aimeenotpond's reviews
122 reviews

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Did not finish book. Stopped at 49%.

I want to see these sapphics kiss but I had to return this to Inverness Library before uni which seems pretty homophobic honestly.

Medusa of the Roses by Navid Sinaki
Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.

NetGalley ARC Review:

An intriguing, raw novel that should be more prosaic and could be less sexually explicit.

Despite the captivating premise of hypocritical homosexuality and gender laws in Iran, the book’s sensory aspects are far more prominent than its plot. The second-person narrative is, in my experience, rarely successful but Sinaki’s prose lends itself perfectly to its use - I think because it reads more like poetry than a novel. That, along with a beautiful narration from Michale Crouch, kept me listening to this audiobook longer than I may otherwise have. Still, I didn’t feel motivated to go back to this after about 50%, which is usually as long as I give ARCs to capture my attention. 

I could see myself picking this up again in the right setting; I feel like it would lend itself well to a languid, stickily hot summer’s day. But that’s the main appeal of such a literary novel as Medusa of the Roses: it’s a mood read. I am not currently in the mood to listen to more descriptions of come. But maybe some of you are. 

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.

I absolutely overestimated how many books I could get through before Oxford… obviously will come back to the quintessential Oxford book at some point though! 

Happy Place by Emily Henry

emotional lighthearted

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Maybe someeeee second-chance romances are okayyyyy...

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

We love a depressing, queer, uni campus read for September!

The Marches: Border walks with my father by Rory Stewart
Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.

I WANTED to but I cannot get through all these library loans before Oxford. </3

And the Sky Bled by S. Hati
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.

NetGalley ARC Review:

The new-adult, cli-fi novel And The Sky Bled, from author S. Hati, is not a bad debut. Unfortunately, it’s one I didn’t feel inclined to finish. 

The book’s opening chapters are rushed, full of heavy-handed exposition that is devoid of emotive detail. Emotionally sparse world-building could be used throughout to convey the characters’ desensitisation - but, at this point, we don’t know Hati’s characters well enough for that to work. Instead, an onslaught of geopolitics and side-characters’ names ironically make the world feel too large all at once, disengaging the reader early on. 

This sort of pacing feels like it should fit a YA audience but imagery like that of the fleshy gash in the sky is too gory for that. Similarly, that central image wasn’t executed as well as it could have been: Hati seems to treat it as another part of the world she needs to explain rather than use. It is mentioned, then left in the story, in the same way that the politics of Tejomaya’s colonialism are: quickly, obviously, shallowly. 

Of the three main characters, despite being saddled with confusing political jargon, Anastasia’s chapters were by far the most entertaining to read. She was the most unpredictable, where Zain fell flat and Iravan acted too immaturely. Still, Hati’s tendency to ‘tell’ the audience about her characters rather than show them makes them less sympathetic: too often it took me out of the story to read such redundant and unrealistic conversations.

In general, the lack of impactful world-building felt like smog from the fire which blankets the plot. I kept reading, looking for more - more intricate characterisation, more ideas about the world’s layout, or how its bleeding sky came to be. 

But the smog remains, choking the world and the characters alike.

Lessico famigliare by Natalia Ginzburg

4.0

Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg

4.0

Witchcraft: A Graphic History: Stories of wise women, healers and magic by Lindsay Squire

3.0

Edelweiss ARC Review:

Expecting a history of female persecution in rural Britain, I was a little taken aback at the author’s assertions of ‘real’ witchcraft. The read is a little jarring for a sceptic like myself. Still, I held that it was more interesting to keep reading about this woman’s beliefs - how they intersect with absolutely real history and common modern practices in witch groups - than to close the pages with a scoff. 

This is not a persuasive argument as to the existence of witches and magic: the author knows her own beliefs. This is a history of the world she has clearly immersed herself in - subject to the reader’s suspension of disbelief.

The graphics are enchanting; some are simpler, as though to reflect the Irish countryside where our story takes place, but the design flourishes are present in the female characters’ depictions. Clearly care has gone into the curation of this book’s overall design.

Though for the most part a cute read with a young adult tone, it is worth mentioning that Chapter 4 denotes historical witch trials across the Western world, rather explicitly describing and depicting executions in what is otherwise a kid-friendly book.

Overall, this is an interesting, quick read (with obvious darker undertones) for anyone at all curious about witch-y rituals; one I might decorate my coffee table with in October, an autumnal conversation starter, or use with older kids to introduce them to unconventional ideas about the existence of magic.