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Hardboiled & Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto
“I felt as if this place I had come to was nowhere. As if I no longer had a home to return to. That road I had been on didn’t lead anywhere, this trip would never end—it seemed to me as if next morning would never arrive.” Banana Yoshimoto is at her whimsical best in…
1990s, 1st pov, 3.5 STARS, Adult, ハードボイルド／ハードラック, Banana Yoshimoto, collection of short stories, Contemporary, DEATH, dreamlike quality, Dreams, existentialism, f/f, favourite authors, female authors, forgiveness, ghosts/spirits, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, hotel, illness, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MAGICAL REALISM, melancholy, MEMORY, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, published in 1999, queer, read in 2023, right person wrong time, sapphic, short stories, SISTERS, SLICE OF LIFE, suicide, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION, unnamed narrator, uplifting reads -
Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye-Jin
“The expectations and ambitions, possibilities and hopes concerning my daughter – they still remain and torment me no matter how hard I work to get rid of them. To be rid of them, how skeletal and empty do I have to be? Despite its short length Concerning my Daughter is by no means a breeze…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, ageing, Concerning My Daughter, Contemporary, f/f, family, female authors, graphic content, GUILT, identity, intergenerational, Kim Hye-Jin, Korea, korean author, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, motherhood, mothers & daughters, PUBLISHED IN 2017, queer, read in 2022, sapphic, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, TRANSLATED FICTION, unnamed narrator -
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
…a big fat nope from me. DISCLAIMER: Like with any other negative review that I write I feel the need to remind ppl that my opinions/thoughts/impressions of a book are entirely subjective (mind-blowing i know) and that if you are interested/curious about said book you should definitely check out more positive reviews. If an Egyptian…
2 STARS, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, addiction, Adult, America, autofiction, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about writers, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), egypt, Egyptian American author, female authors, identity, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, language, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, My reviews, no quotations marks, Noor Naga, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, ROMANCE, style over character, stylised prose, subject over characters/story, trauma, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator -
Ru by Kim Thúy
I was born in the shadow of skies adorned with fireworks, decorated with garlands of light, shot through with rockets and missiles. The purpose of my birth was to replace lives that had been lost. My life’s duty was to prolong that of my mother. Ru is a short read that blurs the line between…
1970s, 1980s, 1st pov, 2000s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, autofiction, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, canada, CHILDHOOD, cold tone, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, DEATH, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, introspective, Kim Thúy, language, LITERARY FICTION, lyrical prose, Malaysia, MEMORY, migration/immigration, motherhood, mothers & daughters, My reviews, neurodivergent side characters, Poverty, published in 2009, Quebec, read in 2022, reading, restrained prose, Ru, style over character, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, Vietnam, vietnam war, vietnamese canadian author, vignettes, war -
Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk
If you like lyrical love stories such as Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson, or books that give serious A24 coming-of-age film vibes such as All the Water I’ve Seen Is Running by Elias Rodriques, don’t sleep on Nothing Burns as Bright as You. The author captures how all-consuming first love can be through the…
1st pov, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, Ashley Woodfolk, atmospheric, bi side characters, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, Contemporary, f/f, female authors, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, lyrical prose, My reviews, Nothing Burns as Bright as You, queer, reading, ROMANCE, sapphic, style over character, stylised prose, Summer, toxic relationships, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, vignettes, YOUNG ADULT -
Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza
“Strange: It has come to me that one doesn’t write to remember, or to forget, or to find relief, or to cure oneself of some pain. One writes to plumb one’s own depths, to understand what’s inside.” Having found Optic Nerve to be a puzzling yet thoroughly compelling book I was very much eager to…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, Adult, argentina, argentinian author, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, existentialism, female authors, GRIEF, history, introspective, latin america, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, María Gainza, My reviews, MYSTERY, navel gazing, obsession, Portrait of an Unknown Lady, psychological, published in 2018, read in 2022, reading, TRANSLATED FICTION, unnamed narrator -
Chemistry by Weike Wang
“Chemistry, while powerful, is sometimes unpredictable.” Chemistry makes for a quick yet compelling read. While the narrative tries a bit too hard to be quirky, I did find certain scenes and or sections to be fairly amusing. Chemistry implements those ‘in’ literary devices such as an unnamed narrator and a lack of speech marks that…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, asian american, break-ups, Chemistry, chinese american author, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, dark humor, ennui, family, female authors, identity, intergenerational, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, mental health, mumblecore, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, science, scientists & co, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, weike wang -
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
“Maybe it’s good, I said, to stop sometimes and reflect upon the things that have happened, maybe thinking about sadness can actually end up making you happy.” Cold Enough for Snow is a slight novella narrated and characterized by a crisp prose. Despite the introspective nature of this work (there are no dialogues and the…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, ART/CREATIVITY, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR, Cold Enough for Snow, cold tone, Contemporary, female authors, hong kong, introspective, japan, Jessica Au, LITERARY FICTION, MEMORY, mothers & daughters, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2022, read in 2021, restrained prose, style over character, travel, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, WINTER, winter reads -
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 -
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] 