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Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye-Jin
“The expectations and ambitions, possibilities and hopes concerning my daughter – they still remain and torment me no matter how hard I work to get rid of them. To be rid of them, how skeletal and empty do I have to be? Despite its short length Concerning my Daughter is by no means a breeze…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, ageing, Concerning My Daughter, Contemporary, f/f, family, female authors, graphic content, GUILT, identity, intergenerational, Kim Hye-Jin, Korea, korean author, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, motherhood, mothers & daughters, PUBLISHED IN 2017, queer, read in 2022, sapphic, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, TRANSLATED FICTION, unnamed narrator -
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Perhaps I should have not read Goodbye, Vitamin on the heels of finishing Chemistry by Weike Wang, maybe then I would have found Khong’s novel to be more witty and original than I actually did. The scenario too brought to mind another novel I read fairly recently, The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, which also centres on…
1st pov, 3 STARS, academia, Adult, Alzheimer, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, break-ups, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, ennui, family, fathers & daughters, female authors, forgiveness, Goodbye Vitamin, HUMOR, illness, loneliness, MEMORY, mental health, millennial, My reviews, PUBLISHED IN 2017, quirky reads, Rachel Khong, read in 2021, reading, teachers -
Chemistry by Weike Wang
“Chemistry, while powerful, is sometimes unpredictable.” Chemistry makes for a quick yet compelling read. While the narrative tries a bit too hard to be quirky, I did find certain scenes and or sections to be fairly amusing. Chemistry implements those ‘in’ literary devices such as an unnamed narrator and a lack of speech marks that…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, asian american, break-ups, Chemistry, chinese american author, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, dark humor, ennui, family, female authors, identity, intergenerational, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, mental health, mumblecore, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, science, scientists & co, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, weike wang -
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa
The Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles makes for a quick and wholesome read that will definitely appeal to bibliophiles. Like other fantasy coming-of-age tales, this novel features a talking animal who enlists our human protagonists in an adventure and acts as a guide of sorts into the magical world. Rintaro Natsuki, our protagonist, is…
3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, adventure, Booklr, books about books, cats, Contemporary, GRIEF, HIGH SCHOOL, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, orphans, philosophical, PUBLISHED IN 2017, quests, read in 2021, Sōsuke Natsukawa, talking animals, The Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles, TRANSLATED FICTION -
Faithful by Alice Hoffman
“You rescue something and you’re responsible for it. But maybe that’s what love is. Maybe it’s like a hit-and-run accident; it smashes you before you can think. You do it no matter the cost and you keep on running” While not without its flaws, Faithful is a gem of a book. Alice Hoffman has crafted a heartfelt…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, animals, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, cheating, cold tone, coming of age, Contemporary, ennui, fairytalesque prose, faithful, favourite authors, female authors, forgiveness, found family, friendships, great storytelling, GUILT, heartbreak/breakups, introspective, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Long Island, MAGICAL REALISM, mental health, My reviews, NEW YORK, PUBLISHED IN 2017, re-reads, read in 2017, read in 2021, reading, restrained prose, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SLICE OF LIFE, toxic relationships, trauma -
A Separation by Katie Kitamura
Given its abysmal overall rating, it should not come as a surprise that A Separation is not the type of novel that will/to have a large appeal. While it bears many of the same elements and stylistic qualities as Intimacies, Katie Kitamura’s latest novel which I happen not to like, here, well, they kind of…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, Adult, affairs, ambiguous protagonist, atmospheric, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, cold tone, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, divorce/separations, female authors, Greece, GRIEF, introspective, japanese american author, language, LITERARY FICTION, Longing, MARRIAGE, Mediterranean, missing men, missing persons, MYSTERY, navel gazing, no quotations marks, psychological, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, restrained prose, slow pacing, SUSPENSE, travel, unnamed narrator -
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
“My American adolescence was filled with tales of woe like this, all of them proof of what my mother said, that we did not belong here. In a country where possessions counted for everything, we had no belongings except our stories.” The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen is a collection of short stories centring on…
1970s, 3 STARS, Adult, America, American, American dream, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, Contemporary, conversational style, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), family, gay side characters, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, intergenerational, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, m/m side, male authors, migration/immigration, My reviews, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, reading, short stories, social issues, The Refugees, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Vietnam, vietnam war, Vietnamese American Author -
The Summer of You by Nagisa Furuya
“to me…you will always be part of my summer.” The Summer of You will definitely appeal to fans of shounen-ai like Seven Says. I, however, found it rather generic and clichéd.As the title itself suggests The Summer of You is very much a light summer romance. The manga follows Chiharu and Wataru, two boys who…
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Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
“People were like that, though. Basically good until they thought they could get away with shit without being caught.” A one-sentence summary for Son of a Trickster could go something like this: slacker boy spends his days getting drunk, high, and/or puking. “The world is hard, his mom liked to say. You have to be…
2010s, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, abuse, addiction, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, british columbia, canada, canadian author, Contemporary, Eden Robinson, family, FANTASY, female authors, haisla author, HIGH SCHOOL, indigenous, indigenous author, Kitimat, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, mothers & sons, My reviews, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, Poverty, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, reading, toxic relationships, trickster #1, URBAN FANTASY -
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
When you heard -miş, you knew that you had been invoked in your absence—not just you but your hypocrisy, cowardice, and lack of generosity. Every time I heard it, I felt caught out. Equal parts cerebral and droll, The Idiot relates the humdrum tribulations of a Turkish-American Harvard freshman. Set in the mid-nineties The Idiot…
1990s, 1st pov, 3.75 stars, academia, Adult, adulthood, ALIENATION, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, cambridge (us), campus, contemporary malaise, Elif Batuman, ennui, existentialism, female authors, first love, Harvard, HISTORICAL FICTION, hungary, introspective, language, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, Massachusetts, mumblecore, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, nostalgic reads, philosophical, PUBLISHED IN 2017, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, she is not feeling good at all, SLICE OF LIFE, teachers, the female malaise, The Idiot, travel, Turkey, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unrequited love, womanhood/femininity
luce [is reading] 