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Marie’s Proof of Love by Mieko Kawakami
“Love doesn’t belong to any of us—it exists elsewhere, complete, from beginning to end. We simply have the privilege of coming into contact with it every once in a while.” The dreamlike mood permeating this short story by Mieko Kawakami is reminiscent of Elisabeth Thomas’s Catherine House, Sylvia Plath, and Fleur Jaeggy’s Sweet Days of…
abuse, all girls school, boarding/private school, dreamlike quality, female authors, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, JAPANESE AUTHOR, loneliness, Marie’s Proof of Love, melancholy, Mieko Kawakami, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2021, read in 2022, sapphic, short stories, the female malaise, trauma, unnamed country -
Gallant by V.E. Schwab
Although I remember liking books by V. E. Schwab when I was a teenager the last couple of books I’ve picked up by her left me feeling rather underwhelmed. My reading tastes have definitely changed over the years but I hoped that I would always be able to appreciate her storytelling. I was sold on…
2 STARS, 3rd pov, all girls school, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, england, FANTASY, female authors, Gallant, ghosts/spirits, GOTHIC, hauntings, HISTORICAL FICTION, manor/big house, My reviews, Not Like Other Girls, orphans, parallel universes, PARANORMAL, portal fantasy, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, slow pacing, style over character, V.E. Schwab, YOUNG ADULT -
Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy
Sweet Days of Discipline is a slim dagger of a novel. Written in a prose so sharp it will cut you, Sweet Days of Discipline is a work of startling and enigmatic beauty, a study in contradictions: order and chaos, sublimity and abjection, clarity and obfuscation, illusion and reality. Fleur Jaeggy is in absolute command…
1950s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, all girls school, ambiguous protagonist, atmospheric, beauty, bildungsroman, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, CLASSICS, cold tone, dark academia, Dreams, existentialism, favourite authors, female authors, first love, Fleur Jaeggy, girlhood, HISTORICAL FICTION, Italian classics, Italy, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, melancholy, modern classics, My reviews, nostalgic reads, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, psychological, published in 1989, queer, re-reads, read in 2018, read in 2021, reading, sapphic, SEXUALITY, Sweet Days of Discipline, swiss italian author, Switzerland, terrific prose, unnamed narrator, unreliable narrators, unrequited love -
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
“He spoke the spell under his breath, still a little uncertain after the agonies he had endured. But magic came, ever his friend—magic answered his call.” Written in a playful pastiche style Sorcerer to the Crown will certainly appeal to fans of Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, and Diana Wynne Jones. Cho’s bombastic prose, characterized by…
1800s, 1810s, 19TH CENTURY, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, adventure, all girls school, alternate history, bombastic style, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, curses, DRAGONS, FAERIES, FAIRYLAND, FANTASY, FANTASY OF MANNERS, favourite authors, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, HUMOR, MAGIC, magic school, Malaysian author, My reviews, playful style, published in 2015, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2021, reading, Regency era, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, Sorcerer Royal, WARLOCKS/WIZARDS, WITCHES, Zen Cho -
The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir
“She had appeared so glorious to me that I had assumed she had everything she wanted. I wanted to cry for her, and for myself.” Superbly written The Inseparables is a novella that pairs an enthralling depiction of female friendship with a razor-sharp commentary on gender and religion This is the kind of work of…
1920s, 1st pov, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, all girls school, ambiguous protagonist, beautiful prose, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, catholicism, CHILDHOOD, Christianity, CLASSICS, coming of age, existentialism, female authors, female friendships, feminism, first love, FRANCE, FRENCH, French author, friendships, GENDER, growing up, introspective, jealousy, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, lgbtq+ classics, LITERARY FICTION, modern classics, My reviews, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, published in 2020, queer, queer undercurrents, read in 2021, reading, Religion, SEXUALITY, Simone de Beauvoir, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, suicide, The Inseparables, TRANSLATED FICTION, unreliable narrators, unrequited love -
Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette
“We were fixed to one another, like parts of some strange, asymmetrical body: Frances was the mouth; Mary Lucille, the heart; Therese, the legs. And I, Agatha, was the eyes.” Agatha of Little Neon is a gem of a novel. Claire Luchette’s prose is a delight to read, its deceptive simplicity bringing to mind authors…
1st pov, 2000s, 4.25 stars, addiction, Adult, Agatha of Little Neon, all girls school, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arc, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, catholicism, Christianity, Claire Luchette, Contemporary, female authors, friendships, identity, introspective, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, My reviews, netgalley, new york state, nuns, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, Religion, restrained prose, rhode island, suicide, teachers -
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue
Caroline O’Donoghue’s foray into YA will definitely appeal to fans of the genre. Although I do have a few criticisms I can safely say that I found All Our Hidden Gifts to be an entertaining read. Set in Ireland, our narrator and protagonist is sixteen-year old Maeve Chambers, the youngest in a big family. She…
1st pov, 3 STARS, all girls school, All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O’Donoghue, coming of age, Contemporary, cults, curses, Dreams, FANTASY, female authors, FOLKLORE, gender identity, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, missing girls, missing persons, PARANORMAL, published in 2021, queer side characters, read in 2020, ROMANCE, social issues, tarots, WITCHES, YOUNG ADULT -
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
Readers, I am disappointed. Plain Bad Heroines was one of my most anticipated 2020 releases…maybe I should have ‘hyped’ it so much. This is certainly an ambitious novel, one that is a few hundred pages too long. There were elements that I liked, but these were ultimately outweighed by my frustration toward the tone of…
1920s, 2.5 STARS, all girls school, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, big books, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boarding/private school, books about books, books about writers, Contemporary, creepy setting, curses, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Emily M. Danforth, f/f, f/f/f, film industry, films, GOTHIC, haunted house, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, influencers, jealousy, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, Mary MacLane, metafiction, modern gothic, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, Plain Bad Heroines, playful style, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, sapphic, SUSPENSE, teachers, YOUNG ADULT -
Abigail by Magda Szabó — book review
“In later years, whenever she dreamed of the fortress and the city the wind would always be present, moving restlessly among human figures obscurely glimpsed in the haze.” Abigail follows fourteen-year-old Gina Vitay’s time as a Matula student in the months leading to the German occupation of Hungary. First published fifty years ago, its English…
1940s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, Abigail, academia, all girls school, beautiful prose, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEWS, bullying, CLASSICS, coming of age, female authors, female friendships, friendships, HISTORICAL FICTION, hungarian author, hungary, introspective, Len Rix, LITERARY FICTION, Magda Szabó, MEMORY, modern classics, MYSTERY, psychological, published in 1970, read in 2020, Religion, teachers, TRANSLATED FICTION, WWII -
Frost In May by Antonia White — book review
“Do you know that no character is any good in this world unless that will has been broken completely? Broken and re-set in God’s own way. I don’t think your will has been quite broken, my dear child, do you?” After converting to Catholicism, nine year old Nanda Gray is sent by her father to…
1910s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, academia, all girls school, Antonia White, beautiful prose, boarding/private school, British author, british classics, catholicism, CHILDHOOD, CLASSICS, coming of age, convent, england, female authors, female friendships, friendships, Frost in May, growing up, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, LITERARY FICTION, nuns, published in 1933, read in 2020, Religion
luce [is reading] 