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The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
“It seemed to me that in this confluence of cultures, we had acquired one another’s superstitions without necessarily any of their comforts.” A few years back I read and was positutely grossed out by Yangsze Choo’s The Night Tiger as I found its male love interest to be both a perv & bully. Thankfully, Yangsze…
1890s, 19TH CENTURY, 1st pov, Adult, adventure, afterlife, chinese myths, class, colonialism, dead boys, DEMONS, DRAGONS, drama, FANTASY, female authors, FOLKLORE, ghosts/spirits, girls hating girls, HISTORICAL FICTION, love triangle, Malaysia, Malaysian author, myths, PARANORMAL, published in 2013, read in 2022, ROMANCE, spirit realm, SUPERNATURAL, The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo -
Colorful by Eto Mori
First published in 1998 Colorful is narrated by an unknown soul who is given a second chance at life. He will occupy the body of fourteen-year-old Makoto Kobayashi who has attempted suicide and during this ‘homestay’ our narrator has to remember the big mistake he made in his previous life. At times ‘Makoto’ is aided…
1990s, 1st pov, 3 STARS, afterlife, angels, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, bullying, Colorful, Contemporary, DEPRESSION, drama, Eto Mori, FANTASY, female authors, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, light reads, loneliness, middle school, My reviews, published in 1998, read in 2021, reading, suicide, TRANSLATED FICTION -
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
“You have as many lives as you have possibilities. There are lives where you make different choices. And those choices lead to different outcomes. If you had done just one thing differently, you would have a different life story. And they all exist in the Midnight Library. They are all as real as this…
3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, afterlife, books about books, British author, Contemporary, DEATH, DEPRESSION, england, family, FANTASY, GRIEF, identity, illness, librarians, libraries/bookshops, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, Matt Haig, mental health, music, musicians, parallel universes, published in 2020, read in 2020, siblings, social issues, SPECULATIVE FICTION, suicide, The Midnight Library, uplifting reads, what ifs -
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez — book review
Afterlife is a slim novel that covers many topical and important issues, like mental health, in a not always satisfactory way. Alvarez’s style was at times a detriment to her story. While I could have moved past the lack of quotations, I had a harder time buying into the recursive narration. I sort of understood…
3 STARS, Adult, afterlife, America, American, Caribbean, caribbean author, Contemporary, Dominican American author, dominican republic, family, female authors, GRIEF, Julia Alvarez, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, mental health, migration/immigration, published in 2020, read in 2020, SISTERS, social issues, Vermont, widows -
American Gods by Neil Gaiman — book review
“Gods die. And when they truly die they are unmourned and unremembered. Ideas are more difficult to kill than people, but they can be killed, in the end.” It isn’t surprising that American Gods is regarded as one of the genre-bending novels of all time. Over the course of 500 pages Neil Gaiman deftly blends…
2000s, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, adventure, affairs, afterlife, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, American Gods, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, British author, Chicago, Contemporary, DEATH, Dreams, FANTASY, fathers & sons, favourite authors, FOLKLORE, gay side characters, gods, great storytelling, heist, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, Illinois, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, minnesota, MYSTERY, myths, Neil Gaiman, PARANORMAL, prison, published in 2001, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2020, Religion, road trip, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SPECULATIVE FICTION, story within a story, Storytelling, SUPERNATURAL, tennessee, URBAN FANTASY, violence, Wisconsin, zombies & undead -
Platform Seven by Louise Doughty — book review
In spite of its flaws Platform Seven is a lot more thoughtful than one might expect from its murder mystery premise. “There was a man on the station only two hours ago who will never go home again.” One of the weakest aspects of this book is that it tries, and doesn’t really succeed, in…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, afterlife, bad love, British author, Contemporary, domestic thriller, england, female authors, ghosts/spirits, Louise Doughty, mental health, MYSTERY, Peterborough, Platform Seven, psychological, Psychological thriller, published in 2019, READ IN 2019, REVIEWS, suicide, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, tragedy, violence against women -
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak — book review
Shafak never disappoints! In her newest novel Shafak explores many of the themes she has already touched upon in previous novels in an innovative manner as the narrative bridges the gap between the life and death of its protagonist. There is something about Shafak’s prose that really resonates with me. She can address serious and…
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World, 4.25 stars, afterlife, BOOK REVIEW, class, Contemporary, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), ELIF SHAFAK, favourite authors, female authors, female friendships, friendships, GRIEF, introspective, istanbul, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, MAGICAL REALISM, MEMORY, Poverty, prostitution, sexual assault/abuse/rape, social issues, trans side characters, TRANSGENDER, Turkey, turkish author, violence against women
luce [is reading] 