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annoyedhumanoid's reviews
176 reviews
Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
the author got me to sympathize with a mediocre middle-aged white man… quite the feat i must say
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
the perspective of the violent misogynist was underdeveloped, and then what was the point of all that. otherwise, i loved the characters and their dialogue
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
satire is really hard to do well i feel, but Yellowface manages it in the end. it was amusing to hear “i voted for Biden” replace “i voted for Obama” as the new questionable shorthand for antiracism.
why was i so riveted by the publishing industry! the in-depth account of the book release process somehow kept me engaged for some 300 pages. there was a lull in the middle with the constant twitter drama, but it picked back up for a solid ending.
the narrator is very convincing. reading her misdeeds gave me a feeling like i too was getting canceled online. when people didn’t smile back at the park i got anxious like they know. though i wish i better understood her motivations, what compelled her back to self-destruction every time. for someone who muses about Icarus, she really loved flying directly toward the sun.
Helen Laser did a great job on the audiobook.
why was i so riveted by the publishing industry! the in-depth account of the book release process somehow kept me engaged for some 300 pages. there was a lull in the middle with the constant twitter drama, but it picked back up for a solid ending.
the narrator is very convincing. reading her misdeeds gave me a feeling like i too was getting canceled online. when people didn’t smile back at the park i got anxious like they know. though i wish i better understood her motivations, what compelled her back to self-destruction every time. for someone who muses about Icarus, she really loved flying directly toward the sun.
Helen Laser did a great job on the audiobook.
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
i wasn't hooked by the plot and, rather than funny, i found the writing annoying, every emotional reaction expressed through some physical sensation. i loved Eleanor Oliphant and i see the similarities, but part of what makes her likable is her willingness to see good in people. in other words, she’s not a hater, but Jolene certainly is and that put me off from her narration. and the audiobook was read with forced woefulness that became overwrought quickly.
Three O'Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Carofiglio
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
short and sweet, i liked its digestible tackling of big conversations, and it was comforting to see a father-son relationship heal 🤍
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Police brutality, and Medical content
Moderate: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Fatphobia, and Grief
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
the way the audiobook was divided into forty-minutes chunks as if Sylvia Plath didn't write the book in chapters… and the same haughty piano melody each time… annoying
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
the ending was abrupt—if it had to end with our narrator stepping into an unknown future, why couldn't it have been her leaving the institution for the outside world again ? there was a lot of casual and even some overt racism, which i wanted to believe was an intentional character flaw that readers were meant to disapprove of, but the novel is way too autobiographical for that to be the case.
overall, though, i enjoyed the journey. my overachievement also culminated in a summer spent in new york city for an expenses-paid career incubator program only to realize i'm not cut out for any of it and get rejected for an opportunity i imagined would prove my worth, with incubation becoming intubation in the form of intensive psychiatric care. thank god they don't do electroshock therapy anymore.
overall, though, i enjoyed the journey. my overachievement also culminated in a summer spent in new york city for an expenses-paid career incubator program only to realize i'm not cut out for any of it and get rejected for an opportunity i imagined would prove my worth, with incubation becoming intubation in the form of intensive psychiatric care. thank god they don't do electroshock therapy anymore.
I plummeted down past the zigzaggers, the students, the experts, through year after year of doubleness and smiles and compromise, into my own past.
the way the audiobook was divided into forty-minutes chunks as if Sylvia Plath didn't write the book in chapters… and the same haughty piano melody each time… annoying
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
a man with the name brady regaling you with your flaws.. too real for me
i appreciated the email chapters for the insight into Alice and Eileen's friendship, but not for the philosophical commentary—it came off as lazy writing to explicate the novel's themes. at least it was in conversation, allowing for input and disagreement from another character.
i appreciated the email chapters for the insight into Alice and Eileen's friendship, but not for the philosophical commentary—it came off as lazy writing to explicate the novel's themes. at least it was in conversation, allowing for input and disagreement from another character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Blood, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
Unravelings by Sarah Cheshire
a triumph of narrative nonfiction. the constructed Title IX proceedings excelled as a storytelling device. i was wary of the apparently real screenshots turning this into a youtube video–style call out "(WITH RECEIPTS)"—which the author is certainly entitled to do, but this book didn't feel like the right place given the intention stated in the prologue. however, the screenshots were kept excerpted, contributing to the mood while leaving the desired ambiguity in tact. finally, the lines of verse breaking up the deposition: i didn't like them at first, but i realized they mirror trauma flashbacks—primitive, repetitive, evocative. my only criticism is for at times juvenile prose.
thanks storygraph for the recommendation! (via personalized similar books to The Idiot)
https://archive.org/details/unravelings0000sara
emotional
fast-paced
4.5
Doe has “panic attack” in Sylvia Plath section of the college library.
a triumph of narrative nonfiction. the constructed Title IX proceedings excelled as a storytelling device. i was wary of the apparently real screenshots turning this into a youtube video–style call out "(WITH RECEIPTS)"—which the author is certainly entitled to do, but this book didn't feel like the right place given the intention stated in the prologue. however, the screenshots were kept excerpted, contributing to the mood while leaving the desired ambiguity in tact. finally, the lines of verse breaking up the deposition: i didn't like them at first, but i realized they mirror trauma flashbacks—primitive, repetitive, evocative. my only criticism is for at times juvenile prose.
thanks storygraph for the recommendation! (via personalized similar books to The Idiot)
https://archive.org/details/unravelings0000sara
further reading: https://pankmagazine.com/2017/12/28/unraveling-trauma-title-ix-interview-sarah-cheshire/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Nimona by ND Stevenson
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
having watched the movie first, the source material felt less narratively satisfying. the ending was a little weak—what actually changed for Nimona? the art greatly improves after the first few chapters (the inconsistency would bother me if i was the artist but i’m trying to let go of perfectionism).
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
in the last book i read, Greta & Valdin, Valdin is praised for not being "one of those gay men who says awful things about women" and reading that i was like what! which gay men are those, i'll fight them. these are those gay men.
i was expecting a tragedy of forbidden love between expats in Europe, a proto–Call Me By Your Name, but that's not what this is. rather, Giovanni's Room is a character study of two lost men who come to depend on each other for purpose, until their foundations crumble. the pacing was excellent and the journey as bleak as it was for our characters. i was going to make fun of my edition's Tortured Poets Department–ass cover (black-and-white photo of subject posed in almost cartoonish angst), but it's actually quite fitting:David, our narrator, is the smallest man who ever lived. they're both terrible misogynists, don't get me wrong, but this one is literally an emotional terrorist (albeit unintentional, i believe).
i was expecting a tragedy of forbidden love between expats in Europe, a proto–Call Me By Your Name, but that's not what this is. rather, Giovanni's Room is a character study of two lost men who come to depend on each other for purpose, until their foundations crumble. the pacing was excellent and the journey as bleak as it was for our characters. i was going to make fun of my edition's Tortured Poets Department–ass cover (black-and-white photo of subject posed in almost cartoonish angst), but it's actually quite fitting:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Death of parent