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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 -
All This I Will Give to You by Dolores Redondo
“There’s a type of open grief that’s public, one of tears and mourning; and there’s another, immense and silent, that is a million times more powerful.” Initially, the premise for All This I Will Give to You intrigued me and I was gripped by the story’s tragic momentum. Manuel, a bestselling author, receives a visit…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, All This I Will Give to You, books about writers, class, Contemporary, CRIME, Dolores Redondo, drama, female authors, gay, GRIEF, lgbtq+, m/m, MURDER, murder mystery, MYSTERY, police, published in 2016, queer, read in 2022, rich people, SMALL TOWN, small town crime, spain, spanish author, SUSPENSE, TRANSLATED FICTION, widows -
Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love by Huma Qureshi
With the exception of the first story, I just did not buy into the stories collected in Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love. These stories struck me as early exercises from a creative writing class. We have a few stories that try to have ‘ambiguous’ endings and a few attempts at using…
2 STARS, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, collection of short stories, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), england, female authors, FRANCE, huma qureshi, intergenerational, Italy, LITERARY FICTION, MAGICAL REALISM, motherhood, mothers & daughters, My reviews, pregnancy, published in 2021, read in 2021, short stories, spain, style over character, Things we do not tell the people we love, toxic relationships, travel -
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich
“It’s been so hard for me to believe that being adored doesn’t mean I’m one mistake away from being despised.” If you are looking for an escapist read, look on further. If This Gets Out is a cute and ultimately uplifting YA romance. It does have the sort of tropes and scenarios that you would…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boybands, Cale Dietrich, co-authored, Contemporary, Czech Republic, Denmark, drama, england, female authors, FRANCE, gay, Germany, hungary, influencers, Italy, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, light reads, LONDON, m/m, male authors, music, musicians, netgalley, Netherlands, published in 2021, read in 2021, road trip, ROMANCE, Sophie Gonzales, spain, summer reads, uplifting reads, YOUNG ADULT -
At the End of the Matinee by Keiichirō Hirano
Although At the End of the Matinee shares stylistic and thematic similarities with Keiichirō Hirano’s A Man, it makes for a far less intriguing read. At the End of the Matinee lacks the psychological edge that made A Man into such a compelling read. The story and characters of At the End of the Matinee…
2 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, 3rd pov, Adult, affairs, AT THE END OF THE MATINEE, Contemporary, drama, FRANCE, iraq, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, jealousy, journalism, Keiichirō Hirano, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, MELODRAMA, men who do not seem to know how to write women, music, musicians, published in 2016, read in 2021, ROMANCE, spain, star-crossed lovers, war related ptsd -
The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón — book review
From the blatant sexism pouring through each page to its bloated plot, The Labyrinth of the Spirits offers an inadequate conclusion to what I considered to be an entertaining series. If anything this disastrous farewell has made me reevaluate the whole Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. I vaguely remember finding the female representation in these…
1950s, 2 STARS, 20th century, 3rd pov, Adult, Barcelona, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, books i hate, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, confusing for the sake of being confusing, DETECTIVE, drama, GOTHIC, HISTORICAL FICTION, Madrid, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, MELODRAMA, men who do not seem to know how to write women, modern gothic, MYSTERY, published in 2016, rape, read in 2020, sensation fiction, sexual assault/abuse/rape, spain, spanish author, story within a story, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, The Labyrinth of the Spirits, TRANSLATED FICTION -
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende — book review
Isabel Allende is one of my all time favourite writers. When I was in middle-grade I fell in love with her Eagle and Jaguar series and in the years since I’ve enjoyed other novels by her. Having loved her memoir of Chile, My Invented Country, I was looking forward to A Long Petal of the…
1930S, 1940s, 3 STARS, A Long Petal of the Sea, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, chile, Chilean American author, drama, family, favourite authors, female authors, heavy on telling, HISTORICAL FICTION, ISABEL ALLENDE, latin america, latin american, latinx author, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, MELODRAMA, migration/immigration, netgalley, Pablo Neruda, published in 2020, read in 2020, ROMANCE, south america, spain, spanish civil war, TRANSLATED FICTION, WWII -
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón — book review
After finishing The Angel’s Game I was eager to start The Prisoner of Heaven as I was hoping that we could see how unreliable a narrator David was. Tonally The Prisoner of Heaven is closer to the first book in this series, yet its short length and fast plot-line seemed more in a line with…
1950s, 20th century, 3.25 stars, Adult, Barcelona, BOOK REVIEWS, books about books, BOOKS ON WRITING, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), drama, GOTHIC, HUMOR, male authors, MELODRAMA, modern gothic, MYSTERY, mystery puzzle, READ IN 2019, ROMANCE, spain, spanish author, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, The Prisoner of Heaven -
The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón — book review
Last summer I read and loved Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind. It was a fun romp filled with melodrama which owed much to 19th century sensationalism (in that it implemented puzzles, Gothic and Romantic elements, clever twists towards an overarching quest of sorts). Reading that book was a fun experience. Although The Angel’s Game…
1920s, 1st pov, 20th century, 3.25 stars, Adult, Barcelona, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, drama, female authors, feverish, GOTHIC, hallucinations, HISTORICAL FICTION, HUMOR, MAGICAL REALISM, MELODRAMA, modern gothic, MYSTERY, mystery puzzle, PUBLISHED IN 2008, READ IN 2019, sensation fiction, spain, spanish author, The Angel’s Game, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, tragedy, unreliable narrators -
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
“The great tragic love story of Percy and me is neither great nor truly a love story, and is tragic only for its single-sidedness. It is also not an epic monolith that has plagued me since boyhood, as might be expected. Rather, it is simply the tale of how two people can be important to…
18th century, 1st pov, 4.25 stars, ace, adventure, AMERICAN AUTHOR, aristocracy, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, drama, england, FANTASY, FANTASY OF MANNERS, female authors, FRANCE, grand tour, HISTORICAL FICTION, HUMOR, Italy, lgbtq+, m/m, MACKENZI LEE, queer, read in 2017, ROMANCE, spain, THE GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE, travel
luce [is reading] 