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Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
That was what Lethe and the societies demanded. Secrecy. Loyalty. Well, fuck them. In Hell Bent, the long-awaited sequel to the high-octane Ninth House, we are reunited with the danger-prone and dangerous Alex Stern. Still recovering from her several near-death experiences, and attempting to keep up with her coursework and maintain the facade of being…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, adventure, alex stern, alex stern #2, ambiguous protagonist, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, autumn, California, campus, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dark fantasy, DEATH, DEMONS, FANTASY, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, ghosts/spirits, gritty aesthetics, hell, Hell Bent, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, it’s about the *yearning*, Leigh Bardugo, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, New Haven, Ninth House, occult, PARANORMAL, place as character, PRIVILEGE, published in 2023, quests, read in 2023, rich people, secret societies, secretiveness, she is dangerous, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, VAMPIRES, violence, Yale -
Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu
This memoir is definitely all about the vibes. Hua Hsu captures the aesthetics and culture that characterized his college experiences. Hsu recollects the music, clothes, and cultural influences that shaped this time in his life. The memoir is also about his unlikely friendship with Ken, someone whose tastes didn’t really match Hsu’s. The two nevertheless…
1990s, 1st pov, academia, Adult, adulthood, America, ART/CREATIVITY, asian american, asian diaspora, belonging, biography, BOOKS ON WRITING, California, campus, coming of age, Contemporary, friendships, GRIEF, grunge vibes, Harvard, Hua Hsu, identity, it’s about the *aesthetics*, male authors, male friendships, MEMOIR, MEMORY, no plot just vibes, Nonfiction, nostalgic reads, Stay True, Stay True: A Memoir, style over character, taiwan, Taiwanese American Author, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
Tell Me I’m an Artist by Chelsea Martin
Restrained yet acutely realistic, Tell Me I’m An Artist presents its readers with the unfinished portrait of an artist as a young woman. Throughout the course of this novel, we read of the trials and tribulations of an art school student Joey, who attempts to reconcile herself with a new existence in San Francisco. She…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, academia, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, atmospheric, California, campus, Chelsea Martin, class, coming of age, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, ennui, female authors, films, friendships, GUILT, identity, introspective, jealousy, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, mumblecore, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, PRIVILEGE, published in 2022, read in 2022, restrained prose, san francisco, SISTERS, Tell Me I'm an Artist, the female malaise, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsley
in The Dove in the Belly, it’s all about the 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 “A moment of happiness could feel almost like a wound.” The Dove in the Belly is a work of startling beauty that presents its readers with a piercing exploration of male intimacy and a mesmerizing study of queer desire that beautifully elaborates the many…
1970s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, atmospheric, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about books, break-ups, campus, DEATH, desire, drama, family, first love, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, friendships, gay, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, illness, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, jealousy, Jim Grimsley, journalism, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, love can be ugly, m/m, masculinity, melancholy, mothers & sons, My reviews, NEW ADULT, North Carolina, obsession, published in 2022, queer, re-reads, read in 2022, read in 2023, reading, ROMANCE, sex, SEXUALITY, Southern America, strong sense of place, The Dove in the Belly, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, youth -
The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper
“Yes, of course. It is always him they want to know about—the father, not the other mother.” The Other Mother is an affecting and nuanced multigenerational tale unearthing long-buried family histories. The author’s interrogation of motherhood challenges the heteronormative archetype of the nuclear family, as she focuses on the experiences, choices, and parenting of single-women…
1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, addiction, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, break-ups, campus, Contemporary, drama, f/f, family, FAMILY SAGA, fathers & daughters, female authors, FLORIDA, forgiveness, gay, grandfathers, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, identity, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, Longing, Miami, motherhood, mothers & sons, musicians, My reviews, New England, parenting, Providence, published in 2022, queer, Rachel M. Harper, read in 2022, reading, rhode island, siblings, The Other Mother, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unrequited love -
Either/Or by Elif Batuman
This sequel needs a sequel. “Was this the decisive moment of my life? It felt as if the gap that had dogged me all my days was knitting together before my eyes—so that, from this point on, my life would be as coherent and meaningful as my favorite books. At the same time, I had…
1990s, 1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, adulthood, America, American, arc, ART/CREATIVITY, autumn, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, cambridge (us), campus, coming of age, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, Either/Or, Elif Batuman, existentialism, favourite authors, female authors, first love, friendships, Harvard, identity, introspective, language, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, Massachusetts, mumblecore, My reviews, netgalley, nostalgic reads, philosophical, psychological, published in 2022, re-reads, read in 2022, reading, RUSSIA, sex, SEXUALITY, SLICE OF LIFE, spring, strong sense of place, Summer, the female malaise, The Idiot, toxic relationships, travel, Turkey, turkish american author, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unrequited love, WINTER, womanhood/femininity -
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 -
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. “One likes to think there’s something in it, that old platitude amor vincit omnia. But if I’ve 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 -
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
When you heard -miş, you knew that you had been invoked in your absence—not just you but your hypocrisy, cowardice, and lack of generosity. Every time I heard it, I felt caught out. Equal parts cerebral and droll, The Idiot relates the humdrum tribulations of a Turkish-American Harvard freshman. Set in the mid-nineties The Idiot…
1990s, 1st pov, 3.75 stars, academia, Adult, adulthood, ALIENATION, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, cambridge (us), campus, contemporary malaise, Elif Batuman, ennui, existentialism, female authors, first love, Harvard, HISTORICAL FICTION, hungary, introspective, language, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, Massachusetts, mumblecore, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, nostalgic reads, philosophical, PUBLISHED IN 2017, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, she is not feeling good at all, SLICE OF LIFE, teachers, the female malaise, The Idiot, travel, Turkey, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unrequited love, womanhood/femininity -
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
“I used to believe the house was haunted. Really, it was the other way around; the house haunted me.” 3 re-read: I once again loved this. The novel’s gothic ambience is truly hypnotic and Thomas really manages to suffuse Ines’ experiences at Catherine House with a dreamlike quality. There is a vagueness, a haze, one…
1990s, 1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, campus, Catherine House, cliques, cold tone, Contemporary, creepy setting, dark, dark academia, dreamlike quality, Elisabeth Thomas, existentialism, FANTASY, female authors, feverish, gay side characters, GOTHIC, GRIEF, GUILT, haunted house, hauntings, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, loneliness, Longing, modern gothic, morality, My reviews, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, no plot just vibes, obsession, otherness, Pennsylvania, published in 2020, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, secretiveness, strong sense of place, surreal, terrific prose, the female malaise, trauma
luce [is reading] 