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The Human Zoo by Sabina Murray
Written with compelling self-assurance The Human Zoo focuses on Ting, a Filipino-American journalist in her late forties whose marriage is close to collapse. Ting decides to go to Manila, where she seeks refuge in her Tita Rosa’s house, who still dotes on her like she was a child. Ting’s motivations for this journey are ambiguous,…
1st pov, 4 STARS, Adult, affairs, ambivalent mood, atmospheric, books about writers, class, colonialism, Contemporary, DEATH, divorce/separations, female authors, filipino american author, gay side characters, history, identity, introspective, journalism, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, navel gazing, philippines, place as character, politics, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2022, queer side characters, re-reads, read in 2022, read in 2023, rich people, Sabina Murray, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, strong sense of place, The Human Zoo, trans side characters -
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
That was what Lethe and the societies demanded. Secrecy. Loyalty. Well, fuck them. In Hell Bent, the long-awaited sequel to the high-octane Ninth House, we are reunited with the danger-prone and dangerous Alex Stern. Still recovering from her several near-death experiences, and attempting to keep up with her coursework and maintain the facade of being…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, adventure, alex stern, alex stern #2, ambiguous protagonist, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, autumn, California, campus, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dark fantasy, DEATH, DEMONS, FANTASY, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, ghosts/spirits, gritty aesthetics, hell, Hell Bent, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, it’s about the *yearning*, Leigh Bardugo, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, New Haven, Ninth House, occult, PARANORMAL, place as character, PRIVILEGE, published in 2023, quests, read in 2023, rich people, secret societies, secretiveness, she is dangerous, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, VAMPIRES, violence, Yale -
Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana
In this wonderfully polyphonic collection of short stories, Sidik Fofana explores the everyday realities and struggles experienced by the Black residents of a high-rise in Harlem. The unrelenting push of gentrification and the looming threat of eviction sees this cast of characters struggling to keep up with their rents and to stay afloat. As they…
3.5 STARS, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, class, collection of short stories, Contemporary, conversational style, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), gay side characters, gritty realism, Harlem, interconnected stories, lgbtq+ side, male authors, morality, NEW YORK, no quotations marks, place as character, Poverty, PRIVILEGE, published in 2022, RACE, read in 2023, short stories, Sidik Fofana, social issues, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, strong sense of place, survival, work culture -
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
The first two chapters of The Swimmers, ‘The Underground Pool’ and ‘The Crack’ are highly reminiscent of the author’s acclaimed The Buddha in the Attic. Like that novel The Swimmers at first seems to implement a playful choral ‘we’ as our perspective. The ‘we’ in question are the people who regularly swim at a local…
3 STARS, Adult, ageing, Alzheimer, America, asian american, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, Contemporary, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, gay side characters, greek chorus, GRIEF, HUMOR, interconnected stories, japanese american author, lgbtq+ side, MEMORY, mothers & daughters, My reviews, place as character, playful style, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, satire, self-inserts, sports, subject over characters/story, The Swimmers -
All the Water I’ve Seen Is Running by Elias Rodriques
Written in an exceedingly lyrical prose All the Water I’ve Seen Is Running is a subtle and ultimately moving debut novel about friendship, grief, and reconciliation. While All the Water I’ve Seen Is Running will not necessarily appeal to those who are looking for a story-driven read, if you are looking for a quiet yet…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, All the Water I've Seen Is Running, America, American, arc, atmospheric, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, boyhood, class, coming of age, Contemporary, Elias Rodriques, FLORIDA, friendships, gay, GRIEF, HIGH SCHOOL, introspective, jamaican american author, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, lyrical prose, male authors, MEMORY, My reviews, netgalley, NEW YORK, place as character, queer, RACE, reading, Southern America, strong sense of place -
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
“Names have power. This is the fundamental principle of magic everywhere. Call out the name of a supernatural being, and you will have its instant and undivided attention in the same way that your lost toddler will have yours the second it calls your name.” First published in 2000 Monkey Beach is a deeply evocative…
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 1st pov, 4 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, addiction, affairs, bildungsroman, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, british columbia, canada, canadian author, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, DEATH, Eden Robinson, family, female authors, ghosts/spirits, girlhood, GRIEF, growing up, haisla, haisla author, identity, indigenous, indigenous author, introspective, MAGICAL REALISM, MEMORY, monkey beach, My reviews, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, place as character, published in 2000, rape, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, rural setting, sea, sexual assault/abuse/rape, siblings, social issues, YOUNG ADULT -
A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika Tomar
“How do you explain the unique physiology of girlhood friendships, the telepathy formed fast and fierce between hometown strangers?” In A Prayer for Travelers Ruchika Tomar disrupts the traditional coming-of-age story by rearranging the chronological order of her narrative, so that the novel’s opening chapter is actually chapter number 31. The non-chronological chapter order takes…
1st pov, A PRAYER FOR TRAVELERS, abuse, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, coming of age, female authors, female friendships, friendships, girlhood, growing up, interesting structure, LITERARY FICTION, missing girls, missing persons, MYSTERY, nevada, non-linear narrative, orphans, place as character, psychological, published in 2019, rape, read in 2021, RUCHIKA TOMAR, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SMALL TOWN, small town crime, Summer, summer reads, THRILLER, violence -
Blood Grove by Walter Mosley
“Life is one long side street with about a million crossroads, Sorry used to tell me when I was a boy. Every hour, sometimes every minute, you got to make the choice which way to go. Some of them turns don’t matter but don’t let that fool ya. The minute you start to think that…
1960s, 1st pov, 20th century, 4 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, CRIME, DETECTIVE, HARD-BOILED, HISTORICAL FICTION, los angeles, male authors, MYSTERY, Noir, place as character, private investigator, prostitution, published in 2021, read in 2021, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, terrific prose, THRILLER, war related ptsd -
A Crooked Tree by Una Mannion
“That summer when I so desperately tried to reel us all in, I didn’t understand the forces spinning us apart.” The opening of A Crooked Tree is certainly chilling. Libby, our fifteen-year old narrator, is in the car with her siblings. When their squabbling gets too much their mother dumps twelve-year old Ellen on the…
1980s, 1st pov, 20th century, 3.25 stars, A Crooked Tree, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, CHILDHOOD, class, coming of age, creepy setting, family, female authors, friendships, girlhood, growing up, GUILT, kidnapping, MYSTERY, netgalley, nostalgic reads, Pennsylvania, place as character, Poverty, psychological, published in 2021, read in 2021, rural setting, siblings, SISTERS, Summer, SUSPENSE, Una Mannion, YOUNG ADULT -
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
“Sleep felt productive. Something was getting sorted out. I knew in my heart—this was, perhaps, the only thing my heart knew back then—that when I’d slept enough, I’d be okay. I’d be renewed, reborn. I would be a whole new person, every one of my cells regenerated enough times that the old cells were just…
1st pov, 2000s, 4.5 STARS, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, ART/CREATIVITY, bad love, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dark humor, DEPRESSION, eating disorders, ennui, existentialism, female authors, graphic content, identity, illness, introspective, LITERARY FICTION, mental health, millennial, mothers & daughters, mumblecore, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, NEW YORK, Ottessa Moshfegh, place as character, psychological, published in 2018, read in 2021, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, toxic relationships, unnamed narrator
luce [is reading] 