So glad I finished June with such a banger - a beautifully written lyrical coming of age queer story that had all the heightened, hallucinatory explorSo glad I finished June with such a banger - a beautifully written lyrical coming of age queer story that had all the heightened, hallucinatory explorations of the senses I could have asked for....more
I loved and devoured this - almost perfect even for me, there is a bit of an exposition dump towards the end that I didn't love, but thankfully the boI loved and devoured this - almost perfect even for me, there is a bit of an exposition dump towards the end that I didn't love, but thankfully the book didn't end there, but went extra steps beyond that and it ended in the most hollow (and best of) way. Such a beautifully deep, dark, and probing book. It's not horror in the typical sense of gore, blood, and physical violence, but very much psychological and true life human horror. Aka the scariest there is. ...more
I can't believe I live in a world where people praise this god awful book to the high heavens when it's just heavy handed man hating bullshit because I can't believe I live in a world where people praise this god awful book to the high heavens when it's just heavy handed man hating bullshit because that's feminism now, apparently....more
I utterly loved this beautiful graphic novel. Great illustrations, and a simple but poignant story, spanning perspectives from different generations iI utterly loved this beautiful graphic novel. Great illustrations, and a simple but poignant story, spanning perspectives from different generations in a Vietnamese family, interwoven with fairytales that reflect each generation. Timeless, so relatable in so many ways, many great quotes, and I cried at various times - just beautiful....more
3.5 rounding down to 3 - not really a book for me, but I respect and appreciate what this is and what it aims to achieve. There are many people who lo3.5 rounding down to 3 - not really a book for me, but I respect and appreciate what this is and what it aims to achieve. There are many people who love these kinds of books, with flowery, poetic prose (and I usually do too), but this focuses more on the description of impressions of feelings as opposed to any actual pathos from either of the characters we follow. They're more abstract conceptualizations of people, and the focus is more on the scenery than anything else. The ending was a little disappointing, because it had the potential for an emotional climax, but I was left unmoved.
Good writing, glad I read this, but not really a kind of story for me....more
I did a "readathon" of sorts, where I read five books in roughly 24 hours. This was one of them, and my favorite by far. I loved Pasaribu's collectionI did a "readathon" of sorts, where I read five books in roughly 24 hours. This was one of them, and my favorite by far. I loved Pasaribu's collection, Happy Stories, Mostly, but this is just as good, and I believe to be the first poetry collection I've ever rated five stars. I genuinely love these poems, several made me cry, I appreciated Pasaribu's voice and perspective, and the collaborative efforts between them and the translator, Tiffany Tsao, is a testament to how much love and attention went into the collection to convey these poems as accurately as possible in English.
It was alright. Cute enough and sweet queer love story between a ghost and a gardener. Story didn't make much sense tbqh, but the reaper gave some lolIt was alright. Cute enough and sweet queer love story between a ghost and a gardener. Story didn't make much sense tbqh, but the reaper gave some lolzy one-liners. If you like Garlic and the Vampire, you'd probably like this too....more
Ah, this could have been a 5 star for me - what a shame. I really enjoyed my reading experience of this book, I found the writing style to be absorbinAh, this could have been a 5 star for me - what a shame. I really enjoyed my reading experience of this book, I found the writing style to be absorbing from page 1, and the novella incorporated many elements of things I tend to enjoy - critique on religious organizations, moody/atmospheric vibes, little to no dialogue, a dystopian/post-apocalyptic setting, and there are many subtle details to various aspects of the text that could be analyzed and discussed in greater detail.
Bazterrica is an incredible writer, and the translator Sarah Moss does a fantastic job of conveying this in English - the writing is by far this book's greatest strength, and far exceeds Tender Is the Flesh in terms of prose, in my opinion. The writing needs to be this good because where The Unworthy falters is in the story itself - I don't mind we don't get many answers, or that things are left purposefully vague or obfuscated. This is a series of clandestine diary entries of a person trying to make sense of herself and where her past self crosses with the person she is in the present.
But some details didn't need to be added (like about artificial intelligence), some of the phrasing about Circe being an enchantress and sorceress came off as heavy handed, and ultimately the conclusion, the final three or so pages, was pretty predictable and underwhelming. While I think the overall length of this novella is fine, some parts could have easily been fleshed out a little more. And ultimately, while there isn't much of a story here, what little we do have is stuff we've seen time and time again in other media formats.
For the right person, I think this will be a success - but it absolutely depends on the kind of book you like to read....more
Invisible Monsters started off strong with an intriguing opening chapter, but it lost steam for me quickly. The writing is beyond pretentious, and I dInvisible Monsters started off strong with an intriguing opening chapter, but it lost steam for me quickly. The writing is beyond pretentious, and I definitely get the feeling the author deems himself to be incredibly smart, funny, and witty, so slay for him, I guess. I just don't think this turned out to be as brilliant as he probably had in mind, at least not for me.
I just didn't care about these characters, the jumping back and forth didn't do much for me, and haha wow everyone is gay or trans, how subversive. I did enjoy the main character's parents though, one line by the father (I think) was epic: "Honey, I think we're finally being hate-crimed."
I could see why someone would be fascinated by this train wreck of a book, but it just didn't work for me in the slightest - some interesting ideas that ultimately went nowhere because the book never seriously wanted to go anywhere with its non-existent story....more
3.5 rounding down to 3 - my experience reading this wasn't the most pleasant, I wasn't super engaged beyond some funny/quirky lines or moments or some3.5 rounding down to 3 - my experience reading this wasn't the most pleasant, I wasn't super engaged beyond some funny/quirky lines or moments or some very thought provoking observations on gender, sex/sexuality, dating, and companionship through a very queer lens. It's entertaining enough I suppose, but the actual narrative itself was so turgid and start/stop (very much intentional) that it was hard for me to get invested.
The main character we follow, Mumu, is interesting enough but we don't get to know too much about them or their background. I probably wanted more existentialism about this alien trapped on this planet away from everything they ever loved, trying to adapt to and navigate love and existence as an alien on a different planet. Some bits of that do show up, but not enough. Great idea, not my favorite in terms of execution....more
2.5 rounding down to 2 - this book is fine I guess, the first half was very funny and I was absorbed in this kind of mildly nihilistic, existential ou2.5 rounding down to 2 - this book is fine I guess, the first half was very funny and I was absorbed in this kind of mildly nihilistic, existential outlook from the perspective of an atheist lesbian who's just trying to get through her day without having a panic attack. I just didn't like how formless the character herself was, allowing herself, a grown woman in her late 20s, to be wrangled into a series of increasingly awkward situations that had she had any ability to speak up for herself she would never have found herself in in the first place. It's one of my least favorite things that can happen in a book. It felt generic and the book would have been so much stronger without it.
It also wasn't dark enough for my tastes, and certain topics like the relationship with her alcoholic brother was what hooked me the most, but ultimately went nowhere, and there's a very brief mention of a dark topic that I wish this book in its previous 240 pages had explored in ANY kind of capacity. But this is essentially a quirky, comedic take on dark topics, so while I love when books are darkly comedic, this would be for the beginners. A book whose merits I recognize, but ultimately not for me, although I will read more Austin at some point....more
4.5 rounding down to 4 - this was SUCH a good collection of short stories. I liked the approach of speculative fiction with elements of surrealism, sc4.5 rounding down to 4 - this was SUCH a good collection of short stories. I liked the approach of speculative fiction with elements of surrealism, sci fi, horror, and literary/contemporary, and this was just a very enjoyable read from beginning to end in particular due to a breezy writing style that was tight, punchy, and meaningful throughout.
My favorite stories were "Anomaly", "Leaving Things" (probably my favorite), "Natalya", and "Persimmons", and I enjoyed all the rest except for perhaps "Lemon Boy" as I felt it didn't really go anywhere and the horror was pretty limited and the entire story was exposition heavy. That said, not many other critiques from my end, except that some stories could definitely have been longer or more fleshed out because the ideas were so interesting and I'd definitely read novelizations of several of these.
This is a very promising debut effort and I can't wait to read more from Ghosh in the future....more
This is one of the most boring, slow, plodding books I ever read. Julia Armfield certainly had a vision here, I just think it was pretty poorly writteThis is one of the most boring, slow, plodding books I ever read. Julia Armfield certainly had a vision here, I just think it was pretty poorly written, very clunky, and with almost zero action for 300 plus pages. The final 10 pages take a certain turn that was far too abrupt, was poorly explained, and ultimately added nothing to the story considering nothing happened beforehand.
There are absolutely positive qualities and attributes this book has, but Julia Armfield simply isn't for me, and I think almost anyone could have made this a far better book. So slow, so boring, so meandering, utterly unbelievable how she has written two books in a row with so many words that ultimately end up saying SO. LITTLE. about absolutely anything....more
A tale of two halves - the first didn't fully work for me, but from about page 60 the novella took a turn I loved and ended utterly spectacularly. I gA tale of two halves - the first didn't fully work for me, but from about page 60 the novella took a turn I loved and ended utterly spectacularly. I get why people are divided on this book, and I would agree the tone is all over the place: some dense, flowery passages are interspersed with vulgar language and monologues that seem to come from the author more than the character we're following in this labyrinth.
I think it's intentional though, because even in a state of utter despair and depression there are so many modes we go through, from lucidity to anger to becoming an utter shell unable of expression. Who are we really when we are reduced to nothing but a husk of what we used to be? What paths can we take and what options are truly given to us? Is recovery even a possibility?
Coup de Grace is definitely a strange but thought-provoking piece of art that isn't without its flaws, but it embraces them fully and by the end the issues I had in the beginning made sense. Just a great book overall if you don't mind looking up some words you've never seen before....more