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Bright Dead Things by Ada LimΓ³n
Lighting does indeed strike twice and so does Ava LimΓ³nβs poetry. This past summer I was very much taken by LimΓ³nβs latest collection, The Hurting Kind, so much so that I was keen to make my way through her backlist. In Bright Dead Things LimΓ³n showcases not only her skill for language, but her ability…
1st pov, Ada LimΓ³n, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, beauty, belonging, Bright Dead Things, Contemporary, DEATH, environmental, female authors, female poet, GRIEF, Kentucky, language, latin american diaspora, latinx author, lgbtq+, Longing, lyrical prose, melancholy, MEMORY, nature, NEW YORK, Nonfiction, nostalgic reads, POETRY, published in 2015 -
The Hurting Kind: Poems by Ada LimΓ³n
βHow funny that I called it love and the whole time it was pain.β The Hurting Kind is a dazzling collection. Ada LimΓ³nβs poems are luminous, and I was struck more than once by her ability to espouse a graceful language with such vivid imagery. LimΓ³n has proved that I am not only able to…
4 STARS, Ada LimΓ³n, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, beauty, belonging, environmental, female authors, female poet, GRIEF, language, latin american diaspora, latinx author, Longing, lyrical prose, melancholy, MEMORY, nature, Nonfiction, nostalgic reads, POETRY, published in 2022, read in 2022, summer reads, The Hurting Kind, uplifting reads -
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
disclaimer: i did not like this book. the opinions and impressions i will express in this review are entirely subjective and i am not in fact stating βirrefutable factsβ. it has come to my attention that this author has a history of going on twitter to βbemoanβ reviewers who have given her book a negative…
1 STAR, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, beauty, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, books i hate, Boy Parts, British author, class, Contemporary, dark, dark humor, Eliza Clark, england, female authors, feverish, graphic content, grotesque, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LONDON, My reviews, navel gazing, Newcastle, offensive, photographers, PHOTOGRAPHY, PRIVILEGE, psychological, psychopaths, published in 2020, queer, rape, read in 2022, reading, satire, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SEXUALITY, she is not feeling good at all, slow pacing, style over character, subject over characters/story, the female malaise, trying and failing @ feminism, unreliable narrators -
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 -
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
βSometimes you are erased before you are given the choice of stating who you are.β Ocean Vuongβs strikingly lyrical debut novel is a work of transient beauty. Within On Earth Weβre Briefly Gorgeous there are many arresting passages that are, quite frankly, beautiful. At times this beauty derives from Vuongβs 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 Weβre Briefly Gorgeous, POETRY, published in 2019, queer, read in 2021, reading, sex, style over character, trauma, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author -
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Secret History lives rent free in my head. It is a masterpiece. A thing of rare beauty. A tour de force. A literary triumph. βOne likes to think thereβs something in it, that old platitude amor vincit omnia. But if Iβve learned one thing in my short sad life, it is that that particular…
1980s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, beautiful prose, beauty, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, campus, class, cliques, Contemporary, CRIME, dark, dark academia, DEATH, donna tartt, ennui, existentialism, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, GUILT, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, incest, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MEMORY, modern classics, morality, MURDER, My reviews, MYSTERY, obsession, philosophical, PRIVILEGE, psychological, Psychological thriller, published in 1992, queer undercurrents, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2021, reading, rich people, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the secret history, THRILLER, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unrequited love, Vermont, whydunnit, WINTER -
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
Engaging and insightful If I Had Your Face is a solid debut novel from a promising writer.If I Had Your Face follows four young women trying to navigate everyday life in contemporary Seoul. They live in the same building but to begin with are not exactly friends. We have Ara, a mute hair stylist who…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, bad love, beauty, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, cheating, class, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, disabilities, female authors, female friendships, feminism, Frances Cha, friendships, identity, If I Had Your Face, Korea, Korean, korean american author, MARRIAGE, millennial, obsession, plastic surgeries, pregnancy, published in 2020, read in 2021, Seoul, social issues, work culture -
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
i deleted my review after getting one too many comments misreading my various criticisms (either calling me “too woke” or implying that i do not respect women who want to have children or, and this gets the cake, “an anglo saxon liberal chauvinist” which makes me wonder if angry commentators such as these even take…
1st pov, 2 STARS, beauty, books about writers, Breasts and Eggs, class, Contemporary, existentialism, female authors, feminism, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, LITERARY FICTION, mental health, Mieko Kawakami, motherhood, mothers & daughters, navel gazing, plastic surgeries, pregnancy, published in 2019, read in 2021, SEXUALITY, SISTERS, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, TRANSLATED FICTION, trying and failing @ feminism, work culture -
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
This novel proved to be the perfect ‘escape’ read. While I may not have been enamoured by every single book I’ve read by Libba Bray (the finales to her series left me a wee bit unsatisfied) I do consider her to be an amazing writer and a favourite of mine. Usually, however, her books are…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, adventure, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, beauty, beauty contest, Beauty Queens, Booklr, Contemporary, f/f side, female authors, female friendships, feminism, friendships, HUMOR, ISLAND, LESBIAN, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LIBBA BRAY, lord of the flies, pageants, pirates, playful style, published in 2011, queer, read in 2020, satire, social issues, surreal, survival, the wilds, trans side characters, uplifting reads, YOUNG ADULT -
Olivia by Dorothy Strachey β book review
βAnd so that was what love led to. To wound and be wounded. β Set in a French finishing school Dorothy Strachey’s Olivia tells the story of a schoolgirl’s infatuation with her headmistress. Narrated by its titular character, Olivia perfectly evokes adolescent love. Olivia becomes enamoured with Mlle. Julie, and experiences an awakening of sorts.…
1890s, 19TH CENTURY, 1st pov, academia, age gap, all girls school, beautiful prose, beauty, boarding/private school, British author, british classics, CLASSICS, Dorothy Strachey, england, f/f, female authors, first love, FRANCE, HISTORICAL FICTION, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, lgbtq+ classics, light reads, Longing, modern classics, Olivia, published in 1949, queer, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, ROMANCE, sapphic, SEXUALITY, teachers, unrequited love
luce [is reading] 