K...

again, i like this series, and while tales from the café was nice enough, i do hope this series doesn't outstay its welcome. with 6 books already out (one still to be translated into english), i'm not sure it bodes well - but for now i plan to keep reading. i definitely recommend book 1 though; even reading as a standalone, it was a lovely book.

[bloodmaarked]

death of the author // nnedi okorafor

first published: 2025 read: 05 september 2025 - 11 september 2025 pages: 435 format: hardback

genres: fiction; literary fiction; science fiction; contemporary favourite character(s): everyone was kinda terrible least favourite character(s): chinyere first line(s): "what's the story you want?"

rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 thoughts: i'm clearly in the minority here but my experience reading death of the author wasn't enjoyable at all. at first i thought it could be - i saw the potential in the storyline and its themes. but in the end i was stuck with a boring, overly lengthy book that was filled with unlikeable characters, including the protagonist, and which i felt should've made a choice between literary fiction and science fiction for its own benefit.

to start with what i liked, it began with the potential in zelu's character. she is a black wheelchair user, born to nigerian immigrants to the USA, who is headstrong but limited - not by her disability but by her loved ones who fear for her wellbeing. she has a perspective that we rarely see in all types of media, let alone literature. there were so many themes raised by her character alone: navigating the world as a disabled woman, how one's ability defines them (or doesn't), self-belief, mental health, the unique experience of being "other" within a nigerian family. when these were explored with some nuance, i found myself enjoying this book. all of these come into play to make zelu a flawed, yet sympathetic character. at least, they should have.

unfortunately, i found zelu to be a highly unlikeable character. she was so antagonistic. 9 times out of 10 i could understand why she acted the way she did, and sometimes i found myself taking her side (especially in opposition to her family) - but she was so abrasive, often completely unprompted, that i didn't enjoy following her journey. and unfortunately, zelu's family (who takes up a good proportion of the remaining characters) were also unlikeable! again, even at times i could understand their perspective, far too often they were mean and disparaging for no good reason. i had no one to root for the entire time, and i don't think there was nearly enough character growth. most characters act the same from start to finish, and it's painful to watch.

the format of the book didn't work for me whatsoever. most of the chapters follow zelu in the present, some are interviews with each of the main characters, and some are actually a book within a book - the sci-fi novel that zelu writes in-story. the sci-fi book took up way too much time, messed with the pacing, and was ultimately boring. it got to the point where i started skimming these chapters. and i understand they were pivotal to the book's ending, but i wish they hadn't been (i thought the ending was stupid anyway). the interview chapters were fine, but mixed in quality, particularly as there were a few of her siblings who didn't even feature enough in the story for me to care what they had to say in their chapters. but on the whole i really wish those novel chapters were removed. it was hard believing that this book propelled zelu to fame when i found it so lacklustre.

i had much higher expectations for death of the author, but it was a disappointment for me. i was quite glad to be done with it. i personally wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this, but if you do, the one thing i would suggest not going into it assuming you're reading a sci-fi story - it skews far more towards literary fiction.

[bloodmaarked]

small rain // garth greenwell

first published: 2024 read: 01 september 2025 - 09 september 2025 pages: 306 format: e-book

genres: fiction; literary fiction; contemporary; lgbtq+ (gay) favourite character(s): alivia least favourite character(s): didn't have one first line(s): "they asked me to describe the pain but the pain defied description, on a scale of one to ten it demanded a different scale."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 thoughts: small rain is easily up there as one of the best books i've read so far this year. i'd certainly also want to rank it as among the most personal, the most intimate. it is a beautiful work of autofiction, and i was captured by both the writing, and the way the author encapsulated feelings and experiences associated with illness and hospitalisation that i've had but haven't put into words.

i really loved the way it was written. the stream of consciousness style was perfect for the story that was told; i can't think of any way to better capture the experience of a sudden traumatic illness. i know the author has doubled down on this being a work of pure fiction, but the similarities to his own life are far too close and too numerous to be coincidental. but i feel the book was far better - richer and truer - for him having drawn so closely from his own life experience.

i think small rain is a book you have to read to experience, but i hope many people do. it's a gem and i am so glad i picked it up. i can understand why some people may not connect with it, but for me i was captured by page one. please be aware of potential triggers (i once had a stint in icu, also during covid time, and some of these scenes were pretty hard hitting), but other than that i would definitely recommend this book.

[bloodmaarked]

🪫

[bloodmaarked]

➷ monthly book round-up: september 2025

books read: 6 [-33%] average rating: 3.83 [+7%] average speed: 14 days [+17%] total pages: 2,240 [-15%] yearly goal progress: 69/100 [69%] best of the month: small rain, garth greenwell worst of the month: death of the author, nnedi okorafor

5* reads:

small rain, garth greenwell

4.5* reads:

a short stay in hell, steven l. peck

4* reads:

tales from the café, toshikazu kawaguchi

3.5* reads:

katabasis, r.f. kuang

iron flame, rebecca yarros

2.5* reads:

death of the author, nnedi okorafor

currently reading:

the unplugged hours, hannah brencher

you, caroline kepnes

mixed feelings, naomi shimada + sarah raphael

[bloodmaarked]

the bell jar // sylvia plath

first published: 1963 read: 11 august 2025 - 28 august 2025 [DNF] pages: 240 format: e-book

genres: fiction; classics; literary fiction; mental health favourite character(s): didn't have one least favourite character(s): probably the main character (i forget her name) first line(s): it was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and i didn't know what i was doing in New York."

rating: n/a thoughts: i'll keep this brief but yeah, the bell jar did not do for me what it seems to have done for the literary canon. this nearly put me in a reading slump. i read 41% of this and while i don't think i got to reach the meat of the moving depictions of depression i've heard so much about, i certainly did come across enough depictions of casual racism. i was bored besides, and while i don't think it helped that i was reading this alongside some other disappointing books, i also think the writing was not my thing subjectively. i didn't like the main character too much, so i do wonder how i would've fared when it came to empathising with her mental health struggles later in the book. but if it exists, i would love to read a retelling of this - written with less unnecessary hatred of course.

[bloodmaarked]

i who have never known men // jacqueline harpman

first published: 1995 read: 15 august 2025 - 30 august 2025 pages: 208 format: e-book

genres: fiction; literary fiction; dystopia; feminism favourite character(s): didn't have one least favourite character(s): see above first line(s): "since i barely venture outside these days, i spend a lot of time in one of the armchairs, rereading the books."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 thoughts: me when the book doesn't live up to the excitement of wanting to read it 🥲 aside from all the attention this book is currently getting, i genuinely thought i who have never known men would be right up my alley. the themes sounded compelling, if not unique in plot, and i was really interested in why this book, published 30 years ago, was suddenly making so much noise. but i just found this so dull. nothing happened, and the literary writing did so little to keep me interested. yes, there are some interesting themes at play, and some of the writing is beautiful, but my ultimate feeling was one of ambivalence.

the story as a whole was too nebulous and vague for my liking. i'm certainly not someone who needs a plot to be cut and dry with no room for ambiguity, far from it. but i felt that this story was lacking on the plot side. because the rest of the writing didn't pull me in, i may not have minded as much had there been a satisfying conclusion, at least one or two answers provided to the multitude of questions posed about what has happened to the women of the novel. not one thing was explained - we know nothing more at page 208 than we do at page one - and i felt let down.

there were definitely things to unpack in the wider narrative, but i'll be honest, i wasn't motivated to do the work to unpack them. this book just didn't will me to do so. this probably would've made a very thoughtful book club discussion (in fact, i read this for book club but wasn't able to attend), but as i was reading i was mostly too bored to engage with the text too deeply.

that's not to say that this book was all bad - again there were some really gorgeous passages and musings, such as on seeing the world through fresh eyes, or understanding the experiences that bring value to ones life. i can also understand why people would like this, if not why so many people like it. i who have never known men just didn't work for me, i guess.

[bloodmaarked]

luminous // silvia park

first published: 2025 read: 14 august 2025 - 27 august 2025 pages: 388 format: hardback

genres: fiction; adult; science fiction; mystery; speculative fiction favourite character(s): mars least favourite character(s): none first line(s): "that summer was immortal."

rating: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 thoughts: luminous was quite a disappointing read. the premise sounded so cool - a mystery surrounding the robot brother of two siblings, set against the futuristic backdrop of a reunified korea. a unique idea, and yet the execution fell so flat that i struggled on multiple occasions to not dnf (purely because it counted toward a reading challenge). from pretty early on i kept wanting it to pull me in just a little, yet despite the potential, it never did.

i'm about an week on from finishing this, and while i could rattle off the names of the characters fairly easily, i couldn't give you their personalities, character traits, or motivations. i found it a real shame that i was basically unmoved by most of the characters. at best, i was endeared towards yoyo, but that didn't translate to having an active interest in his story. similarly with jun, i was really interested in his experience as a trans man and his complex relationship with, and grief tied into, his body - but again i wasn't bothered about his story as a whole.

the world-building was a mixed bag. i had a good grasp on the inclusion of robots in society, the roles they play, and how they are perceived by humans. there were some interesting topics raised, such as understanding what true personhood is, and even religious ethics, and these were thought-provoking. where it lacked was regarding the setting of the reunified korea. as far as it's explained, there was a war and now they're unified. unless i missed something major, we really don't get much more information than that, other than passing comments about how brutal the war was. which makes me wonder why that details was highlighted in the first place, considering it had no pertinence to the story anyway.

pacing felt slow and bloated. the mystery is really just a backdrop to the characters and their interpersonal relationships, which meant i felt this book should've removed that plot line entirely. i probably would've enjoyed the book a little more if they had. as it was, the story felt disjointed between the mystery and the rest of the book. it was genuinely such a slog to read, which was crazy considering meanwhile i was reading (and being engrossed by) fourth wing, which was much longer and arguably had far more potential to be a bloated mess.

unfortunately, luminous was an underwhelming debut from silvia park. while i won't be actively keeping an eye out for what they do next, i wish them good luck for their next endeavours, and i hope this book lands better with other readers!

[bloodmaarked]

➷ monthly book round-up: august 2025

books read: 9 [2 DNFs] [-18%] average rating: 3.57 [-19%] average speed: 12 days [+300%] total pages: 2,622 [-19%] yearly goal progress: 63/100 [63%] best of the month: the poppy war, r.f. kuang worst of the month: luminous, silvia park

4.5* reads:

the poppy war, r.f. kuang

4* reads:

the stationery shop of tehran, marjan kamali

how to deal with angry people, dr ryan martin

burnout: solve your stress cycle, emily + amelia nagoski

3.5* reads:

fourth wing, rebecca yarros

3* reads:

i who have never known men, jacqueline harpman

2* reads:

luminous, silvia park

DNFs:

pride and prejudice, jane austen

the bell jar, sylvia plath

currently reading:

katabasis, r.f. kuang

iron flame, rebecca yarros

tales from the café, toshikazu kawaguchi

[bloodmaarked]

fourth wing // rebecca yarros

first published: 2023 read: 14 august 2025 - 19 august 2025 pages: 498 format: hardback

genres: fiction; young adult; fantasy (high); romance (enemies to lovers) favourite character(s): idk, rhiannon? least favourite character(s): jack barlowe first line(s): "'Conscription Day is always the deadliest.'"

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 thoughts: okay so it's gonna take me a second to figure out my true thoughts on fourth wing. this is a book/series i had no intention of ever reading, despite the hype it's gotten. if i've said it once, i've said it 1,000 times, but i've fallen off the ya fantasy/romantasy train in a big way in recent years, and this book seemed like the opposite of what i would end up enjoying. but i read this for book club and, while i didn't love it, i also didn't hate it?

i’ll try and break this down as best i can, starting with the plot. the plot is, frankly, very formulaic and pretty predictable. if you’ve read any romantasy with an underdog female mc who somehow defeats the odds and a beautiful yet dangerous love interest with a secret heart of gold, you’ve probably read this book. and yet… i was still gripped. i was daunted by the sheer heft of this book when i got my copy from the library, yet i finished almost 500 pages in five days. i kept wanting to return to it every day. i don’t know what it was about this story, but it made for an exciting, absorbing read.

the romance part of the romantasy did far less for me than the fantasy, but that’s fully in line with my personal tastes. i was really glad that the romantic storyline, while an important core element, didn’t supersede the plotline - unlike other similar books i’ve read (side-eyeing you, ACOTAR). the smut, while it didn’t do anything for me, wasn’t excessive for my tastes. the fantasy was actually quite interesting - in particular i loved the lore behind the dragons. while i was cool on the dragon characters themselves, i did like how they contributed to the worldbuilding.

the characters were pretty hit or miss for me. i'll be honest, i wasn't super moved by violet as a main character. although i was endeared by her sense of strength and her continuous perseverance. i kind of wish her "disability" had been more overt - given the author's allusion in the author's note that violet has the same condition that yarros has, that causes a weakness of joints and muscles, i would've liked this to be clearer in violet's character. for the most part i had just assumed she was a physically weak person (some of us are!), not due to any condition or for any reason in particular.

xaden was also pretty meh. he is pretty much the stock character of the beautifully dangerous love interest and, while i wasn't repelled by him like i might have been, his character just didn't excite me. neither did dain, the other option in this love triangle. that said, i did like violet's growth in relation to dain! the remaining secondary characters were nothing much to speak of, other than jack who i really must articulate that i hate. i can't stand his type of character - an antagonist who exists to antagonise for the sake of it, and to act as another character for the MC to overcome. he was so underwritten and under motivated that i was mad for all the wrong reasons every time he showed up on page.

so yeah, you can see why my thoughts on fourth wing are pretty mixed. i've already started reading iron flame, so i'm hoping that will be as good, if not an improvement. i have to say i don't think it bodes well that this series is going to be stretched out to five books (at least) - i can't see it being necessary and lowkey think it's a sure sign that this series will just end up devolving. but for now we'll see how i get on with the first three.

[bloodmaarked]

Heeeeyy DID U COMPLETE THE BOOK BY ELIF SHAFAK?how was it?:) btw love ure page❤️

hey! thank you! yes i did finish there are rivers in the sky a few months back, i was obsessed (reviewed here!) 🩷🩷

[bloodmaarked]

the poppy war // r.f. kuang

first published: 2018 read: 30 july 2025 - 13 august 2025 pages: 530 format: paperback

genres: fiction; fantasy (high); historical fiction; war favourite character(s): nezha and ramsa. and yes, rin least favourite character(s): i don't have one first line(s): "'take your clothes off.'"

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 thoughts: rebecca why did i ever doubt you? yes i loved yellowface, i was obsessed with babel, but for some reason i thought the wartime fantasy of the poppy war wouldn't do anything for me. more fool me, but i learn from my mistakes (meaning i preordered katabasis a year ago). the poppy war is so. good. and 4.5* is nothing to scoff at, coming from a reader who finds herself less and less entertained by what the fantasy genre has to offer. especially since i immediately sold off my paperback copy and traded it in for the stunning collector's edition hardback.

i was obsessed with the way r.f. kuang wove real-life history into babel, and i felt the exact same about this book. i don't think i realised how this took a lot of inspiration from the brutality of the second sino-japanese war and the nanjing massacre before i started reading it (both of which i will be researching more on). she's a meticulous researcher, so i can only imagine what went into the planning of this story.

speaking of brutality, she does not hold back at all. whether it's describing the horrors of war or killing off characters, she does not play around at all. i loved it and was traumatised at the same time. i did like that this ran more adult and didn't shy away from depicting some pretty horrific scenes, despite the fact that the main characters are all teens/young adults.

something else that has put me off of a lot of (ya) fantasy recently is how tropey it can get, and i didn't feel that way reading this at all. i was gripped by the narrative and, even though there is a certain degree of storytelling formula that is followed towards the beginning, i didn't feel like i could predict every narrative beat, and i didn't get bored. the "hero's journey" is turned on its head, making it so intriguing to read from start to finish, and i can't wait to see how it plays out in the next book.

the poppy war is fantasy done right - fantasy with depth - and if i could get my hands on more stories like this i absolutely could see myself being pulled back into the genre like i once was. i have my copy of the dragon republic and the only thing stopping me from reading it right now is that i also received my copy of katabasis, my preorder of which, as mentioned, has been over a year in the making! still, know that i'm so excited to see how the rest of this series continues.

[bloodmaarked]

burnout: solve your stress cycle // emily + amelia nagoski

first published: 2019 read: 23 july 2025 - 08 august 2025 pages: 304 format: e-book

genres: non-fiction; self-help; feminism; mental health first line(s): "this book is for any woman who has felt overwhelmed and exhausted by everything she had to do, and yet still worried she was not doing 'enough'. which is every woman we know - including us."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 thoughts: i am a big, big fan of emily nagoski and her work (i'm less familiar with amelia!). i loved come as you are, i've seen her talk irl, i watched her on the principles of pleasure. big, big fan. i also loved burnout - but it didn't hit quite the same as everything else. and tbh it's probably just me! maybe the subject matter is not as relevant to me right now. even despite that i still have a lot to take away from the book and could see myself potentially returning to it in the future.

i do think this was really helpful for understanding how stress works and how it remains in the body long after the feeling of stress goes away. it really emphasised how we are taught to deal with our stressor rather than to deal with the stress itself, and how important it is to realise they are two completely different things! i do feel like i've been more in tune with trying to do actions to complete stress cycles as they come up (though how to tell the stress cycle has indeed been completed felt a bit esoteric, i will admit).

outside of that i think this is both a practical and feel-good way book to explore the stress we (being women and femmes) endure simply as a result of existing within a patriarchal society. it was a good reminder to see through the bs of the harmful messages we're shown daily. emily's work has always been great for how intersectional it is, and this is no exception.

i felt emily's presence in this book's writing far more than amelia's, being familiar with her work already. perhaps they do have a very similar tone of voice, who knows, but i didn't feel amelia's contribution to the book very much other than the occasional anecdote about her own experiences with stress.

overall burnout was a good read. i've definitely pocketed a lot of useful information that i'll keep at the back of my mind. and i'm definitely going to embrace being 'the new hotness' from now on (iykyk!).

[bloodmaarked]

how to deal with angry people // dr ryan martin

first published: 2023 read: 03 august 2025 - 06 august 2025 pages: 218 format: paperback

genres: non-fiction; psychology; self-help first line(s): "one afternoon in late 2021, i got an unexpected call that revealed how angry people out there really were."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 thoughts: i read how to deal with angry people because i do have a specific angry person in my life i wanted help with dealing with. having read this, and given it a little time to be able to put it to practical use, i do think this is well worth reading if you think you might need it. whether dealing with anger from specific people or the general anger of the world, there are genuine tips to help deal with it and plenty of information about how to better understand anger as a general emotion.

the book is split into two parts, the first of which explores anger itself and why some people are angry as a trait rather than a temporary emotional state, and the second of which breaks down the ten steps for dealing with confrontation with an angry person. i thought this was very helpful. i felt that part one served well as a background and a better way to grapple with anger as an emotion. it was a reminder that anger is not an inherently negative emotion, though one's expression of it might be. and it reinforced understanding of why people are angry. it did this in such a way that i felt i could empathise with someone's anger and better understand it, without also having to accept or excuse the person's expression of that anger. it was also very interesting understanding the ways in which some people are predisposed to experiencing higher/more frequent levels of anger.

the second part had actionable steps that i genuinely felt empowered to use myself in what i knew would be a confrontational conversation with my angry person, and i felt it really helped me navigate that interaction. i would say the steps are probably much easier in cases where you can anticipate an angry situation in advance, but also probably over time and with habitual use it would get easier to use in the spur of the moment as well.

i'd recommend reading how to deal with angry people if you feel you need it. it's probably less of a good read if you just want to read an enjoyable work of non-fiction, but if you do want to read something that you want to engage with in real life i'd say this is a good read!

[bloodmaarked]

the stationery shop of tehran // marjan kamali

first published: 2019 read: 19 july 2025 - 01 august 2025 pages: 321 format: e-book

genres: fiction; literary fiction; romance; historical fiction; middle eastern fiction (iran) favourite character(s): zari least favourite character(s): roya first line(s): "'i made an appointment to see him.' she said it as if she were seeing the dentist or a therapist or the pushy refrigerator salesman who had promised her and Walter a lifetime guarantee of cold milk and crisp vegetables and unspoiled cheese if only they would buy this brand-new model."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 thoughts: i've always enjoyed my historical fiction, but reading ones set in the context of a romance is not something i do often. but the stationery shop of tehran worked for me. despite a romance being at the core, which was not the strongest in my opinion, the historical backdrop and what i learned about iran's history made this worth the read.

i'll start with the romance, because that is what this story primarily focused on. i'll be honest, i wasn't obsessed with it. i liked bahman well enough, however i did think roya (both in the context of the romance, and of her being the main character) was quite weak, in that she was fairly boring. their love story was bittersweet and i think there was enough drama to keep me intrigued. but i'll also say, i found it a bit... i don't know... disappointing that roya spent the majority of her adult life married to a man who, for the most part, seemed to be a very sweet, caring, and understanding husband, yet kept pining away for her teenage love the entire time. i could sort of understand why in the sense that she didn't get "closure", but i still didn't love that aspect, and i ended up feeling quite sorry for walter.

i think the earlier parts of the novel that were set against the political conflict that took place in iran in the 1950s was the strongest. i went into this book knowing basically nothing about this part of iranian history, and i think this gave me a good jumping off point to go off and do some further reading on the subject myself. i really like any work of fiction that actively makes me want to learn something new about the world around me. without this context, the story would've been much weaker for me. and on the flip side, had this continued to be as important to the story in the latter part as it was in the beginning, i would've loved this book even more.

it's a tough one because reading a lot of the poor reviews of this book, i genuinely agree with a lot of the criticism and i felt it myself during the reading experience. but something about the stationery shop of tehran also worked for me and i did feel naturally inclined to give it 4*, so i will stick with my rating. maybe i might feel different on reread. regardless i do still have the lion women of tehran on my tbr and i am still quite excited to read it - who knows, maybe it will be 5*-worthy!

oh and as an aside - i came across this book because goodreads recommended it to me based off me enjoying as long as the lemon trees grow. similar in some ways and vastly different in others, but i would very easily recommend that book over this one!

[bloodmaarked]

mockingjay // suzanne collins

first published: 2010 re-read: 24 july 2025 - 28 july 2025 first read: c. 2011 last read: 2021 pages: 390 format: paperback

genres: fiction; young adult; dystopian; romance favourite character(s): katniss and finnick least favourite character(s): i don't have one first line(s): "i stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 thoughts: i certainly think i was a bit too harsh on mockingjay the last time i read it. this book holds up against the rest of the trilogy for sure, and it is a bittersweet ending that feels like it rings true against the backdrop of the other two books. i think it's easy to debate how it could've or should've ended, but i can see why suzanne collins chose this path and i feel satisfied. i also think there's a lot that's stellar about this book, including the ultimate message of district 13 and its leaders.

i still ride for katniss any day of the week, and it only makes sense to see how broken she is in this book after the horrors of what she's been through. and despite all of that, she's still got a lot of fight left in her.

i have always been and always will be an everlark lover. the epilogue, i could take or leave, but these two were destined and my heart is happy and gale can suck it.

i don't know what to say other than i love this trilogy so much and for the 10 of you who haven't read it yet, please do. i want to reread the ballad of songbirds and snakes to see if it's any better on reread, and i'm scared but i'm gonna do it anyway. either way, the OG trilogy will always have a place in my heart and on my shelves.

[bloodmaarked]

sweetness in the skin // ishi robinson

first published: 2024 read: 18 july 2025 - 21 july 2025 pages: 368 format: e-book

genres: fiction; coming of age; family; contemporary favourite character(s): miss keene least favourite character(s): paulette first line(s): "my name is Pumkin Patterson."

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 thoughts: sweetness in the skin manages to be both heartbreaking and heartwarming all in one. there's something about reading about a young girl overcoming that just does it for me i guess, it just manages to hit me in the feels every time (see also: the girl with the louding voice). i fell in love with pumkin very quickly - i think it would've been impossible not to.

i really adored the themes of resilience and overcoming. while it broke my heart to see pumkin in the very difficult situation she was in, i also drew strength from her story which came with its fair share of hope. i also do love a generational trauma read and yes, i could see reflections of how trauma passed from grandmother to daughter to grandchild reflected in my personal experiences. it rang true and deep.

speaking of personal experiences, i really enjoyed the fact that the author did not shy away from or sanitise the use of patois in the dialogue! having jamaican heritage i fell into the dialogue with ease. i think people unfamiliar may have a tougher time, i don't know. i would hope not. but even if it did, not everything is for everyone and i'm glad this book exists in its authentic form.

i also thought there was a great supporting cast, and some lovely nuance in some of the side characters, including paulette and pumkin's friends. i loved miss keene the way i loved tia in louding voice (iykyk).

honestly, sweetness in the skin was such a good read, unexpectedly so. i think i'll have to keep a little eye on what ishi robinson does next!