-
Soledad by Angie Cruz
“Could it be that that’s just the way things go between people? Irreconcilable differences, which can’t really be explained or solved.” What could have been a polyphonic tragicomedy exploring trauma, abusive and dysfunctional relationships, generational and cultural divides, sex, love, and desire, is let down by a cast of cartoonish characters, repetitive dialogues and interactions,…
1990s, 2000s, 20th century, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, adolescence, Adult, America, Angie Cruz, Contemporary, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Dominican American author, dominican republic, drama, Dreams, family, female authors, girlhood, grandmothers, illness, intergenerational, jealousy, latin america, latin american, latin american diaspora, latinx author, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, MAGICAL REALISM, MELODRAMA, men who are sleazy, migration/immigration, motherhood, mothers & daughters, navel gazing, NEW YORK, no quotations marks, published in 2001, read in 2023, sex, sex scenes that are yikes, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SEXUALITY, Soledad, style over character, trauma, trying and failing @ feminism, unrequited love, womanhood/femininity -
American Gods by Neil Gaiman — book review
“Gods die. And when they truly die they are unmourned and unremembered. Ideas are more difficult to kill than people, but they can be killed, in the end.” It isn’t surprising that American Gods is regarded as one of the genre-bending novels of all time. Over the course of 500 pages Neil Gaiman deftly blends…
2000s, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, adventure, affairs, afterlife, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, American Gods, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, British author, Chicago, Contemporary, DEATH, Dreams, FANTASY, fathers & sons, favourite authors, FOLKLORE, gay side characters, gods, great storytelling, heist, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, Illinois, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, minnesota, MYSTERY, myths, Neil Gaiman, PARANORMAL, prison, published in 2001, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2020, Religion, road trip, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SPECULATIVE FICTION, story within a story, Storytelling, SUPERNATURAL, tennessee, URBAN FANTASY, violence, Wisconsin, zombies & undead -
The World Unseen by Shamim Sarif – Book Review
The World Unseen by Shamim Sarif ★★★✰✰ 3 stars The World Unseen was not the love story I hoped it to be. While there were sections of this novel that well written, for the most part I found Shamim Sarif’s writing style rather monotonous. The story takes place in apartheid South Africa in the 1950s.…
1950s, 3 STARS, Adult, affairs, apartheid, British author, cultural dissonance, f/f, family, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, India, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, MARRIAGE, published in 2001, queer, RACE, READ IN 2019, REVIEW, ROMANCE, sapphic, Shamim Sarif, south africa, South African, The World Unseen -
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
I, on the other hand, still might not be considered a proper grown-up. I had been very much the adult when I was in elementary school. But as I continued on through junior high and high school, on the contrary, I became less grown-up. And then as the years passed, I turned into quite a…