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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 -
The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsley
in The Dove in the Belly, it’s all about the 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 “A moment of happiness could feel almost like a wound.” The Dove in the Belly is a work of startling beauty that presents its readers with a piercing exploration of male intimacy and a mesmerizing study of queer desire that beautifully elaborates the many…
1970s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, atmospheric, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about books, break-ups, campus, DEATH, desire, drama, family, first love, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, friendships, gay, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, illness, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, jealousy, Jim Grimsley, journalism, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, love can be ugly, m/m, masculinity, melancholy, mothers & sons, My reviews, NEW ADULT, North Carolina, obsession, published in 2022, queer, re-reads, read in 2022, read in 2023, reading, ROMANCE, sex, SEXUALITY, Southern America, strong sense of place, The Dove in the Belly, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, youth -
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
“And none of that mattered. No matter how nice the suit, no matter how educated his speech or how strong the handshake, no matter how much muscle he packed on, no matter how friendly or how smart he was, none of it mattered at all. He was just a Black person. That’s all they saw…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Brendan Slocumb, class, Contemporary, drama, family, male authors, music, musicians, My reviews, MYSTERY, NEW YORK, North Carolina, Poverty, PRIVILEGE, published in 2022, RACE, read in 2022, reading, RUSSIA, serbia, social issues, SUSPENSE, The Violin Conspiracy, toxic relationships, travel -
What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
Riding the coattails of Little Fires Everywhere and The Vanishing Half, What’s Mine and Yours not only tells a blow-by-blow predictable tale but one that failed to entertain or elicit any feeling other than frustration in this particular reader. What’s Mine and Yours, ya basic. To call the writing in this novel ‘prose’ seems misleading…
1990s, 2 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, 3rd pov, abortion/miscarriage/bodily autonomy, affairs, America, American, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, cheating, class, Contemporary, Dominican American author, drama, f/f side, family, female authors, FRANCE, HIGH SCHOOL, HISTORICAL FICTION, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, MARRIAGE, MELODRAMA, motherhood, mothers & daughters, My reviews, Naima Coster, North Carolina, Paris, published in 2021, RACE, read in 2021, reading, SISTERS, social issues, weak prose, What's Mine and Yours -
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
The Hollow Places is a thoroughly entertaining novel that plays around with parallel worlds, portal fantasy and cosmic horror. When our narrator, Kara, moves back to her hometown (Hog Chapel, North Carolina) she is still reeling from her divorce. To avoid sharing a house with her mother she volunteers to work in her uncle’s peculiar…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, Adult, adventure, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Contemporary, FANTASY, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, HORROR, HUMOR, lgbtq+ side, MAGICAL DOORS, monsters, museums, North Carolina, parallel universes, PARANORMAL, portal fantasy, published in 2020, read in 2020, SPECULATIVE FICTION, SUSPENSE, T. Kingfisher, The Hollow Places, weird -
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales — book review
“It was late afternoon, on the very last Wednesday of August, when I realized Disney had been lying to me for quite some time about Happily Ever Afters.” Only Mostly Devastated tells a cute but extremely formulaic story that is as memorable as a teen coming-of-age movie (possibly of Netflix variety). I really wanted to…
luce [is reading] 