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A Carnivore’s Inquiry by Sabina Murray
“This is what exploration had opened up the door to. Not only widespread slaughter, but the necessary accompaniment of gorging.” Unapologetically solipsistic and deeply manipulative, Katherine, the central character of A Carnivore’s Inquiry, makes for an awful human being and a deeply entertaining narrator. A predecessor to Ottessa Moshfegh and Mona Awad’s protagonists, and many…
1st pov, 2000s, 4 STARS, A Carnivore's Inquiry, A Carnivore's Inquiry by Sabina Murray, Adult, affairs, age gap, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, ART/CREATIVITY, books about writers, cannibalism, cheating, class, cold tone, colonialism, Contemporary, dark, dark humor, desire, ennui, female authors, feverish, filipino american author, GOTHIC, history, HORROR, introspective, Italy, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, madness, maine, Mexico, modern gothic, MURDER, MYSTERY, navel gazing, NEW YORK, no plot just vibes, otherness, PRIVILEGE, psychological, Psychological thriller, psychopaths, published in 2004, read in 2023, rich people, road trip, Sabina Murray, satire, self-destructive, serial killers, she is dangerous, she is not feeling good at all, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the female malaise, travel, unreliable narrators, violence, womanhood/femininity -
Self-Portrait with Ghost: Short Stories by Meng Jin
Sly and surreal Self-Portrait with Ghost makes for a playfully weird and refreshingly inventive collection of short stories. Like most collections, not all of its stories are created equal, as there are a couple, especially the shorter ones last, that are rather forgettable. The most effective stories were the ones that, although characterized by a…
3.25 stars, Adult, ambivalent mood, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, asian american, asian diaspora, belonging, CHILDHOOD, chinese american author, collection of short stories, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, dark humor, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dreamlike quality, female authors, feverish, first love, ghosts/spirits, girlhood, HIGH SCHOOL, jealousy, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, MAGICAL REALISM, MARRIAGE, Meng Jin, migration/immigration, mothers & daughters, navel gazing, opera/choruses/classical music, playful style, published in 2022, queer, read in 2022, SEXUALITY, short stories, surreal, toxic relationships, unrequited love, weird, womanhood/femininity -
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
If you are boo-booing this book just because of its title…kindly fck off. It is intentionally provocative and I am here for it. To place ‘the mother’ figure on a pedestal is ultimately detrimental to mothers since by idealizing them we cease to see them as real flawed human beings. I’m Glad My Mom Died…
1st pov, 4 STARS, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, actors, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, biography, body dysmorphia, California, cancer, celebrities, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, Contemporary, dark humor, DEATH, DEPRESSION, eating disorders, female authors, film industry, gay side characters, GRIEF, growing up, I'm Glad My Mom Died, illness, Jennette McCurdy, lgbtq+ side, MEMOIR, mental health, mothers & daughters, Nonfiction, OCD, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, published in 2022, read in 2022, Religion, the female malaise, toxic relationships, trauma -
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
“Horror’s not a symptom, it’s a love affair.” My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a magnificently chaotic ode to slasher, one that demonstrates an unparalleled knowledge of the genre, its logic & tropes. I saw quite a lot of reviews describing this as a slow burner, and sì, in some ways Stephen Graham Jones withholds…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, addiction, adrenaline fuelled reads, Adult, ALIENATION, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, Blackfoot, blackfoot author, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, creepy setting, dark, dark humor, female friendships, films, friendships, gore, graphic content, HIGH SCHOOL, Idaho, incest, indigenous, indigenous author, loneliness, male authors, meta, MURDER, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, MYSTERY, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, obsession, playful style, Poverty, psychological, published in 2021, queer undercurrents, read in 2022, reading, revenge, sexual assault/abuse/rape, she is dangerous, slasher, Stephen Graham Jones, strong sense of place, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the female malaise, THRILLER, trauma, violence -
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 ‘irrefutable facts’. it has come to my attention that this author has a history of going on twitter to ‘bemoan’ 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 -
Chemistry by Weike Wang
“Chemistry, while powerful, is sometimes unpredictable.” Chemistry makes for a quick yet compelling read. While the narrative tries a bit too hard to be quirky, I did find certain scenes and or sections to be fairly amusing. Chemistry implements those ‘in’ literary devices such as an unnamed narrator and a lack of speech marks that…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, asian american, break-ups, Chemistry, chinese american author, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, dark humor, ennui, family, female authors, identity, intergenerational, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, mental health, mumblecore, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, science, scientists & co, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, weike wang -
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Compared to My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Eileen just ain’t it. “I was like Joan of Arc, or Hamlet, but born into the wrong life—the life of a nobody, a waif, invisible. There’s no better way to say it: I was not myself back then. I was someone else. I was Eileen.” Vile, vulgar,…
1960s, 1st pov, 20th century, 3 STARS, abuse, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, dark, dark humor, eileen, endless monologues, ennui, fathers & daughters, favourite authors, female authors, grotesque, HISTORICAL FICTION, introspective, kidnapping, LITERARY FICTION, Massachusetts, MURDER, navel gazing, obsession, Ottessa Moshfegh, prison, queer undercurrents, re-reads, toxic relationships, unreliable narrators, WINTER, winter reads, work culture -
Mona at Sea by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
heads up: in this review i will be discussing self-harm Described as being a ‘sharp’ and ‘witty’ debut Elizabeth Gonzalez James’s Mona At Sea is neither of those things. The novel tells yet another tale about an alienated millennial woman having a quarter midlife crisis. While Mona At Sea is far from terrible it is…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, 2000s, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arizona, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, dark humor, DEPRESSION, ennui, female authors, latinx author, loneliness, millennial, Mona At Sea, My reviews, navel gazing, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, self-harming, work culture -
Sunset by Jessie Cave
“When I next love someone, they will die suddenly, unfairly, quickly, oddly, suspiciously, horrifyingly, traumatically; they’ll die in the worst way that someone could, and I will have to stand by and watch, take a photo.” Funny, raw, heartbreaking, Sunset is an exceptional debut novel. Jessie Cave’s unsparing portrayal of grief in all of its…
1st pov, 4.5 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dark humor, DEATH, DEPRESSION, england, female authors, GRIEF, introspective, Italy, Jessie Cave, LITERARY FICTION, LONDON, loneliness, MEMORY, millennial, My reviews, netgalley, no quotations marks, published in 2021, read in 2021, SISTERS, Summer, summer reads, Sunset, trauma, travel, work culture -
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
As per usual I was swayed by a pretty cover. I mean, just look at it! Anyway, as much as I wanted to like Build Your House Around My Body, it left me feeling rather underwhelmed. The narrative seems very much intent—hellbent even—on nauseating its readers, at times adopting a playful tone to do so.…
1940s, 1980s, 2.5 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, 3rd pov, arc, Build Your House Around My Body, confusing for the sake of being confusing, creepy setting, curses, dark humor, DEATH, f/f side, female authors, FOLKLORE, ghosts/spirits, grotesque, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, interconnected stories, lgbtq+ side, loneliness, love triangle, missing persons, missing women, MYSTERY, netgalley, playful style, published in 2021, queer side characters, read in 2021, revenge, sexual assault/abuse/rape, Vietnam, vietnam war, Vietnamese American Author, Violet Kupersmith
luce [is reading] 