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Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto
Over the last couple of years, I have made slow but steady progress reading my way through Banana Yoshimoto’s oeuvre. Amrita marks the thirteenth work that I have read by her and, as in many ways, it exhibits many textbook Yoshimoto traits: an atypical family unity, an irreverently optimistic tone (regardless of the subject matter),…
1990s, 1st pov, 3 STARS, abuse, Adult, adulthood, amnesia, Amrita, アムリタ, Banana Yoshimoto, celebrities, Contemporary, existentialism, female authors, GRIEF, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, KIDS WITH POWERS, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MAGICAL REALISM, MEMORY, mumblecore, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, POWERS, published in 1994, read in 2022, ROMANCE, siblings, SLICE OF LIFE, slow pacing, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION -
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 -
Gallant by V.E. Schwab
Although I remember liking books by V. E. Schwab when I was a teenager the last couple of books I’ve picked up by her left me feeling rather underwhelmed. My reading tastes have definitely changed over the years but I hoped that I would always be able to appreciate her storytelling. I was sold on…
2 STARS, 3rd pov, all girls school, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, england, FANTASY, female authors, Gallant, ghosts/spirits, GOTHIC, hauntings, HISTORICAL FICTION, manor/big house, My reviews, Not Like Other Girls, orphans, parallel universes, PARANORMAL, portal fantasy, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, slow pacing, style over character, V.E. Schwab, YOUNG ADULT -
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 Four Humors by Mina Seckin
“THE FOUR HUMORS THAT PUMP THROUGH MY BODY DETERMINE my character, temperament, mood. Blood, phlegm, black bile, and choler. The excess or lack of these bodily fluids designates how a person should be.” The Four Humors is a rather milquetoast addition to the young-alienated-women subgenre that has become all the vogue in the last few…
3 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, anxiety, atmospheric, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, break-ups, chronic pain, cold tone, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, DEATH, DEPRESSION, eating disorders, ennui, family, female authors, GRIEF, illness, introspective, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, medical, mental health, midlife crisis, Mina Seckin, mumblecore, My reviews, navel gazing, obsession, published in 2021, read in 2022, reading, sardonic humor, self-destructive, SISTERS, slow pacing, strong sense of place, Summer, summer reads, The Four Humors, Turkey, turkish american author -
Ponti by Sharlene Teo
Ponti, Ponti, Ponti…what a vexing read. This is one of those books that was ceaselessly frustrating and, dare I say, ultimately pointless. What was this book even about? There is no story, not really. We don’t even get satisfying character studies to make up for the plotlessness of Ponti. The characters are thinly-rendered and unfunny…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 2 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, actors, Adult, ALIENATION, ANGST, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, female friendships, film industry, friendships, grotesque, HIGH SCHOOL, HISTORICAL FICTION, horrible friends, illness, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, mothers & daughters, My reviews, Ponti, published in 2018, read in 2021, reading, Sharlene Teo, singapore, singaporean, Singaporean author, slow pacing, teen angst, toxic relationships -
It Is Wood, It Is Stone by Gabriella Burnham
Aside from its pretty cover It Is Wood, It Is Stone doesn’t have a lot to offer. It is one of those novels that is very much all style, no substance. Plot and character development are sacrificed in favour of gimmicky narrative devices and flashy metaphors. I finished this less than a week ago and…
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, american brazilian author, ARTISTS, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brazil, cheating, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, ennui, female authors, Gabriella Burnham, It is wood it is stone, latin america, latin american, latinx author, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, My reviews, navel gazing, published in 2020, purply prose, queer, read in 2021, reading, SEXUALITY, slow pacing, style over character, stylised prose -
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 Archer by Shruti Swamy
Throughout the course of reading The Archer, I was painfully aware that I was in fact reading a novel. That is to say, I did not think this was a particularly ‘immersive coming-of-age’ story, quite the contrary. Almost every line I read struck me as contrived and as attempting (and failing) to be eloquent and…
1960s, 1970s, 2 STARS, 20th century, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, dancing, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, growing up, heavy on telling, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, India, indian american author, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, mothers & daughters, My reviews, navel gazing, pregnancy, published in 2021, purply prose, queer, read in 2021, reading, slow pacing, sports, style over character, stylised prose, subject over characters/story, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang
“Who knows. I could change my mind. It is changing all the time.” Days of Distraction should have been right up my street. Alas, it turned out not to be the ‘wry’, ‘tender’, and ‘offbeat coming-of-adulthood tale’ its blurb promised it’d be. Our quasi-unnamed narrator is a Chinese American woman in her early twenties who…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, China, chinese american author, coming of age, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, ennui, female authors, ithaca, loneliness, millennial, mumblecore, My reviews, navel gazing, new york state, published in 2020, RACE, read in 2021, reading, san francisco, slow pacing, subject over characters/story, unnamed narrator, work culture
luce [is reading] 