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The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
“I think a lot of people would elect to be dead if they didnt have to die.” By turns, blunt and meandering The Passenger presents its readers with an unsparing tale permeated by existential angst. Cormac McCarthy’s prose is uncompromising: much of the narrative consists of dialogues: rambling conversations, mystifying backwards and forwards, sharp repartees, […]
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, addiction, ageing, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, atmospheric, bad love, bars & restaurants, Cormac McCarthy, dead girls, DEATH, desire, dialogue heavy, endless monologues, existentialism, experimental, feverish, FLORIDA, GRIEF, grit lit, GUILT, hallucinations, hauntings, history, i don’t think happiness is for me, Ibiza, Idaho, incest, introspective, ISLAND, Kafkaesque, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, Longing, Louisiana, madness, MEMORY, mental health, Mississippi, morality, MYSTERY, nature, New Orleans, no plot just vibes, no quotations marks, obsession, paranoia, philosophical, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, psychology, published in 2022, read in 2022, road trip, schizophrenia, science, scientists & co, sea, siblings, Southern America, spain, suicide, survival, terrific prose, The Passenger, tragedy, trans side characters, war, western -
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
“You have something of mine, I passed on something of me to you, and hopefully it isn’t cursed, I don’t know if I can leave you something that isn’t dirty, that isn’t dark, our share of night” Although I have previously quoted Lady Gaga’s iconic “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, […]
1980s, 1990s, 4 STARS, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, all of the trigger warnings, argentina, argentinian author, atmospheric, big books, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boyhood, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, creepy setting, cults, dark, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, graphic content, GRIEF, grotesque, growing up, GUILT, haunted house, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, illness, latin america, lgbtq+, loneliness, Mariana Enríquez, missing girls, missing persons, morality, occult, orphans, otherness, Our Share of Night, parallel universes, PARANORMAL, POWERS, published in 2019, queer, read in 2022, road trip, sexual assault/abuse/rape, strong sense of place, summer reads, SUPERNATURAL, toxic relationships, tragedy, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, unrequited love, violence -
Confidence by Rafael Frumkin
“It seems now like everything I’ve done in my life I’ve done because of love, a useless, gutting love that left me devoured from the inside.” Fans of books exploring white-collar crime and/or conmen & scammers should definitely give Rafael Frumkin’s sophomore novel Confidence a shot. There were aspects of the storyline that reminded me […]
1st pov, 3.25 stars, Adult, America, American dream, bad love, Confidence, Contemporary, CRIME, cults, disabilities, gay, heartbreak/breakups, jealousy, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, Longing, m/m, masculinity, morality, obsession, prison, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2023, queer, Rafael Frumkin, read in 2022, rich people, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, summer camps, toxic relationships, unrequited love, wellness culture, white-collar crime -
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets
We Had to Remove This Post is one of those books that leaves me thinking…well, not much beyond: this is a thing that exists It doesn’t happen all that much but now and again I read books that spectacularly fail to elicit any discernible feeling or emotion in me (beyond ‘meh’). This is ironic given […]
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, cold tone, Contemporary, dutch author, f/f, female authors, feverish, Hanna Bervoets, HORROR, jealousy, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, morality, Netherlands, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, office, paranoia, psychological, published in 2021, queer, read in 2022, sapphic, social issues, social media, subject over characters/story, technology, TRANSLATED FICTION, unreliable narrators, violence, We Had to Remove This Post, work culture -
Lakewood by Megan Giddings
“America is only routinely good to women, especially Black women, when it wants something from them.” Having recently read Megan Giddings’ intriguing sophomore novel, The Women Could Fly, I decided to revisit Lakewood, a book that I have picked up and put back down on and off since August 2020. Each reading attempt saw me […]
3 STARS, 3rd pov, abuse, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, creepy setting, doctors, female authors, feverish, graphic content, HORROR, illness, Lakewood, Megan Giddings, Michigan, morality, MYSTERY, near future/alternate reality, Poverty, psychological, published in 2020, RACE, read in 2022, reading, social issues, SPECULATIVE FICTION, subject over characters/story, surreal, SUSPENSE, violence -
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang
“Languages aren’t just made of words. They’re modes of looking at the world. They’re the keys to civilization. And that’s knowledge worth killing for.” Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution is an fierce indictment against colonialism. Within this superbly written slow-burner of a bildungsroman, R.F. Kuang presents her […]
1820s, 1830s, 19TH CENTURY, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, abuse, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, alternate history, anxiety-inducing reads, atmospheric, babel, Babel or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, belonging, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, China, chinese american author, class, cliques, colonialism, coming of age, cultural dissonance, dark academia, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, great storytelling, growing up, GUILT, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, identity, India, language, lgbtq+, LONDON, loneliness, Longing, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, muslim side characters, My reviews, MYSTERY, orphans, oxford, philosophical, politics, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2022, queer undercurrents, R.F. Kuang, RACE, read in 2022, reading, revenge, secret societies, secretiveness, ship, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, teachers, terrific prose, tragedy, travel, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, war -
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Cloud-Atlas-esque novels seem to be all the rage in 2022… “This place is precarious, that’s the only word for it. It’s the lightest sketch of civilizations, caught between the forest and the sea. He doesn’t belong here” This is my third novel by Mandel and once again I have rather conflicting thoughts and feelings about […]
1910s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, America, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, beautiful prose, belonging, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, canada, canadian author, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, Emily St. John Mandel, f/f side, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, interconnected stories, interesting structure, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, moon, morality, musicians, My reviews, pandemic, philosophical, published in 2022, queer side characters, read in 2022, reading, restrained prose, SCI-FI, Sea Of Tranquility, siblings, SPECULATIVE FICTION, time travel -
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
“I feel like giving up, lying down on this wall and closing my eyes and just doing nothing – not bothering to try to fit into the human world, not bothering to make friends and art, not bothering to source blood and feed myself.” Woman, Eating is a great example of a good concept being […]
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, adulthood, ALIENATION, arc, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, Claire Kohda, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dark, eating disorders, england, FANTASY, female authors, identity, illness, jealousy, LITERARY FICTION, LONDON, loneliness, midlife crisis, morality, mothers & daughters, My reviews, navel gazing, netgalley, obsession, PARANORMAL, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, sexual assault/abuse/rape, she is not feeling good at all, slow pacing, unrequited love, VAMPIRES, Woman Eating -
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
Pet is my second book by Akwaeke Emezi and while I did find it to be an engaging read it didn’t quite hit me the way as their The Death of Vivek Oji did. I had a similar experience when I read All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O’Donoghue’s foray into the MG/YA genre. I couldn’t […]
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The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You: Stories by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You: Stories is a humorous yet unsparing ode to New Orleans. In this polyphonic collection Maurice Carlos Ruffin presents his readers with an unforgettable portrayal of New Orleans, from its unique culture that separates it from other American cities to its people. These stories tap into contemporary issues […]
3 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, Contemporary, conversational style, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), f/f side, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, morality, My reviews, New Orleans, pandemic, published in 2021, RACE, read in 2021, reading, short stories, social issues, strong sense of place, The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You: Stories, trans side characters
luce [is reading] 