Scan barcode
arieslofi's reviews
88 reviews
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
3.5
i've never watched anything with mccurdy in it, so nothing in here particularly changed the way i view her as an actress or her characters, and i'm sure people who have dealt with these things and had her as a childhood icon are going to be more touched than i was. it's a very engaging memoir, extremely easy to read and short enough that i managed to read it in two days, which is a feat for me. however, her sentence structure isn't always the best, the humor feels forced and off beat with jokes that just aren't funny, and there's some repetition that makes me roll my eyes a little bit. there's a lack of editing in here that i feel would improve the book immensely. still, good for her. glad she's doing better and etc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Child abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, Cancer, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts
Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Ableism, Rape, Incest, Gore, Death, and Eating disorder
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Human Acts by Han Kang
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child death, Death, Violence, and Torture
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- 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
5.0
he just like me fr
Chainsaw Man, Vol. 9 by Tatsuki Fujimoto
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
im going to kms over this i am never recovering bring him back i say
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
dark
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Medical content, and Rape
Moderate: Child abuse and Ableism
Minor: Abandonment
On Rape by Germaine Greer
fast-paced
2.0
it feels very muddled and surface level. there are instances of victim blaming that rubbed me the wrong way, there's a lot of "this is what a real victim is" bullshit too, that i loathe. i don't think greer has ever been assaulted by a family member, or she wouldn't be so adamant on victims exposing those who have hurt them.
i did enjoy some of it, it had good observations here and there: "Once upon a time everyone knew what rape was; it was the stealing of a woman from the man or men who owned her", "If a man punches you in the eye, you are not expected to have pleaded with him not to for the crime to be accepted as an assault. If you are sitting at your cash register and someone demands the cash in it, you will not be accused of consent if you simply hand it over.", and "Rape is not a sex crime, but a hate crime." specifically.
however, this particular part made me extremely uncomfortable and upset with it: "If the women who complained in 2002 and 2003 had stuck to their guns these two women might still be alive."
how poor of a feminist you have to be to imply it is their fault that two women were killed. only to talk about how men hate women so much after. they did not kill them by retracting their statement, the killer did by taking their lives. shameful shit.
i did enjoy some of it, it had good observations here and there: "Once upon a time everyone knew what rape was; it was the stealing of a woman from the man or men who owned her", "If a man punches you in the eye, you are not expected to have pleaded with him not to for the crime to be accepted as an assault. If you are sitting at your cash register and someone demands the cash in it, you will not be accused of consent if you simply hand it over.", and "Rape is not a sex crime, but a hate crime." specifically.
however, this particular part made me extremely uncomfortable and upset with it: "If the women who complained in 2002 and 2003 had stuck to their guns these two women might still be alive."
how poor of a feminist you have to be to imply it is their fault that two women were killed. only to talk about how men hate women so much after. they did not kill them by retracting their statement, the killer did by taking their lives. shameful shit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Rape
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
i really wanted to love this but the writing was juvenile and abrupt, with many short chapters and short sentences that don't allow yourself to be fully immersed in the story; the characters felt one dimensional (notably the side characters, but also salama and kenan); the plot twist fell flat and made me laugh from how just downright dumb it was; khawf made no sense at the end (you have ptsd induced psychosis, your hallucinations don't magically disappear); the romance aspect did absolutely nothing for me and felt extremely rushed (mentioning that they were supposed to get married felt such a cheap trick to excuse this); the studio ghibli references, the repetition of "a might life" as well as green eyes, smelling like lemons, and the pace being horrid proves that the editor failed at their most basic job.
there were parts i enjoyed and overall it is a story that should be told, but it is just not the book for me, ya hater and all.
also, as a the book thief lover, this book is nothing like it in any way, shape or form apart from the fact it takes place in the middle of a genocide. you expect me to believe that this ya written juvenile shit is even comparable to one of the most beautiful pieces of written fiction? fuck off.
there were parts i enjoyed and overall it is a story that should be told, but it is just not the book for me, ya hater and all.
also, as a the book thief lover, this book is nothing like it in any way, shape or form apart from the fact it takes place in the middle of a genocide. you expect me to believe that this ya written juvenile shit is even comparable to one of the most beautiful pieces of written fiction? fuck off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Blood, Medical content, Mental illness, Child death, and War
A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.0
i'm going to start with a small preface: i do understand why others would like this book. i do understand why people think this is a nice, light, comforting read. it's a no brainer, it's virtually got no stakes whatsoever, it's a ya with a love triangle. it's mindless fun. i get it! i like mindless fun too! good mourning by mgk and mod sun is one of my favorite movies!
that being said: this book is utter shit.
for starters, it's got a larger ensemble than it can possibly handle. you're writing a book for tweens, not the next agatha christie novel! when we got to the twist, i genuinely couldn't care because, with such a big cast, these two characters are virtually meaningless. they hold nothing for me.
speaking of, the characters are all so two dimensional it's not even funny. the amount of internalized misogyny coming from our main character is utterly insane, especially considering this is a book for TEENS(!!!) and came out in 2017. were we not better then? did we genuinely think a good female character shits on others for no reason other than jealousy and insecurity? you guys talk shit about twilight and bella being a "mary sue" but at least she was a girl respecter! the ensemble in general just sucks, it's spread too thin and the silly nicknames for the two brothers just made me sigh. i know this isn't for adults, but it truly did not feel endearing, just childish.
the two love interests are the classic brooding and sarcastic older guy and the sweet and protective same aged friend, which is just boring. nothing about them seemed interesting to me, and their chemistry with sophie was nonexistent. the forced moments of jealous banter were also just cringeworthy, nothing new or even plausible.
the plot itself is... something. it starts as a completely nonthreatening book, then i guess they told the author it wasn't going to sell well, so she had to throw in thriller elements that are boring and uninteresting, and then a thriller ending that is boring and uninteresting.
this also might be because of the translation, but the writing itself was pure garbage. why are there constant cliffhanger endings to the chapters? this isn't goosebumps. why is there constant lampshading that convinces me the author shoehorned the thriller aspects after her editor told her to? why is some of the dialogue so forced and unrealistic? who the fuck is pierre? literally who is that? i never went back to check because that's not my fucking job! it's your job to make me remember a character if you're going to make him be in the twist ending! which was ass, by the way. you can tell it's coming from miles away, and i'm not even a big thriller/mystery reader anymore.
tl;dr: too big of an ensemble, characters that are too shallow, writing that is too juvenile and borderline childish, cringeworthy dialogue and interactions. simply put, a waste of a whole month and space in my phone!
but it wasn't red white and royal blue, so it gets a pass for that. it could be worse!
that being said: this book is utter shit.
for starters, it's got a larger ensemble than it can possibly handle. you're writing a book for tweens, not the next agatha christie novel! when we got to the twist, i genuinely couldn't care because, with such a big cast, these two characters are virtually meaningless. they hold nothing for me.
speaking of, the characters are all so two dimensional it's not even funny. the amount of internalized misogyny coming from our main character is utterly insane, especially considering this is a book for TEENS(!!!) and came out in 2017. were we not better then? did we genuinely think a good female character shits on others for no reason other than jealousy and insecurity? you guys talk shit about twilight and bella being a "mary sue" but at least she was a girl respecter! the ensemble in general just sucks, it's spread too thin and the silly nicknames for the two brothers just made me sigh. i know this isn't for adults, but it truly did not feel endearing, just childish.
the two love interests are the classic brooding and sarcastic older guy and the sweet and protective same aged friend, which is just boring. nothing about them seemed interesting to me, and their chemistry with sophie was nonexistent. the forced moments of jealous banter were also just cringeworthy, nothing new or even plausible.
the plot itself is... something. it starts as a completely nonthreatening book, then i guess they told the author it wasn't going to sell well, so she had to throw in thriller elements that are boring and uninteresting, and then a thriller ending that is boring and uninteresting.
this also might be because of the translation, but the writing itself was pure garbage. why are there constant cliffhanger endings to the chapters? this isn't goosebumps. why is there constant lampshading that convinces me the author shoehorned the thriller aspects after her editor told her to? why is some of the dialogue so forced and unrealistic? who the fuck is pierre? literally who is that? i never went back to check because that's not my fucking job! it's your job to make me remember a character if you're going to make him be in the twist ending! which was ass, by the way. you can tell it's coming from miles away, and i'm not even a big thriller/mystery reader anymore.
tl;dr: too big of an ensemble, characters that are too shallow, writing that is too juvenile and borderline childish, cringeworthy dialogue and interactions. simply put, a waste of a whole month and space in my phone!
but it wasn't red white and royal blue, so it gets a pass for that. it could be worse!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Misogyny
Moderate: Incest