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Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang
“Languages aren’t just made of words. They’re modes of looking at the world. They’re the keys to civilization. And that’s knowledge worth killing for.” Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution is an fierce indictment against colonialism. Within this superbly written slow-burner of a bildungsroman, R.F. Kuang presents her…
1820s, 1830s, 19TH CENTURY, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, abuse, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, alternate history, anxiety-inducing reads, atmospheric, babel, Babel or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, belonging, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, China, chinese american author, class, cliques, colonialism, coming of age, cultural dissonance, dark academia, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, great storytelling, growing up, GUILT, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, identity, India, language, lgbtq+, LONDON, loneliness, Longing, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, muslim side characters, My reviews, MYSTERY, orphans, oxford, philosophical, politics, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2022, queer undercurrents, R.F. Kuang, RACE, read in 2022, reading, revenge, secret societies, secretiveness, ship, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, teachers, terrific prose, tragedy, travel, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, war -
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
“To understand the world at all, sometimes you could only focus on a tiny bit of it, look very hard at what was close to hand and make it stand in for the whole.” The Goldfinch is an emotional rollercoaster spanning 700+ pages and proof that literary lightning can indeed strike twice. Fully deserving of…
1st pov, 2010s, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, anxiety-inducing reads, ART/CREATIVITY, beautiful prose, big books, bildungsroman, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, boyhood, CHILDHOOD, class, Contemporary, CRIME, DEATH, DEPRESSION, donna tartt, existentialism, fathers & sons, favourite authors, female authors, forgiveness, friendships, GRIEF, growing up, GUILT, introspective, las vegas, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, MEMORY, morality, mothers & sons, museums, My reviews, Netherlands, nevada, NEW YORK, orphans, paranoia, philosophical, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2013, Pulitzer Prize, pulitzer prize winners, queer undercurrents, re-reads, read in 2017, read in 2021, reading, rich people, strong sense of place, suicide, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the goldfinch, trauma, unrequited love -
Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor
Taylor has gone and done it again. My poor heart can’t take this. “[S]adness drenched them. Sadness at leaving. Sadness at going back to their lives. The sadness of knowing it would never again be this perfect, this easy.” This may not sound like a compliment but I believe that Brandon Taylor has a real…
4.25 stars, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, anxiety-inducing reads, bad love, bi side characters, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Brandon Taylor, campus, cold tone, collection of short stories, Contemporary, dancers, DEPRESSION, f/f side, favourite authors, Filthy Animals, gay, interconnected stories, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, m/m, male authors, My reviews, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, restrained prose, SEXUALITY, short stories, suicide, the male malaise, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
Heavenly Creatures by way of Patricia Highsmith, plus a sprinkle of Like Minds, and with the kind of teenage morbidity one could find in Hangsaman or Stoker. Adroit and gripping, These Violent Delights is a superlative debut novel. Being the self-proclaimed connoisseur of academia fiction that I am, I was drawn by the comparisons to…
1970s, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, anxiety, anxiety-inducing reads, bad love, class, dark, dark academia, drama, family, first love, gay, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, Jewish, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, m/m, mental health, Micah Nemerever, morality, MYSTERY, obsession, Pennsylvania, philosophical, psychological, Psychological thriller, published in 2020, queer, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2022, rich people, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, These Violent Delights, THRILLER, toxic relationships, tragedy, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, whydunnit -
Self-Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon
“Tragedy is insignificant, banal. A falling boy goes largely unnoticed.” Self-Portrait with Boy is an electrifying debut novel. Within its pages, Rachel Lyon’s paints an unsettling portrait, that of the artist as a young woman, one whose raw hunger for artistic recognition drives her to betray the trust of the person she loves. Self-Portrait with…
1990s, 1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, anxiety-inducing reads, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, atmospheric, bad love, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dead boys, female authors, GRIEF, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MEMORY, NEW YORK, no quotations marks, obsession, PHOTOGRAPHY, psychological, published in 2018, queer, RACHEL LYON, re-reads, read in 2018, read in 2021, sapphic, SELF-PORTRAIT WITH BOY, strong sense of place, terrific prose, tragedy, unrequited love
luce [is reading] 