![luce [is reading]](https://wishfullyreading.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/9429655-1.jpeg){kind=small}
-
The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami
Considering that Hiromi Kawakami is one of my favourites authors this was a big letdown. The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino lacked the zing that made Strange Weather in Tokyo and The Nakano Thrift Shop into such fun and engaging reads. Nishino, the novel’s central character, is a boring creep and I could not for…
1st pov, 2 STARS, 2000s, Adult, bad love, cheating, collection of short stories, favourite authors, female authors, HIROMI KAWAKAMI, incest, interconnected stories, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, lgbtq+ side, published in 2003, queer side characters, READ 2020, ROMANCE, sex, sexual assault/abuse/rape, short stories, SLICE OF LIFE, surreal, The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino, toxic relationships, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird -
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
(heads up: this review contains mentions of eating disorders and body dysmorphia as well as explicit language) While I doubt that Milk Fed will win many awards, I sure hope that it wins the Bad Sex in Fiction Award. It 100% deserves to. “Was it real freedom? Unlikely. But my rituals kept me skinny, and…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, all of the trigger warnings, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, bad love, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, body dysmorphia, California, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dark humor, eating disorders, f/f, female authors, film industry, graphic content, illness, incest-y, introspective, Jewish, lgbtq+, los angeles, Melissa Broder, mental health, Milk Fed, mumblecore, navel gazing, netgalley, published in 2021, queer, read in 2020, Religion, sapphic, sex, toxic relationships, trigger warning, work culture -
My Education by Susan Choi
“Love bestows such a dangerous sense of entitlement.” Sometimes books really deserve their average rating…and this is one of those cases. As I am writing this the majority of readers have given My Education three stars, and more reviewers have given it 2 stars than 5. I know that at the end of the day…
1990s, 1st pov, 2.5 STARS, 2000s, academia, Adult, affairs, age gap, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, bad love, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, bombastic style, books about writers, Contemporary, endless monologues, existentialism, f/f, female authors, korean american author, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, My Education, published in 2013, queer, read in 2020, ROMANCE, sapphic, sex, style over character, Susan Choi, teachers, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
Luster by Raven Leilani
“I think to myself, You are a desirable woman. You are not a dozen gerbils in a skin casing. Luster is a deliriously enthralling and boldly subversive debut novel. I was dazzled by the author’s prose, which is by turns dense and supple, by Edie’s sardonic and penetrating narration, and by the story’s caustic yet…
1st pov, 4.5 STARS, Adult, age gap, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTISTS, bad love, Black & Black heritage authors, class, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dark humor, ennui, female authors, identity, lgbtq+, Luster, millennial, mumblecore, netgalley, NEW YORK, parenting, published in 2020, queer, RACE, Raven Leilani, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, read in 2022, sex, SEXUALITY, she is not feeling good at all, social issues, the female malaise, toxic relationships, womanhood/femininity, work culture -
Memorial by Bryan Washington
“It’s like we’re in some fucked-up rom-com, I said. It’s like we’re both fucked-up rom-com villains.” Maybe it’s my fault for ‘hyping’ myself too much but I found Memorial to be a wee bit disappointing. First of all, the lack of quotations marks. So many authors are using this technique that it now seems passé.…
addiction, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, Bryan Washington, cheating, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, fathers & sons, food & cooking, forgiveness, gay, intergenerational, japan, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, m/m, Memorial, millennial, netgalley, no quotations marks, published in 2020, queer, RACE, read in 2020, ROMANCE, sex, stylised prose, texas, toxic relationships, work culture -
The Bright Lands by John Fram
At first, I was intrigued by The Bright Lands: a small town in Texas, missing teen(s), possible evil entities…I kind of expected it to be a modern take on Twin Peaks by way of Stephen King. Sadly, however, The Bright Lands never delivers on its intriguing premise. The writing leaves a lot to be desired,…
2 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEWS, Contemporary, cults, gay, heavy on telling, HIGH SCHOOL, HORROR, John Fram, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, male authors, missing boys, MYSTERY, NEW YORK, PARANORMAL, problematic, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, REVIEWS, rural setting, sex, SMALL TOWN, small town crime, Southern America, sports, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, texas, The Bright Lands, THRILLER, weak prose -
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat — book review
“It is a bizarre and unsettling feeling, to exist in a liminal state between two realms, unable to attain full access to one or the other.” Although I’d intended to read You Exist Too Much I nearly didn’t after reading a really negative review for it, one that was very critical of Zaina Arafat’s depiction…
1st pov, 4.5 STARS, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, bad love, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, cheating, CHILDHOOD, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, eating disorders, f/f, family, female authors, growing up, heartbreak/breakups, identity, intergenerational, introspective, Italy, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, love addiction, mental health, millennial, mothers & daughters, netgalley, NEW YORK, Palestine, palestinian author, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, published in 2020, queer, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, read in 2022, sapphic, self-destructive, sex, SEXUALITY, she is not feeling good at all, the female malaise, toxic relationships, travel, unnamed narrator, west bank, You Exist Too Much, Zaina Arafat -
The Lover by Marguerite Duras — book review
The Lover strikes me as little more than an exercise in literary masturbation. This novella is overwrought, self-indulgent, and ultimately insubstantial. Fooled by the promise of its first pages, I soon found myself irked by the narrator’s linguistic burps. With the exception of two or three characters, everyone else is nameless. Alienation is de rigueur.…
1 STAR, 1920s, 20th century, age gap, ALIENATION, bad love, BOOK REVIEWS, books i hate, CLASSICS, female authors, FRANCE, FRENCH, French author, Marguerite Duras, modern classics, navel gazing, Pedophelia, published in 1984, purply prose, read in 2020, ROMANCE, sex, SEXUALITY, style over character, The Lover, TRANSLATED FICTION, Vietnam -
Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O’Donoghue — book review
“That’s what it comes down to, I suppose. I was obsessed with what I was, because I had no idea who I was.” Scenes of a Graphic Nature is a thought-provoking and engrossing novel that is far darker than its brightly coloured cover suggests. After reading and being captivated by Caroline O’Donoghue’s debut novel, Promising…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, arc, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Caroline O’Donoghue, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, creepy setting, cultural dissonance, england, f/f, fathers & daughters, female authors, film industry, films, identity, illness, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, ISLAND, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, loneliness, mental health, MYSTERY, netgalley, queer, read in 2020, sapphic, Scenes of a Graphic Nature, sex, social issues, unrequited love, village -
Real Life by Brandon Taylor — book review
“Is it into this culture that he is to emerge? Into the narrow, dark water of real life?” It had been awhile since I finished a book in one day or since I read a book that made me cry…but once I started Real Life I simply couldn’t stop, even if what I was reading…
3rd pov, 4.25 stars, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, anxiety, bad love, Black & Black heritage authors, body dysmorphia, Brandon Taylor, campus, class, cliques, cold tone, Contemporary, favourite authors, gay, GRIEF, horrible friends, labs, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, m/m, mental health, midwest, published in 2020, queer, RACE, read in 2020, Real Life, science, sex, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SEXUALITY, toxic relationships, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE
luce [is reading] 