arieslofi's reviews
88 reviews

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

dark informative slow-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

3.5

como character study é incrível. a repetição, no entanto, torna-se muito exaustante. gostei de forma geral, gosto imenso de character studies em geral, e especialmente de personagens de merda, por isso até aí tudo bem. as descrições chegam a ser um bocadinho de mais, como já disse, mas nada que me fizesse parar. o problema aqui, para mim, foi o facto de o grenouille ser o equivalente a uma mary sue. ele literalmente não tem qualquer fraqueza. chega a ser frustrante e tirou-me da imersão várias vezes.
acho que o subtítulo de "história de um assassino" faz sentido mas é, também, enganadora. eu já tinha visto o filme (que adorei, mas já foi há alguns anos, vou revê-lo hoje), por isso sabia que o livro não iria conter assim tantos homicídios. no entanto, do que me lembro, no filme, os assassínios são bastante mais impactantes. aqui, são apenas uma nota de rodapé na vida do grenouille. achei engraçado no fim o narrador dizer que os pensamentos não são o forte da personagem principal, quando ele pensa imenso durante o livro, mas enfim.
p.s.: quero só anunciar que este livro estava na minha tbr e que tinha visto o filme já porque, no 8º ano, a minha professora de português se virou para mim e disse que eu tinha cara de quem iria gostar do livro. ainda hoje sinto que foi um meio insulto a chamar-me de edgelord mas que se pode fazer?

The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

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informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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sad 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

2.5

it was sweet but the repetition made it super hard to keep reading cause it felt like it dragged when it really didn't. not just the repetition of the stories, but the constant description of what the characters were wearing and the female characters felt... off? i guess. which isn't too surprising given a man wrote them but y'know. could have tried.

Content Warnings

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

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dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

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dark medium-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? It's complicated

1.0

1 star for the interesting premise. i would have been more fulfilled had i not read this book. i would have instead read something good, something not written by someone who took a creative writing course once and applied everything their teacher loved to their debut novel. i refuse to believe this was edited. had it been so, this would have been half of its actual length, if even that.
do you wish to read this book? truly? with your very stupid heart? okay. here's what the entire book is like, repeated throughout 200+ pages, as recreated by yours truly:
She was Nightbitch and she wanted to taste blood, to run free, to feel the wind in her matted, unbrushed, unkempt hair, dirt under her fingernails. She was a dog. But she couldn't tell anyone, they'd think she was crazy. Mentally ill. They'd think these doggy games with her son were abuse, or worse. The working moms didn't get it, so perfect, perfect teeth and perfect clothes and a perfect life she too once had, now down the drain thanks to the child. She loved the child. But she hated him too. She hated her husband more. Couldn't he understand her? Wasn't she worthy of his care? It made her angry, rage bubbling from deep inside her gut, near her womb, that sad, rotten organ. And with anger, she wanted to taste blood.
Just throw in a small and very obvious G-d stand in that is still explained to you, despite how obvious it is, that in the end doesn't truly matter at all (none of this book does, really).
TL;DR: Set back feminism by its lonesome. Congrats.

Content Warnings