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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 -
Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura
For the love of Jupiter, Nozomi was such a detestable main character. It had been a while since I so wholeheartedly hated and rooted against the main character of a novelβ¦but here we go. Love and Other Natural Disasters is the kind of romance YA novel that pretends to critique and be self-aware of the…
1st pov, 2 STARS, America, American, ANGST, bi side characters, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books i hate, California, Contemporary, drama, ENEMIES TO LOVERS, f/f, fake dating, female authors, japanese american author, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, Love and Other Natural Disasters, love quadrangle, MELODRAMA, Misa Sugiura, My reviews, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, rom-coms, ROMANCE, sapphic, YOUNG ADULT -
The Herd by Andrea Bartz
Having really enjoyed Andrea Bartzβs debut novel, The Lost Night, I had rather high hopes for The Herd. Sadly, not only is The Herd populated by simultaneously unrealistic and detestable characters but it also tells a rather derivative story. The summary seemed to promise a tantalising story, one that would depict the complicated and shifting…
1st pov, 2 STARS, ADOPTION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Andrea Bartz, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books i hate, drama, female authors, jealousy, lgbtq+, MELODRAMA, missing persons, missing women, MYSTERY, NEW YORK, published in 2020, purply prose, read in 2020, SISTERS, summer reads, SUSPENSE, THRILLER, trying and failing @ feminism, weak prose, work culture -
The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun
Last year I read Hye-Young Pyun’s The Law of Lines and in spite of a few reservations, I did find it to be an absorbing read. Yes, it was bleak, dark, and even grotesque at times but her tone never struck me as cruel or gratuitous. Given that The Hole won ‘Shirley Jackson Award for…
1 STAR, 3rd pov, abuse, Adult, affairs, all of the trigger warnings, books i hate, Contemporary, DEATH, disabilities, female authors, graphic content, grotesque, HORROR, Hye-Young Pyun, Korea, Korean, korean author, problematic, published in 2016, read in 2021, Shirley Jackson Award for Novel, SUSPENSE, The Hole, THRILLER, TRANSLATED FICTION -
White Dancing Elephants by Chaya Bhuvaneswar
Readers who enjoy the works of Zadie Smith or Avni Doshi’s Burnt Sugar may find White Dancing Elephants to have some merit. If you are thinking of reading this collection I recommend you read some of the more positives reviews as my one is alas a negative one. For those who liked or loved it,…
1 STAR, Adult, affairs, America, American, books i hate, Chaya Bhuvaneswar, collection of short stories, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), f/f side, female authors, illness, India, indian american author, lgbtq+ side, mental health, motherhood, offensive, published in 2018, queer, RACE, rape, read in 2020, sexual assault/abuse/rape, short stories, social issues, toxic relationships, White Dancing Elephants -
Red Pill by Hari Kunzru
Once again, I am in the minority as I did not find Red Pill to be a particularly artful or clever novel. To be clear, I do think that Hari Kunzru can write very well indeed, however, his narrative struck me as all flash and no substance. I was amused by the first quarter of…
1980s, 1st pov, 2 STARS, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, Berlin, books about writers, books i hate, british indian author, Contemporary, east and west germany, endless monologues, existentialism, feverish, FRANCE, Germany, Hari Kunzru, illness, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, midlife crisis, morality, mumblecore, navel gazing, obsession, philosophical, politics, published in 2020, read in 2020, Red Pill, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, story within a story, surreal, travel, unnamed narrator, unreliable narrators -
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
Burnt Sugar is one of the worst books I’ve read in 2020. If you were able to appreciate this novel, I’m glad. This may be one of those ‘it’s me, not you’ casesβ¦or maybe I’ve read too many stories exploring a complex mother/daughter relationship. To be perfectly frank, I bloody hated this book. It was…
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The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas β book reviews
While I understand historical context and I am quite able to appreciate classics without wanting them to reflect ‘modern’ sensibilities, I have 0 patience for books that glorify rapists. SPOILERS BELOW I don’t mind reading books about terrible people. I read Nabokov’s infamous Lolita and Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. I enjoy books by Agatha…
1 STAR, 17th century, adventure, Alexandre Dumas, big books, BOOK REVIEWS, books i hate, CLASSICS, drama, duels, FRANCE, FRENCH, French author, friendships, heroes, HISTORICAL FICTION, horrible friends, male authors, MELODRAMA, men who do not seem to know how to write women, musketeers, political intrigue, problematic, published in 1844, rape, read in 2020, sexual assault/abuse/rape, story within a story, The Three Musketeers, TRANSLATED FICTION -
The Lover by Marguerite Duras β book review
The Lover strikes me as little more than an exercise in literary masturbation. This novella is overwrought, self-indulgent, and ultimately insubstantial. Fooled by the promise of its first pages, I soon found myself irked by the narrator’s linguistic burps. With the exception of two or three characters, everyone else is nameless. Alienation is de rigueur.…
1 STAR, 1920s, 20th century, age gap, ALIENATION, bad love, BOOK REVIEWS, books i hate, CLASSICS, female authors, FRANCE, FRENCH, French author, Marguerite Duras, modern classics, navel gazing, Pedophelia, published in 1984, purply prose, read in 2020, ROMANCE, sex, SEXUALITY, style over character, The Lover, TRANSLATED FICTION, Vietnam -
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins β book review
It’s a yikes from me. Did the world really need The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? I think not. Full of unnecessary exposition and weighed down by self-indulgent fanservice, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a train-wreck of a novel. The story lacks rhyme or reason, things happen only to advance the plot (regardless…
1 STAR, 3rd pov, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anti-hero, books i hate, Coriolanus Snow, DEATH, dystopia, female authors, hunger games, Hyped new releases, morality, prequels, published in 2020, read in 2020, SCI-FI, SPECULATIVE FICTION, survival, Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the hunger games, thg, violence, YOUNG ADULT
luce [is reading] 