anna1isa's reviews
82 reviews

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

3.5

I ate this up. Impressively woven together gothic horror, fantasy, & romance. I do have a gripe with the protagonist as I found her on occasion too "poor me" and useless. Especially her talking about how ugly she is--how ugly is she really when Local Hottie wants her? But I also recognize how it makes sense for the character and in the context of the story so... forgiven.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

4.5

I loved this book, especially the last third. I found it to be a bit dense on worldbuilding at the start and wouldn't recommend to new sci-fi readers, but so worth the experience. Beautiful setting & characters, thoughtful exploration of gender & sexuality, and the relationship of the 2 protagonists was charming & magnetic.

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock

4.25

Beautiful story and I'm glad I experienced it as an audiobook. Janet's voice telling her own story was so immersive and intensified the pidgin/hawaiian slang/various accents of her childhood. As a memoir should be, it was a compelling blend of darkness & humor and painfully honest.

The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir

5.0

5 stars because the feminine rage spiral this book sent me into was so dramatic, so unrelenting, so seismic to the essence of my being. I journaled and cried about what this book did to me. The rage has since subsided into feminine complacency, but I still remember. Required reading.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

5.0

this is literally the brooding, noir detective, self-righteous, hot loner, dark & twisty female protagonist I have been WAITING for. Such a gripping story too, had me hooked the whole time. Easy win.

Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz

3.0

I liked the second half more, when the characters felt more fleshed out. I have a qualm with the number of characters, felt like a lot of insignificant peripherals--especially at the beginning. But still enjoyed the book and its perspective on womanhood, independence, and personal growth.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca

4.0

I'm about to read more horror because of this book thank you so much. Very unpleasant in the best way.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

2.0

I may revisit this review once it's more settled but I'd like to say NOW that the best part about this book is Miyazaki's interpretation in film. I would not recommend to people who, like me, are largely familiar with or fond of the studio ghibli movie adaptation. The characters here are comparatively shallow and unlikeable, especially Howl. Man, that guy stinks. Calcifer was somehow translated in both versions very similarly and he's lovely.

There were too many peripheral characters that I didn't care about and I simply cannot believe that Howl's major internal conflict/weakness in this book is that he's literally Welsh. I similarly cannot believe

Sophie and Howl end up together in the end, since it was so entirely unearned and unconvincing and honestly rotten considering how much of an asshole he was to her throughout the book.

 

Edit: I've returned and I'm lowering this review from 3 to 2 stars because my anger and disappointment with this book does not abate.

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

4.75

this book slays. bisexual representation.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

4.0

a lot of the characters are insufferable (intentional) but the protagonist is cool. interesting take on racial discussion for the modern day and in the form of a fun story!