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Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo
“I am first and foremost a writer, the written word is how I process everything—myself, life, society, history, politics. It’s not just a job or a passion, but it is at the very heart of how I exist in the world, and I am addicted to the adventure of storytelling as my most powerful means…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 1st pov, 2000s, 4 STARS, Adult, arc, ART/CREATIVITY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Bernardine Evaristo, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, booker-prize winners, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, CHILDHOOD, england, family, female authors, feminism, growing up, identity, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LONDON, Manifesto, Manifesto: On Never Giving Up, MEMOIR, My reviews, Nigeria, nigerian british author, Nonfiction, published in 2021, queer, RACE, read in 2021, reading, social issues, theatre, writing about writing -
Misfits: A Personal Manifesto by Michaela Coel
“Speaking can be a terrifying action. Our words—even when spoken from a position so powerless that all that’s produced is a moth-like squeak—can be loud enough to wake the house: a house that is often sleeping peacefully and does not want to be disturbed; a house in which perhaps you’ve found a home. I’m very…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, actors, Adult, arc, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, england, female authors, feminism, film industry, growing up, identity, LONDON, MEMOIR, Michaela Coel, Misfits, Misfits: A Personal Manifesto, My reviews, netgalley, Nonfiction, published in 2021, RACE, read in 2021, reading, sexual assault/abuse/rape, social issues, theatre, trauma -
Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah
“Objects, matter itself, were softly disintegrating. All identity became ambiguous, semi-opaque.” As the fickle creature that I am what drew me to Untold Night and Day was its cover. The first few pages intrigued me as they focus on Kim Ayami a former actor who now works at an audio theatre for the blind. The…
2 STARS, 3rd pov, actors, Adult, Bae Suah, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, existentialism, female authors, Korea, Korean, korean author, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, published in 2013, read in 2021, reading, style over character, stylised prose, surreal, theatre, TRANSLATED FICTION, Untold Night and Day, weird -
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 -
We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman
“Worse than being evil, you have been made embarrassing. A punch line, again and again, for a joke that just keeps telling itself. The joke is success. And the punch line—every single time—is you.” We Play Ourselves is a surprisingly gratifying and shrewdly observed debut novel. Jen Silverman presents her readers with a resonant character…
1st pov, 4 STARS, actors, Adult, affairs, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, bi side characters, books about writers, California, coming of age, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, existentialism, f/f, female authors, film industry, friendships, gay side characters, GUILT, identity, introspective, jealousy, Jen Silverman, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, los angeles, m/m side, NEW YORK, queer, read in 2021, sapphic, SEXUALITY, summer reads, theatre, unrequited love, We Play Ourselves -
The Arsonists’ City by Hala Alyan
Moving through space (America, Lebanon, Syria) and time (from the 1960s to 2019) The Arsonists’ City tells a sprawling yet engrossing tale about the Nasr, a Syrian-Lebanese-American family. Written with the same subtlety and beauty as her debut novel, The Arsonists’ City presents readers with a cast of fully-fleshed out characters, however flawed or frustrating…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 2010s, 20th century, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, actors, Adult, affairs, America, assault, California, cheating, Contemporary, drama, family, FAMILY SAGA, female authors, forgiveness, GUILT, HALA ALYAN, HISTORICAL FICTION, jealousy, Lebanon, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, music, musicians, netgalley, Palestine, palestinian american author, published in 2021, read in 2021, siblings, Syria, The Arsonists' City, theatre -
Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage
“Desire places people in dangerous positions. This was a fact I’d yet to learn and something Richard knew all too well.” Dio mio, this book was so stressful.Equal parts gripping and horrifyingYes, Daddy is one hell of a debut novel. This is not the kind of book one enjoys reading. In fact, most of the…
2000s, 2010s, 3.5 STARS, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, age gap, all of the trigger warnings, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, bad love, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, class, Contemporary, courtroom drama, dark, film industry, forgiveness, gay, graphic content, GUILT, Jonathan Parks-Ramage, journalism, kidnapping, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, male authors, netgalley, NEW YORK, Pedophelia, psychological, Psychological thriller, published in 2021, queer, rape, read in 2021, Religion, sex, sexual assault/abuse/rape, social issues, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, theatre, THRILLER, trauma, violence, Yes Daddy -
The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff
“When I think back on that it’s always with a sense of having lost something fragile and fleeting, something I can’t quite name.” I loved every single page of The Great Godden. This is one of those rare novels that is simultaneously simple and mesmerising: an unmanned narrator recounts the summer in which they fell…
1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, actors, AMERICAN AUTHOR, cheating, coming of age, Contemporary, england, family, female authors, first love, introspective, jealousy, lgbtq+ side, m/m side, Meg Rosoff, psychological, published in 2020, queer side characters, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, ROMANCE, sea, siblings, Summer, summer reads, The Great Godden, theatre, unnamed narrator, unreliable narrators, unrequited love, wedding drama -
Camp by Lev A.C. Rosen — book review
Because last year I read, and really enjoyed, Lev A.C. Rosen’s Jack of Hearts, I decided to give Camp a go, even if I was worried that the whole premise of ‘pretending to be different to make someone fall in love with you’ would be cring-y. Within a few pages however I was rooting for…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, ace side characters, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Camp, Contemporary, drama, friendships, gay, HUMOR, identity, Lev A.C. Rosen, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, light reads, m/m, male authors, masculinity, non-binary side characters, queer, read in 2020, ROMANCE, Summer, summer camps, summer reads, theatre, trans side characters, uplifting reads -
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
“Actors are by nature volatile–alchemic creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion and ego and envy. Heat them up stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disaster.” An enjoyable debut novel that delivers plenty of Shakespearean ‘nuggets’.To label this story a mystery is a mistake. It isn’t. It is quite obvious what has happened,…
1990s, 20th century, 3.75 stars, academia, actors, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, books about books, campus, cliques, Contemporary, CRIME, dark, dark academia, drama, female authors, friendships, IF WE WERE VILLAINS, Illinois, it’s about the *yearning*, jealousy, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, Longing, M. L. RIO, m/m, MURDER, murder mystery, MYSTERY, obsession, psychological, queer, read in 2017, ROMANCE, shakespeare, SUSPENSE, theatre, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unreliable narrators, whydunnit
luce [is reading] 