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To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined. If you’ve read my review for A Little Life you know how much that novel means to me. Just looking at my hardback copy makes me feel all sorts of intense feelings. So, naturally, my expectations were high for To Paradise. At first, the Cloud Atlas-esque…
1890s, 1990s, 19TH CENTURY, 3 STARS, Adult, age gap, alternate history, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arc, beautiful prose, big books, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, cheating, chronic pain, class, cultural dissonance, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, f/f side, family, fathers & sons, favourite authors, female authors, gay, hawaii, illness, interconnected stories, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, Longing, m/m, MARRIAGE, mental health, My reviews, netgalley, pandemic, PRIVILEGE, published in 2022, queer, read in 2021, reading, social issues, SPECULATIVE FICTION, style over character, to paradise -
Skim by Mariko Tamaki
Who knew that I would come across something that would make me feel nostalgia for the mid-2000s? Skim is a compelling coming-of-age story that is bound to make you feel nostalgic for the mid-2000s (even if you, like me, didn’t strictly ‘come of age’ in that time). Skim captures the angst, confusion, heartache, and loneliness…
1990s, 4 STARS, age gap, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, canada, coming of age, DEPRESSION, f/f, female artist, female authors, female friendships, first love, friendships, Graphic Novels, HIGH SCHOOL, identity, japanese canadian author, Jillian Tamaki, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, loneliness, Mariko Tamaki, mental health, My reviews, nostalgic reads, occult, queer, re-reads, read in 2022, reading, sapphic, seances, Sequential Art, SEXUALITY, Skim, suicide, tarots, Toronto, unrequited love, YOUNG ADULT -
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
“The deep sea is a haunted house: a place in which things that ought not to exist move about in the darkness.” The cover, title, premise, and early hype around this novel made me think that I was going to love it. Alas, as it often seems to be the case, Our Wives Under The…
1st pov, Adult, ambiguous protagonist, arc, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, cold tone, Contemporary, england, f/f, female authors, GRIEF, illness, introspective, Julia Armfield, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, MARRIAGE, MEMORY, mental health, My reviews, netgalley, Our Wives Under The Sea, psychological, purply prose, queer, reading, sapphic, science, scientists & co, sea, style over character, stylised prose, subject over characters/story, surreal -
Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket: Stories by Hilma Wolitzer
Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket is a fairly amusing collection of short stories. While many of the stories were written and initially published during the 1960s and 1970s, Hilma Wolitzer’s style and humour struck me as modern. The issues she touches up also felt surprisingly relevant. The stories read like vignettes and…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arc, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, Hilma Wolitzer, HISTORICAL FICTION, HUMOR, interconnected stories, MARRIAGE, mental health, motherhood, My reviews, netgalley, pandemic, pregnancy, published in 2021, reading, short stories, SLICE OF LIFE, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket -
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
“‘How do you feel?’ ‘All right.’ But I didn’t. I felt terrible.” I feel incredibly conflicted over Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. On the one hand, I found it to be an ingenious and striking read, one that immortalizes in exacting detail a young woman’s slow descent into psychosis and offers a piercing commentary on…
1950s, 1st pov, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, ASYLUM, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, BOSTON, CLASSICS, DEPRESSION, doctors, ennui, female authors, feminism, feverish, HISTORICAL FICTION, HOSPITAL, introspective, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Massachusetts, MEMORY, mental health, modern classics, NEW YORK, paranoia, problematic, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, published in 1963, read in 2021, reading, self-destructive, self-harming, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, suicide, sylvia plath, terrific prose, The Bell Jar, unreliable narrators -
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
While I appreciated the subject matter (no matter how infuriating & depressing), I could not get into the robotic style. This book opens with Kim Jiyoune, a housewife and stay-at-home mother, acting in an increasingly concerning manner. Depressive episodes give way to ‘bizarre’ instances in which she emulates the behaviour of other women. Her concerned…
1980s, 1990s, 2.5 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, Adult, ALIENATION, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Cho Nam-Joo, cold tone, Contemporary, DEPRESSION, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, feminism, Korea, Korean, korean author, MARRIAGE, mental health, millennial, motherhood, My reviews, pregnancy, published in 2016, read in 2021, reading, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, subject over characters/story, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, work culture -
Edge Case by YZ Chin
“[I]f I could make Americans laugh, then I would be accepted. I would be embraced and admired.” Realistic, subtly off-beat, and keenly observed, Edge Case couples an indictment of the rampant misogyny that permeates the tech industry with an unsparing depiction of the everyday inequities and hurdles immigrants face in their pursuit of green cards…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, eating disorders, Edge Case, female authors, introspective, language, LITERARY FICTION, Malaysia, Malaysian author, MARRIAGE, mental health, migration/immigration, missing men, missing persons, mothers & daughters, My reviews, NEW YORK, office, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, trauma, work culture, YZ Chin -
Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Vol. 1 by Yuhki Kamatani
Ever since reading Nabari No Ou back in the early 2010s I have been a huge fan of Yuhki Kamatani. To call Nabari No Ou my favourite series ever doesn’t convey just how much it means to me. Our Dreams at Dusk boasts Kamatani’s beautiful artwork and storytelling. Once again Kamatani provides some wonderful platonic…
4 STARS, bullying, coming of age, f/f side, favourite authors, first love, found family, friendships, gay, gender identity, HIGH SCHOOL, identity, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, MAGICAL REALISM, manga, mental health, My reviews, Our Dreams at Dusk, queer, re-reads, READ IN 2019, read in 2021, reading, SEXUALITY, Shimanami Tasogare, SLICE OF LIFE, trans side characters -
I’ll Be Right There by Shin Kyung-sook
“Is this life? Is this why the relentless passing of time is both regretful and fortunate?” I feel rather conflicted about I’ll Be Right There. The first two chapters certainly held my attention and some of the discussions that occur later in the narrative were thought-provoking, but, alas, many of the dialogues came across as…
1980s, 3 STARS, academia, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, DEATH, drama, eating disorders, female authors, friendships, GRIEF, HISTORICAL FICTION, I'll Be Right There, Korea, Korean, korean author, loneliness, MELODRAMA, MEMORY, mental health, My reviews, published in 2010, read in 2021, reading, Seoul, Shin Kyung-Sook, suicide, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
“I don’t write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don’t, everything feels even worse.” In Writers & Lovers, Lily King portrays an intimate and profoundly heartfelt slice of life that brims with wry humor and precise observations on grief, loneliness, identity, and creativity. This is truly a gem…
1990s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, age gap, America, American, anxiety, bars & restaurants, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, BOSTON, DEATH, ennui, female authors, gay side characters, GRIEF, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+ side, Lily King, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, love triangle, Massachusetts, mental health, My reviews, psychological, published in 2020, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, ROMANCE, she is not feeling good at all, SLICE OF LIFE, Summer, summer reads, teachers, the female malaise, uplifting reads, work culture, Writers & Lovers