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LaRose by Louise Erdrich
“They spoke in both languages. We love you, don’t cry. Sorrow eats time. Be patient. Time eats sorrow.” Unsparing yet profoundly touching LaRose chronicles the aftermath of a tragic accident: it’s 1999, when, on a reservation in North Dakota, Landreaux Iron, hunting for a deer near his property, accidentally shoots and kills Dusty, the 5-year-old…
1830s, 1990s, 19TH CENTURY, 2000s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 4.5 STARS, abuse, addiction, Adult, America, bullying, CHILDHOOD, Christianity, coming of age, Contemporary, DEATH, DEPRESSION, family, FAMILY SAGA, female authors, forgiveness, friendships, generational trauma, ghosts/spirits, great storytelling, GRIEF, gritty realism, growing up, GUILT, indigenous, indigenous author, intergenerational, LaRose, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Louise Erdrich, MAGICAL REALISM, MARRIAGE, mental health, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, nature, no quotations marks, north dakota, Ojibwe/Chippewa, Ojibwe/Chippewa author, polyphonic, published in 2016, read in 2022, Religion, reservations, revenge, school setting, sexual assault/abuse/rape, siblings, social issues, strong sense of place, suicide, toxic relationships, tragedy, trauma, unrequited love -
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 -
Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada
Having read Hiroko Oyamada’s The Hole and The Factory, I was intrigued by the premise of Weasels in the Attic, which has recently been translated into English. This book is divided into three self-contained episodes centred on the same character. Our narrator’s wife really wants to have children but he seems far less enthused by…
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Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli
“Grief is not neat. Pain is not dignified. Both are ugly, visceral things. They rip holes through you and burst forth when they see fit. They are constant, controlling companions, and if they don’t destroy you or your relationship with others, they certainly go a long way to damaging you […] There is nothing eloquent…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, Black & Black heritage authors, black diaspora, Contemporary, DEATH, DEPRESSION, england, evil stepmother, female authors, forgiveness, GRIEF, GUILT, MARRIAGE, MEMORY, mental health, nigerian british author, Onyi Nwabineli, photographers, pregnancy, published in 2022, read in 2022, Someday Maybe, suicide, widows -
Ghost Music by An Yu
“Solitude is tolerable, even enjoyable at times. But when you realise that you’ve given your life to someone, yet you know nothing but his name? That kind of solitude is loneliness. That’s what kills you.” Not having had the best experience with An Yu’s Braised Pork I was intrigued but wary of this second novel…
3.25 stars, Adult, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, An Yu, atmospheric, Beijing, China, chinese author, cold tone, Contemporary, divorce/separations, dreamlike quality, Dreams, female authors, feverish, Ghost Music, ghosts/spirits, hauntings, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, MAGICAL REALISM, MARRIAGE, melancholy, MEMORY, music, musicians, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, psychological, published in 2023, read in 2022, restrained prose, surreal, weird -
Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro
This is one of those cases where the blurb for novel spoils said novel. Rather than giving us a broad-stroke summary of the story, the blurb reveals almost every plotline in the story, so while I was actually reading the novel myself, and I kept expecting something ‘new’ to happen, well, I ended up feeling…
1980s, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, abortion/miscarriage/bodily autonomy, Adult, age gap, America, Black & Black heritage authors, class, Contemporary, Dele Weds Destiny, divorce/separations, drama, eating disorders, female authors, female friendships, friendships, MARRIAGE, mothers & daughters, Nigeria, nigerian american author, published in 2022, read in 2022, self-harming, Tomi Obaro, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, wedding drama -
Circa by Devi S. Laskar
Circa had the potential of being an immersive and compelling read. Sadly, the structure and length of the narrative do the story no favors, as the final product ultimately struck me as formulaic in a-MFA-program type of way. Sure, Devi S. Laskar quite effectively utilizes a 2nd pov, which is no easy feat. Beyond this…
1980s, 1990s, 20th century, 2nd pov, 3 STARS, Adult, America, cheating, Circa, cultural dissonance, DEATH, Devi S. Laskar, drama, family, female authors, first love, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, friendships, GRIEF, growing up, identity, indian american author, intergenerational, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, missing girls, missing persons, North Carolina, published in 2022, read in 2022, snapshots, style over character, stylised prose, will they won't they, youth -
Happy for You by Claire Stanford
The premise for Happy for You made me think that this would be something in the realms of titles such as Temporary, The Factory, and Severance, which present their readers with wry commentaries on the gig economy and the modern workplace, or, satires about social media, the tech industry, and wellness culture, such Followers and…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, asian american, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Claire Stanford, Contemporary, fathers & daughters, female authors, Happy for You, identity, loneliness, MARRIAGE, My reviews, pregnancy, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, satire, she is not feeling good at all, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, social media, SPECULATIVE FICTION, technology, the female malaise, work culture -
Quartet by Jean Rhys
“There she was and there she stayed. Gradually passivity replaced her early adventurousness. She learned, after long and painstaking effort, to talk like a chorus girl, to dress like a chorus girl and to think like a chorus girl – up to a point. Beyond that point she remained apart, lonely, frightened of her loneliness,…
1920s, 20th century, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, affairs, age gap, ALIENATION, atmospheric, bad love, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, british dominican author, caribbean author, class, cold tone, ennui, female authors, FRANCE, HISTORICAL FICTION, jealousy, Jean Rhys, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MARRIAGE, melancholy, My reviews, obsession, Paris, prison, psychological, published in 1928, quartet, read in 2022, reading, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, strong sense of place, the female malaise, toxic relationships -
Mad about You by Mhairi McFarlane
2022 is proving to be an underwhelming reading year. With the exception of Either/Or by Elif Batuman and re-reads, I have only dished out 3, 2 and even a few 1 star ratings. So, when I got an arc for Mad About You I was convinced that McFarlane would be the one to break this…
1st pov, 3 STARS, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, BOOK REVIEWS, British author, Contemporary, drama, england, favourite authors, female authors, gay side characters, HUMOR, lgbtq+ side, light reads, Mad About You, MARRIAGE, My reviews, orphans, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, ROMANCE, romcom, toxic relationships, wedding drama
luce [is reading] 