aquamarinecadet's reviews
79 reviews

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

a better ending than its predecessor! :D

Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A terrifically gruesome children's book. I would not recommend gifting this book to children who still believe in Santa, fairies or the sort, it would quite literally break their dreams into brittle little pieces and pound them into bloody ashes :) 
Which makes this book a great read for 10+ year olds who know a bit about WWII, and who used to like fairytales (or maybe still do)
I for one, liked this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, War

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Der Zopf by Laetitia Colombani

inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Die Putzfraueninsel by Milena Moser

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming

Minor: Torture, Abandonment

Les fils de la poussière by Arnaldur Indriðason

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Le démon de la colline aux loups by Dimitri Rouchon-Borie

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

La boule au ventre tout le long, j'ai failli pleurer à plusieurs reprises. Ce livre m'a simultanément achevé et ramené à la vie, c'est difficile à décrire? :)))))))))) 

Il faut un peu de temps pour se familiariser avec le style d'écriture très particulier, mais on s'y fait: l'histoire du narrateur est une histoire débilitante, à la fois vide et pleine d'humanité, et sans ce style d'écriture, on perdrait une dimension fondamentale du récit-->

Le "parlement" du narrateur, et sa manière particulière de réfléchir, tous deux des conséquences d'une vie comme celle-ci: "imaginez-vous sous l'eau depuis le jour de votre naissance à retenir votre respiration en attendant une bouffée d'air qui ne vient pas ma vie c'est ça."     

 

!! Faites gaffe à la liste exhaustive de trigger warnings de ce livre avant de le lire

 Si vous voulez avoir un petit aperçu : 
 

 
"Si on m'avait demandé mon avis j'aurais dit que je vois pas comment aggraver un viol c'est comme aggraver un meurtre une fois qu'on est mort on est mort" 
"Je disais à la nuit tu ne me feras pas peur j'ai plus noir que toi dans mon enfance."

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Violence

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

key sword bee feather heart bunny honey love star?

Miss Morgenstern keeps her signature multiple-narrative-splayed-out-chronological-and-spatial-setting writing style (if you haven't read The Midnight Circus yet, read it first before reading this one), but takes it up a notch. Maybe too far of a notch? 
The cast of characters was very endearing, and the story had me absolutely hooked. But the overload of symbols didn't seem to symbolize much other than mystery and enigma + give cues as to which cast of characters we were dealing with, which was kind of disappointing. 

The usage of "m-word" also irritated me, but that's completely subjective.

!! Quite a few interesting things were said about censorship and information conservation though, so despite all my nitpicking, it was totally a worthwhile read.

Les fils du pêcheur by Grégory Nicolas

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

"Je n'ai pas tenté de le consoler. Je pensais que ça lui faisait du bien de laisser couler les larmes. Peut-être que ça m'arrangeait aussi de ne pas me livrer. Il pleurait pour nous deux. Et ça coulait tout le long de ses joues."

Je comprends pourquoi ce livre a gagné le grand prix des lecteurs pocket.

Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast by Oscar Wilde

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.5

Filled to the BRIM with Mr. Wilde's aphorisms. Many noteworthy quotes, and many hot takes that are very much debatable (as they should be)

"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm saying" resumes this little booklet perfectly :D