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Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong
“Once upon a time, there was a girl with a vivid imagination, one who was not entirely sane. She was afraid of many things that weren’t real, but she didn’t tell anyone. They would’ve sent her far, far away, and she wasn’t ready to go.” Liar, Dreamer, Thief had all of the ingredients to be…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, amateur detective, America, anxiety, cat and mouse, Contemporary, DEATH, female authors, feverish, gay side characters, hallucinations, korean american author, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, Liar Dreamer Thief, loneliness, Maria Dong, mental health, MYSTERY, NEW YORK, obsession, OCD, psychological, published in 2023, read in 2023, she is not feeling good at all, stalking, suicide, SUSPENSE, the female malaise, unreliable narrators, work culture -
A Carnivore’s Inquiry by Sabina Murray
“This is what exploration had opened up the door to. Not only widespread slaughter, but the necessary accompaniment of gorging.” Unapologetically solipsistic and deeply manipulative, Katherine, the central character of A Carnivore’s Inquiry, makes for an awful human being and a deeply entertaining narrator. A predecessor to Ottessa Moshfegh and Mona Awad’s protagonists, and many…
1st pov, 2000s, 4 STARS, A Carnivore's Inquiry, A Carnivore's Inquiry by Sabina Murray, Adult, affairs, age gap, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, ART/CREATIVITY, books about writers, cannibalism, cheating, class, cold tone, colonialism, Contemporary, dark, dark humor, desire, ennui, female authors, feverish, filipino american author, GOTHIC, history, HORROR, introspective, Italy, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, madness, maine, Mexico, modern gothic, MURDER, MYSTERY, navel gazing, NEW YORK, no plot just vibes, otherness, PRIVILEGE, psychological, Psychological thriller, psychopaths, published in 2004, read in 2023, rich people, road trip, Sabina Murray, satire, self-destructive, serial killers, she is dangerous, she is not feeling good at all, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the female malaise, travel, unreliable narrators, violence, womanhood/femininity -
Solo Dance by Kotomi Li
“There’s a limit to how much misogyny and heteronomrative bullshit a story can have.” Solo Dance follows a millennial woman from Taiwan working an office job in Tokyo who feels alienated from her colleagues and their daily conversations about marriage, the economy, and children. Chō, our protagonist, is a lesbian, something she keeps ‘hidden’ from…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, break-ups, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, DEPRESSION, existentialism, f/f, female authors, heartbreak/breakups, japan, Kotomi Li, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, Li Kotomi, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, navel gazing, office, published in 2018, queer, rape, read in 2022, reading, sapphic, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SEXUALITY, she is not feeling good at all, social issues, Solo Dance, subject over characters/story, suicide, taiwan, taiwanese author, the female malaise, tokyo, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, work culture, youth -
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
disclaimer: i did not like this book. the opinions and impressions i will express in this review are entirely subjective and i am not in fact stating ‘irrefutable facts’. it has come to my attention that this author has a history of going on twitter to ‘bemoan’ reviewers who have given her book a negative…
1 STAR, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, beauty, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, books i hate, Boy Parts, British author, class, Contemporary, dark, dark humor, Eliza Clark, england, female authors, feverish, graphic content, grotesque, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LONDON, My reviews, navel gazing, Newcastle, offensive, photographers, PHOTOGRAPHY, PRIVILEGE, psychological, psychopaths, published in 2020, queer, rape, read in 2022, reading, satire, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SEXUALITY, she is not feeling good at all, slow pacing, style over character, subject over characters/story, the female malaise, trying and failing @ feminism, unreliable narrators -
Happy for You by Claire Stanford
The premise for Happy for You made me think that this would be something in the realms of titles such as Temporary, The Factory, and Severance, which present their readers with wry commentaries on the gig economy and the modern workplace, or, satires about social media, the tech industry, and wellness culture, such Followers and…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, asian american, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Claire Stanford, Contemporary, fathers & daughters, female authors, Happy for You, identity, loneliness, MARRIAGE, My reviews, pregnancy, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, satire, she is not feeling good at all, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, social media, SPECULATIVE FICTION, technology, the female malaise, work culture -
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
“I feel like giving up, lying down on this wall and closing my eyes and just doing nothing – not bothering to try to fit into the human world, not bothering to make friends and art, not bothering to source blood and feed myself.” Woman, Eating is a great example of a good concept being…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, adulthood, ALIENATION, arc, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, Claire Kohda, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dark, eating disorders, england, FANTASY, female authors, identity, illness, jealousy, LITERARY FICTION, LONDON, loneliness, midlife crisis, morality, mothers & daughters, My reviews, navel gazing, netgalley, obsession, PARANORMAL, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, sexual assault/abuse/rape, she is not feeling good at all, slow pacing, unrequited love, VAMPIRES, Woman Eating -
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 -
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
“I don’t write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don’t, everything feels even worse.” In Writers & Lovers, Lily King portrays an intimate and profoundly heartfelt slice of life that brims with wry humor and precise observations on grief, loneliness, identity, and creativity. This is truly a gem…
1990s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, age gap, America, American, anxiety, bars & restaurants, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, BOSTON, DEATH, ennui, female authors, gay side characters, GRIEF, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+ side, Lily King, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, love triangle, Massachusetts, mental health, My reviews, psychological, published in 2020, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, ROMANCE, she is not feeling good at all, SLICE OF LIFE, Summer, summer reads, teachers, the female malaise, uplifting reads, work culture, Writers & Lovers -
All’s Well by Mona Awad
“I thought tests led to something. A diagnosis led to a plan, a cure. But tests, I know now, never lead us anywhere. Tests are dark roads with no destinations, just leading to more dark.” All’s Well makes for an entertaining if somewhat flawed romp. The novel is narrated by Miranda, a theatre professor in…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, academia, actors, Adult, ALIENATION, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, canada, canadian author, chronic pain, Contemporary, dark humor, disabilities, female authors, feverish, hallucinations, HORROR, illness, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, mental health, mona awad, My reviews, MYSTERY, netgalley, playful style, published in 2021, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, revenge, shakespeare, she is not feeling good at all, stylised prose, teachers, the female malaise, theatre, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unreliable narrators, weird, womanhood/femininity -
New People by Danzy Senna
“When she was just a kid, Gloria told her never to trust a group of happy, smiling multiracial people. Never trust races when they get along, she said. If you see different races of people just standing around, smiling at one another, run for the hills, kid. Take cover. They’ll break your heart.” A disquieting…
1990s, 20th century, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, bad love, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, Danzy Senna, ennui, existentialism, favourite authors, female authors, feverish, grotesque, hallucinations, identity, introspective, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, mental health, New People, NEW YORK, obsession, passing, PUBLISHED IN 2017, RACE, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, she is not feeling good at all, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, stalking, the female malaise, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unreliable narrative, unrequited love
luce [is reading] 