![luce [is reading]](https://wishfullyreading.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/9429655-1.jpeg){kind=small}
-
Nothing Can Hurt You Now by Simone Campos
A banger of a premise is let-down by sensationalistic storytelling, a banal plot, and a writing style that for all its attempts to be gritty & edgy comes across as laughable. Worst still, the narrative seems under the impression that it is doing a lot, in terms of unconventional female characters and challenging simplistic representations…
2 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, amateur detective, brazil, brazilian author, Contemporary, f/f, female authors, graphic content, kidnapping, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, men who are sleazy, missing girls, missing persons, models, MYSTERY, Neurodiversity, Not Like Other Girls, Nothing Can Hurt You Now, prostitution, published in 2019, queer, read in 2022, sapphic, sex, sex scenes that are yikes, Simone Campos, SISTERS, smut, style over character, survival, SUSPENSE, THRILLER, TRANSLATED FICTION, trying and failing @ feminism, wannabe gone girl -
Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang
Studying so much had its consequences. It caused me to wonder, for instance, if I might be a genius. Bursting with wry humor and insight Joan Is Okay makes for a quick and quirky read about a woman who doesn’t want to change to fit in with society’s standards. In spite of what the people…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, Adult, America, American, American dream, asian american, China, chinese american author, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, doctors, family, female authors, GRIEF, HOSPITAL, HUMOR, intergenerational, introspective, Joan Is Okay, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, medical, mental health, migration/immigration, Neurodiversity, NEW YORK, pandemic, published in 2022, quirky reads, read in 2022, sardonic humor, siblings, SLICE OF LIFE, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, weike wang, work culture -
The Maid by Nita Prose
edit: after some reflection i have decided to lower my rating as i am frustrated by the way autistic-coded Nina is presented as so exaggeratedly ‘quirky’ & ‘naive’, someone who we will inevitably find ‘endearing’ The Maid could have been a solid escapist read. This is less of a cozy whodunnit than a ‘trying hard too hard…
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, arc, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, bullying, canadian author, Contemporary, cozy mystery, CRIME, female authors, friendships, grandmothers, hotel, HUMOR, light reads, loneliness, maids, MURDER, My reviews, MYSTERY, netgalley, Neurodiversity, Nita Prose, read in 2022, reading, SUSPENSE, The Maid, unnamed country, whodunnit, work culture -
Life Ceremony: Stories by Sayaka Murata
This collection was both disappointing and unnecessarily disgusting. Not a great start to my reading year… “What could be more normal than making people into clothes or furniture after they die?” A lot of things… As Life Ceremony happened to be one of my most anticipated 2022 releases, I was very happy to learn that…
2 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, arc, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, cannibalism, Contemporary, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), favourite authors, female authors, feverish, gay side characters, graphic content, grotesque, HORROR, illness, japan, lgbtq+ side, Life Ceremony, Life Ceremony: Stories, My reviews, netgalley, Neurodiversity, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, Sayaka Murata, sex, SPECULATIVE FICTION, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird, what ifs -
How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole
“A princess and her lady knight—the kind of fairy tale she’d always wanted, if she had to be a princess.” Perhaps I hyped myself so much so that disappointment was inevitable. How to Find a Princess was one of my most anticipated 2021 releases and I can’t say that I loved it. It had its…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, Alyssa Cole, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, drama, f/f, female authors, How To Find A Princess, HUMOR, ISLAND, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, light reads, My reviews, Neurodiversity, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, RETELLINGS, road trip, rom-coms, ROMANCE, royals, sea, ship -
Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Little
“Action, cut, action, cut, action, cut, action, cut. These aren’t commands, not for me. They’re more like everyday punctuation. A capital letter. A period. An indication that I should pay attention to what’s going on in the middle.” Pretty as a Picture tells a slow-burn type of suspenseful story, one that I would definitely recommend…
-
Almond by Won-pyung Sohn
Written in a simple and crisp prose Almond is a slim novel that is primarily concerned with empathy and human connection. Yunjae, the narrator of this story, was born with underdeveloped amygdalae, which are two-almond shaped nuclei that process our emotional responses (prior this book I had no idea of what they were…). Because of…
-
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata — book review
“The normal world has no room for exceptions and always quietly eliminates foreign objects. Anyone who is lacking is disposed of.” Having read Convenience Store Woman 4 times in 2 years it is safe to say that I find it to be a really ingenious work. Convenience Store Woman‘s slender size, its genial yet absurd…
1st pov, 4 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, BOOK REVIEW, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, Convenience Store Woman, dark humor, female authors, feminism, HUMOR, identity, introspective, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, mental health, Neurodiversity, otherness, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, read in 2022, Sayaka Murata, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, surreal, the female malaise, tokyo, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird, womanhood/femininity, work culture -
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan — book review
“I felt I had hitherto woefully misdirected my energies in attempting to cultivate a personality. If you didn’t have one then that left more room for everyone else’s.” With so many professional reviewers hailing Exciting Times as one of the best debut novels of 2020, praising Naoise Dolan for her wit and her razor-sharp social…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, cheating, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, Dublin, Exciting Times, existentialism, f/f, female authors, hong kong, Hyped new releases, introspective, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, millennial, mumblecore, Naoise Dolan, navel gazing, Neurodiversity, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, reading, REVIEWS, ROMANCE, sapphic, teachers -
The King of Crows by Libba Bray — book review
I hate to say it, or write it, but The King of Crows wasn’t a very satisfying conclusion to The Diviners series. “Who got to decide what made somebody an American? America, the ideal of it at least, was its own form of elusive magic.” While it isn’t as drawn-out as the finale to the…
1920s, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, ace, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, big books, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Dreams, f/f side, FANTASY, favourite authors, found family, friendships, gay, ghosts, ghosts/spirits, KIDS WITH POWERS, lgbtq+, LIBBA BRAY, m/m side, MAGIC, Nebraska, netgalley, Neurodiversity, NEW YORK, occult, PARANORMAL, POWERS, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, road trip, spiritualism, SUPERNATURAL, tarots, THE DIVINERS, THE DIVINERS SERIES, The King of Crows, travel, YOUNG ADULT
luce [is reading] 