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The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
“I think a lot of people would elect to be dead if they didnt have to die.” By turns, blunt and meandering The Passenger presents its readers with an unsparing tale permeated by existential angst. Cormac McCarthy’s prose is uncompromising: much of the narrative consists of dialogues: rambling conversations, mystifying backwards and forwards, sharp repartees,…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, addiction, ageing, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, atmospheric, bad love, bars & restaurants, Cormac McCarthy, dead girls, DEATH, desire, dialogue heavy, endless monologues, existentialism, experimental, feverish, FLORIDA, GRIEF, grit lit, GUILT, hallucinations, hauntings, history, i don’t think happiness is for me, Ibiza, Idaho, incest, introspective, ISLAND, Kafkaesque, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, Longing, Louisiana, madness, MEMORY, mental health, Mississippi, morality, MYSTERY, nature, New Orleans, no plot just vibes, no quotations marks, obsession, paranoia, philosophical, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, psychology, published in 2022, read in 2022, road trip, schizophrenia, science, scientists & co, sea, siblings, Southern America, spain, suicide, survival, terrific prose, The Passenger, tragedy, trans side characters, war, western -
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 -
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler
In Bloodchild and Other Stories Octavia Butler demonstrates how fluid Afrofuturism is. In these stories, Butler combines different genres—such as speculative fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, horror—presenting her readers with thought-provoking stories that challenge Western influences and beliefs. Within these stories, Butler is able to simultaneously reclaim the past and to promote visions of possible futures. This…
1990s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, afrofuturism, ALIENS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, apocalyptic, Black & Black heritage authors, Bloodchild and Other Stories, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, ESSAYS, FANTASY, female authors, HORROR, illness, My reviews, OCTAVIA E. BUTLER, published in 1995, RACE, read in 2021, science, short stories, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SPECULATIVE FICTION, violence -
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
“The deep sea is a haunted house: a place in which things that ought not to exist move about in the darkness.” The cover, title, premise, and early hype around this novel made me think that I was going to love it. Alas, as it often seems to be the case, Our Wives Under The…
1st pov, Adult, ambiguous protagonist, arc, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, cold tone, Contemporary, england, f/f, female authors, GRIEF, illness, introspective, Julia Armfield, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, MARRIAGE, MEMORY, mental health, My reviews, netgalley, Our Wives Under The Sea, psychological, purply prose, queer, reading, sapphic, science, scientists & co, sea, style over character, stylised prose, subject over characters/story, surreal -
Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge
Strange Beasts of China certainly delivers on the ‘strange’ suggested by its very title and premise. This novel consists of 9 interconnected chapters, each one presenting us with a self-contained story about a certain type of ‘beast’. Strange Beasts of China reads like a contemporary and unique bestiary in which, through the eyes of our…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, China, chinese author, DEATH, FANTASY, female authors, interconnected stories, LITERARY FICTION, MAGICAL REALISM, monsters, My reviews, philosophical, published in 2006, read in 2021, reading, science, SPECULATIVE FICTION, Strange Beasts of China, suicide, TRANSLATED FICTION, unnamed narrator, Yan Ge -
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
“There was no one clear point of loss. It happened over and over again in a thousand small ways and the only truth there was to learn was that there was no getting used to.” Boasting her signature writing style State of Wonder is a captivating and thought-provoking read. Ann Patchett’s quiet yet graceful prose…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, age gap, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANN PATCHETT, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brazil, doctors, Dreams, favourite authors, female authors, GRIEF, identity, latin america, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MAGICAL REALISM, minnesota, morality, motherhood, My reviews, nature, published in 2011, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2021, reading, restrained prose, science, scientists & co, State of Wonder, summer reads, travel -
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
This was me during the majority of this novel: Packed with science and humor Project Hail Mary makes for a thoroughly entertaining high-stakes interstellar adventure. I’ve never read anything by this author nor have I watched the film adaptation of The Martian…the reason why is because I thought I would find them boring (yeah yeah,…
1st pov, 4 STARS, Adult, ALIENS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Andy Weir, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, friendships, HUMOR, language, male authors, MEMORY, MYSTERY, Project Hail Mary, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, SCI-FI, science, scientists & co, SPACE, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, teachers, uplifting reads -
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
The cover for this book is goals…its contents not so much. I found this novel to be an odd melange of confusing and simple. The characters came across as flat (little more than names on a page), the world-building, although at first promising, ultimately struck me as patchy, and the storyline and…
American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, confusing for the sake of being confusing, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, environmental, female authors, identity, insta love, ISLAND, Joan He, MEMORY, My reviews, netgalley, plot over character, published in 2021, read in 2021, ROMANCE, SCI-FI, science, scientists & co, sea, SISTERS, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The ones we're meant to find -
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Schwab’s aesthetics dominate this novel. There is a focus on how words and phrases sound, which does pay off, in fact, Schwab’s prose is one of the most likeable things of this novel. At times certain turn of phrases or repetitions may come across as pretentious or flowery but I think that for the most…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, academia, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, campus, dark, dark academia, DEATH, existentialism, FANTASY, female authors, friendships, great storytelling, it’s about the *aesthetics*, KIDS WITH POWERS, MAGIC, male friendships, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, published in 2013, read in 2018, science, SPECULATIVE FICTION, superheroes, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, V.E. Schwab, Vicious, YOUNG ADULT -
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
“That was the thing that was at the heart of my reluctance and my resentment. Some people make it out of their stories unscathed, thriving. Some people don’t.” In an eloquent and precise prose Yaa Gyasi interrogates a young woman’s relationship to her family, her faith, her past, and her self. Her brother’s addiction and…
1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, alabama, America, American, beautiful prose, Black & Black heritage authors, CHILDHOOD, Christianity, Contemporary, DEPRESSION, female authors, Ghana, Ghanian American author, growing up, identity, illness, introspective, labs, LITERARY FICTION, Longing, MEMORY, mental health, mothers & daughters, published in 2020, RACE, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2022, Religion, science, scientists & co, siblings, social issues, Transcendent Kingdom, trauma, Yaa Gyasi
luce [is reading] 