![luce [is reading]](https://wishfullyreading.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/9429655-1.jpeg){kind=small}
-
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
…a big fat nope from me. DISCLAIMER: Like with any other negative review that I write I feel the need to remind ppl that my opinions/thoughts/impressions of a book are entirely subjective (mind-blowing i know) and that if you are interested/curious about said book you should definitely check out more positive reviews. If an Egyptian…
2 STARS, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, addiction, Adult, America, autofiction, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about writers, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), egypt, Egyptian American author, female authors, identity, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, language, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, My reviews, no quotations marks, Noor Naga, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, ROMANCE, style over character, stylised prose, subject over characters/story, trauma, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator -
Ru by Kim Thúy
I was born in the shadow of skies adorned with fireworks, decorated with garlands of light, shot through with rockets and missiles. The purpose of my birth was to replace lives that had been lost. My life’s duty was to prolong that of my mother. Ru is a short read that blurs the line between…
1970s, 1980s, 1st pov, 2000s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, autofiction, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, canada, CHILDHOOD, cold tone, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, DEATH, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, introspective, Kim Thúy, language, LITERARY FICTION, lyrical prose, Malaysia, MEMORY, migration/immigration, motherhood, mothers & daughters, My reviews, neurodivergent side characters, Poverty, published in 2009, Quebec, read in 2022, reading, restrained prose, Ru, style over character, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, Vietnam, vietnam war, vietnamese canadian author, vignettes, war -
Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
Candid and humorously absurd Afterparties is a collection of short stories that focuses on the experiences of Cambodian-Americans in California. In spite of the occasional Shameless-like scenario, these stories remain grounded in realism, almost to the point of reading like a slice of life. Vo’s stories can also be read as frank vignettes capturing the…
3 STARS, Adult, America, American, autofiction, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, cambodia, cambodian american author, cheating, collection of short stories, Contemporary, conversational style, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), family, gay, HUMOR, intergenerational, lgbtq+, m/m, migration/immigration, millennial, My reviews, published in 2021, RACE, read in 2021, reading, sex, SEXUALITY, short stories, SLICE OF LIFE, social issues, temples -
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
“Sometimes you are erased before you are given the choice of stating who you are.” Ocean Vuong’s strikingly lyrical debut novel is a work of transient beauty. Within On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous there are many arresting passages that are, quite frankly, beautiful. At times this beauty derives from Vuong’s subject matter, at times it…
1st pov, 2000s, 3.25 stars, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, autofiction, beauty, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, boyhood, coming of age, Connecticut, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, existentialism, family, first love, gay, growing up, intergenerational, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, lyrical prose, m/m, male authors, migration/immigration, mothers & sons, My reviews, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, POETRY, published in 2019, queer, read in 2021, reading, sex, style over character, trauma, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author -
LIE WITH ME: BOOK REVIEW
Non mentirmi (Lie with me) by Philippe Besson ★★★✰✰ 3.5 of 5 stars Initially, I was torn between reading the English and the Italian translations of « Arrête avec tes mensonges ». I settled for the Italian because —to my mind at least— it seems closer to the original French language (at least they are both…
1980s, 3.5 STARS, Arrête avec tes mensonges, autofiction, coming of age, first love, FRANCE, FRENCH, French author, gay, growing up, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, Lie with me, LITERARY FICTION, m/m, male authors, MEMOIR, Non mentirmi, Philippe Besson, PUBLISHED IN 2017, READ IN 2019, ROMANCE, SEXUALITY, TRANSLATED FICTION
luce [is reading] 