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The Arena of the Unwell by Liam Konemann
“At any given moment, I have no idea what’s true about any of us.” The Arena of the Unwell is a gritty and exhilarating exploration of loneliness and longing, obsession and jealousy, queerness and male intimacy. tw: self-harm & suicidal ideation Our narrator is Noah, a 22-year-old gay man who lives in London. He works…
1st pov, 4.25 stars, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, atmospheric, AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR, bad love, bi side characters, cheating, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, DEPRESSION, england, feverish, gay, gritty realism, grunge vibes, introspective, jealousy, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, Liam Konemann, LONDON, loneliness, Longing, m/m, masculinity, mental health, music, nostalgic reads, obsession, psychological, published in 2022, queer, read in 2022, self-destructive, self-harming, sex, SEXUALITY, strong sense of place, suicide, The Arena of the Unwell, the male malaise, toxic relationships, unreliable narrators -
Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro
This is one of those cases where the blurb for novel spoils said novel. Rather than giving us a broad-stroke summary of the story, the blurb reveals almost every plotline in the story, so while I was actually reading the novel myself, and I kept expecting something ‘new’ to happen, well, I ended up feeling…
1980s, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, abortion/miscarriage/bodily autonomy, Adult, age gap, America, Black & Black heritage authors, class, Contemporary, Dele Weds Destiny, divorce/separations, drama, eating disorders, female authors, female friendships, friendships, MARRIAGE, mothers & daughters, Nigeria, nigerian american author, published in 2022, read in 2022, self-harming, Tomi Obaro, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, wedding drama -
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
“‘How do you feel?’ ‘All right.’ But I didn’t. I felt terrible.” I feel incredibly conflicted over Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. On the one hand, I found it to be an ingenious and striking read, one that immortalizes in exacting detail a young woman’s slow descent into psychosis and offers a piercing commentary on…
1950s, 1st pov, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, ASYLUM, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, BOSTON, CLASSICS, DEPRESSION, doctors, ennui, female authors, feminism, feverish, HISTORICAL FICTION, HOSPITAL, introspective, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Massachusetts, MEMORY, mental health, modern classics, NEW YORK, paranoia, problematic, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, published in 1963, read in 2021, reading, self-destructive, self-harming, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, suicide, sylvia plath, terrific prose, The Bell Jar, unreliable narrators -
Mona at Sea by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
heads up: in this review i will be discussing self-harm Described as being a ‘sharp’ and ‘witty’ debut Elizabeth Gonzalez James’s Mona At Sea is neither of those things. The novel tells yet another tale about an alienated millennial woman having a quarter midlife crisis. While Mona At Sea is far from terrible it is…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, 2000s, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arizona, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, dark humor, DEPRESSION, ennui, female authors, latinx author, loneliness, millennial, Mona At Sea, My reviews, navel gazing, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, self-harming, work culture -
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
“It never ends, does it? Loving you never ends.” Seven Days in June took me by surprise. The romcom tone of this novel’s first pages belies the serious topics and issues it later delves into. Seven Days in June is the kind of read that has you laughing out loud one moment before pulling at…
2000s, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, abuse, addiction, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arc, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, chronic pain, Contemporary, drama, female authors, GRIEF, HUMOR, mental health, mothers & daughters, My reviews, netgalley, NEW YORK, published in 2021, read in 2021, ROMANCE, second-chance romance, self-harming, Seven Days in June, sex, social issues, Summer, summer reads, Tia Williams, trauma, uplifting reads -
The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade
“Is this what motherhood means? Being suddenly able to pity the adults in your life?” Set over the course of a year in Las Penas, New Mexico, The Five Wounds is a novel about failure and progress. Unsentimental yet moving The Five Wounds details the everyday lives of three members of the Padilla family. There…
2010s, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, addiction, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, catholicism, Contemporary, DEATH, f/f, family, fathers & daughters, female authors, forgiveness, identity, illness, latin american, latinx author, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, motherhood, mothers & sons, My reviews, New Mexico, pregnancy, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, Religion, self-harming, SMALL TOWN, unrequited love -
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
“Fear and hatred, fear and hatred: often, it seemed that those were the only two qualities he possessed. Fear of everyone else; hatred of himself.” A Little Life is a heart-wrenching tour de force. Dark, all-consuming, devastating, moving, stunning, brutal, dazzling, beautiful, disturbing, A Little Life is all of these and so much more. This…
5 STARS, A Little Life, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, actors, Adult, ALIENATION, all of the trigger warnings, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, child abuse, chronic pain, cliques, Contemporary, dark, DEPRESSION, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), disabilities, distressing reads, female authors, film industry, forgiveness, found family, friendships, gay, graphic content, GRIEF, GUILT, Hanya Yanagihara, identity, Italy, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, m/m, male friendships, masculinity, monasteries, morocco, NEW YORK, Pedophelia, psychological, published in 2015, queer, rape, read in 2021, self-harming, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SEXUALITY, suicide, tragedy, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, violence -
After Elias by Eddy Boudel Tan — book review
From its heartbreaking first pages, to its lump-in-your-throat epilogue, After Elias is an emotionally charged novel. “People can bring you pain, but nothing will hurt more than the pain you inflict on yourself.” Grief, guilt, regret, and fear dominate Tan’s narrative. Coen Caraway and Elias Santos are meant to have a fairy-tale wedding and live…
1st pov, 4.5 STARS, abuse, Adult, After Elias, anxiety, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, canada, canadian author, DEATH, Eddy Boudel Tan, gay, GRIEF, introspective, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, m/m, male authors, mental health, Mexico, netgalley, published in 2020, queer, rape, read in 2020, ROMANCE, self-harming, sexual assault/abuse/rape, tragedy, trauma -
Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today by Rachel Vorona Cote
TW: mentions of self-harm Not only was Too Much not enough but what little it offers is wholly problematic. This book would have made slightly more sense if it had been published in 2010 instead of 2020. Its analysis of the social norms and literature emerging from the Victorian era are far from insightful or…
1 STAR, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Booklr, books about books, books i hate, female authors, feminism, films, literary criticism, mental health, problematic, published in 2020, Rachel Vorona Cote, read in 2020, self-harming, SEXUALITY, Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today, trigger warning, trying and failing @ feminism -
Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson — review
Brave Face was not an easy read given that it delves into some of the darkest moments of Shaun David Hutchinson’s life. The memoir focuses in particular over his teenage years where he struggled with reconciling himself with sexuality and with his own personality (who he is, how others perceive him, what others expect him…
3.5 STARS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, anxiety, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, boyhood, Brave Face, Brave Face A Memoir, DEPRESSION, gay, growing up, HIGH SCHOOL, illness, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, m/m, MEMOIR, mental health, Nonfiction, published in 2019, READ IN 2019, REVIEW, self-harming, SEXUALITY, suicide
luce [is reading] 