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asterope's reviews
285 reviews
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moshfegh is my queen of unlikeable yet fascinating characters. And delicious writing. I flew through this, despite the lack of solid plot. It follows a few days in the life of a young woman in the 60s as she plans to run away.
There's a slow build of foreshadowing, as the book is narrated by present day Eileen. So she hints about where she ends up, what would happen later that evening, etc. We get plenty of melancholy details of her earlier life and family to explain why she's…like that. Moshfegh's writing is so smooth, I found they flowed well and didn't feel shoe-horned in.
Eileen is odd to say the least. I appreciate how Moshfegh portrays a typically unlikeable protagonist with such visceral detail. We learn so much about her personal hygiene and intrusive thoughts. The grossness of it all is part of this book's charm for me. There's no shying away here.
The very last plot development didn't quite work for me, but that's okay. Eileen told us she would run away right from the start, so I'm glad the ending didn't suddenly twist that around or anything. I haven't read the reviews but I'll check out the film adaptation as well. I remember seeing the trailer but I didn't realise it was based on this book! Excited to continue with the next Moshfegh after a break.
Famous Men Who Never Lived by K. Chess
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
The idea of refugees from a parallel timeline suddenly arriving in our world is fascinating, along with being able to pinpoint when the timelines split. This book is more literary than scifi though - an exploration of the refugee experience through this concept.
This reminded me of Station Eleven and the other related ESJM books. It also has in-universe literature as the focal point, with snippets appearing throughout. I liked what we got of these, but I couldn't quite make the link with the main story. Most of it went over my head.
Another similarity is the writing - it's just as smooth and intimate. I found it easy to grasp what's going on with the characters early on. The main character Hel is not particularly likeable, but you can empathise with why she's like that. I still enjoyed reading her story. It was like a slow-moving car crash you can't look away from.
I liked this book, but I can't imagine it'll stick with me. It was missing a stronger thread that stitches all the vibes together. Things just kind of...happened. And then the ending turned out more dramatic than expected. I thought the book was just going to peter out, but there's a strange plot development right at the end that doesn't quite work. It seemed like it was tacked on at the last minute. I'll keep an eye out for more of the author's work though because I really enjoyed their style.
This reminded me of Station Eleven and the other related ESJM books. It also has in-universe literature as the focal point, with snippets appearing throughout. I liked what we got of these, but I couldn't quite make the link with the main story. Most of it went over my head.
Another similarity is the writing - it's just as smooth and intimate. I found it easy to grasp what's going on with the characters early on. The main character Hel is not particularly likeable, but you can empathise with why she's like that. I still enjoyed reading her story. It was like a slow-moving car crash you can't look away from.
I liked this book, but I can't imagine it'll stick with me. It was missing a stronger thread that stitches all the vibes together. Things just kind of...happened. And then the ending turned out more dramatic than expected. I thought the book was just going to peter out, but there's a strange plot development right at the end that doesn't quite work. It seemed like it was tacked on at the last minute. I'll keep an eye out for more of the author's work though because I really enjoyed their style.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 8 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
4.5
I'm so happy to see the first class mages again. Methode is a babe. That conversation about patting Frieren's head was one of my favourites of the whole series. Frieren's satisfied smirk once she got her hands on the grimoire. I love these nerds.
This series really knows how to cut out padding, but keep in valuable and quiet character-building moments. The fights in this one were sick, can't wait to see them on screen!
The End of August by Yu Miri
slow-paced
2.5
There's a great multi-generational family drama in here, but it's somewhat held back by the writing. The details of life in Korea during the Japanese occupation were fascinating and heart-wrenching. However, the story would have truly flourished without all the onomatopoeia and confusing POV switches.
The story is centred around what I believe is a fictionalised history of Yu Miri's grandfather. The character is named Lee Woo-cheol - he has a talent for running and was born under the Japanese occupation of Korea. The book is mostly set in Miryang, following Woo-cheol, many different members of his family, and other associated characters. The last quarter rushes through to when Yu Miri herself was born.
The choices in style frustrated me. Large sections of the chapters are written as streams on consciousness with lots of repeated onomatopoeia. So it's broken thoughts with "inhale, exhale" or such repeated throughout. I found this difficult to follow, and it doesn't get easier.
The romanised Korean bothered me too. To be clear, I'm happy to see untranslated Korean, but not when a non-speaker can't translate it for themselves. If it remained in hangul at least we could have run it through a translator app or something. It meant that I couldn't understand a decent portion of the text, unless I re-typed it all out in hangul first, but who has the time. This may not bother everyone but it bothered me. I learned a few words from context, but I don't get why they put the effort into romanising it.
In the first half of the book, I felt the dark treatment of women was glossed over by the narrative. It seemed romantic rather than disturbing. The book leans too hard into sympathising with a misogynistic character who had children with three different women, especially after we see his mother's anguish during his father's infidelity. I'm not sure how much is fictional though, considering the character is based on Yu's grandfather. It's an odd read because of this, but if the author had anything further than this to say about her grandfather, I didn't get it from the text.
The scope expands after Woo-cheol leaves Korea. Then we follow his brother Woo-gun and a young girl who is tricked into becoming a comfort woman. This part of the book is beyond harrowing. A massive warning to anyone thinking of reading this book - it contains very graphic details of the experiences of a comfort woman, so be warned. This book is deeply disturbing at times.
The chapters following this girl are broken up by smaller ones of ajummas gossiping back in Miryang. This is what I mean about random POV switches. The flow is so uneven, it felt like an odd choice when the main topic is something so serious.
In the second half, I started to lose the narrative. It's less family history and more Korean history, but not written in way that makes sense following what's already happened. Long passages about Korean anti- colonial heroes are inserted into the narrative, also breaking up the flow. It seemed like the author was adding things that are part of a different non-fiction book about Korea during the occupation. I get her overall point, but a story about Woo-cheol and his family would have been enough to portray this time period. This book could have been like 300 pages shorter and still been great.
The last 30% has so many different POVs of people related to Kim Won-bong (a real historical figure) and/or Lee Woo-cheol, and they just dive right into it without explanation of who they are. It's very confusing. Plus this last part of the book, after Japan exits Korea, is rushed. Through all these random POVs, we zip through the rest of Woo-cheol's family line to reach Yu Miri's birth. But it's a blur and mostly in that stream of consciousness style, so I didn't take in much here. I do like that it ended with another ritual though. That was the one stylistic choice I enjoyed - the literal script of Yu participating in the shaman ritual.
The emotions here are incredibly intense, and I get the general picture, but many of the details included in this story escaped my understanding. Much of the style didn't agree with me, which led to skimming. It was a frustrating experience because I can see there's a great historical story here, but it was so muddled by the writing.
The story is centred around what I believe is a fictionalised history of Yu Miri's grandfather. The character is named Lee Woo-cheol - he has a talent for running and was born under the Japanese occupation of Korea. The book is mostly set in Miryang, following Woo-cheol, many different members of his family, and other associated characters. The last quarter rushes through to when Yu Miri herself was born.
The choices in style frustrated me. Large sections of the chapters are written as streams on consciousness with lots of repeated onomatopoeia. So it's broken thoughts with "inhale, exhale" or such repeated throughout. I found this difficult to follow, and it doesn't get easier.
The romanised Korean bothered me too. To be clear, I'm happy to see untranslated Korean, but not when a non-speaker can't translate it for themselves. If it remained in hangul at least we could have run it through a translator app or something. It meant that I couldn't understand a decent portion of the text, unless I re-typed it all out in hangul first, but who has the time. This may not bother everyone but it bothered me. I learned a few words from context, but I don't get why they put the effort into romanising it.
In the first half of the book, I felt the dark treatment of women was glossed over by the narrative. It seemed romantic rather than disturbing. The book leans too hard into sympathising with a misogynistic character who had children with three different women, especially after we see his mother's anguish during his father's infidelity. I'm not sure how much is fictional though, considering the character is based on Yu's grandfather. It's an odd read because of this, but if the author had anything further than this to say about her grandfather, I didn't get it from the text.
The scope expands after Woo-cheol leaves Korea. Then we follow his brother Woo-gun and a young girl who is tricked into becoming a comfort woman. This part of the book is beyond harrowing. A massive warning to anyone thinking of reading this book - it contains very graphic details of the experiences of a comfort woman, so be warned. This book is deeply disturbing at times.
The chapters following this girl are broken up by smaller ones of ajummas gossiping back in Miryang. This is what I mean about random POV switches. The flow is so uneven, it felt like an odd choice when the main topic is something so serious.
In the second half, I started to lose the narrative. It's less family history and more Korean history, but not written in way that makes sense following what's already happened. Long passages about Korean anti- colonial heroes are inserted into the narrative, also breaking up the flow. It seemed like the author was adding things that are part of a different non-fiction book about Korea during the occupation. I get her overall point, but a story about Woo-cheol and his family would have been enough to portray this time period. This book could have been like 300 pages shorter and still been great.
The last 30% has so many different POVs of people related to Kim Won-bong (a real historical figure) and/or Lee Woo-cheol, and they just dive right into it without explanation of who they are. It's very confusing. Plus this last part of the book, after Japan exits Korea, is rushed. Through all these random POVs, we zip through the rest of Woo-cheol's family line to reach Yu Miri's birth. But it's a blur and mostly in that stream of consciousness style, so I didn't take in much here. I do like that it ended with another ritual though. That was the one stylistic choice I enjoyed - the literal script of Yu participating in the shaman ritual.
The emotions here are incredibly intense, and I get the general picture, but many of the details included in this story escaped my understanding. Much of the style didn't agree with me, which led to skimming. It was a frustrating experience because I can see there's a great historical story here, but it was so muddled by the writing.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 7 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe
4.25
Post-anime content, yay. More cute Fern faces and deepening character relationships. I love how so many people in this series just say exactly what they mean. It's one of the reasons I find it so refreshing.
I loved how the mage exam arc ended - seeing all the different bonds that were forged, and glimpses of who the examinees are outside of the exam. I hope we see them again soon.
Although, this volume has probably my least favourite chapter of the series: The Hero of the South. I can handle all the links between the original journey and Frieren's current quest (the narrative makes it clear why), but the idea of this rando telling Frieren her future irritated me. I felt it cheapens her eventual decision to join Himmel and journey with him. Why can't she just decide that, rather than doing it because this hero guy told her what happens. I'm going to pretend this chapter doesn't exist and hopefully it doesn't get referenced again.
Anyway, apart from that I loved all the bonding between the gang. The panel of them having an onsen foot bath together was too cute.
I loved how the mage exam arc ended - seeing all the different bonds that were forged, and glimpses of who the examinees are outside of the exam. I hope we see them again soon.
Although, this volume has probably my least favourite chapter of the series: The Hero of the South. I can handle all the links between the original journey and Frieren's current quest (the narrative makes it clear why), but the idea of this rando telling Frieren her future irritated me.
Anyway, apart from that I loved all the bonding between the gang. The panel of them having an onsen foot bath together was too cute.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
funny
reflective
sad
4.5
A weird fever dream of a book. I'm not sure what drew me to this, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, the narrator is an unlikeable narcissist. I got past that pretty quickly - the slick writing gives us a clear picture of who she is up front, so this didn't put me off. The book wouldn't have worked if it was about a likeable protagonist we could root for anyway. And she's clearly depressed. She decides to drug herself into sleeping for an entire year, emerging reborn as a new person. I suppose if you're not a fan of unlikeable characters, this book isn't for you.
The author's writing is unbelievably captivating. There's not too much plot going on (considering the whole sleeping thing), but honestly, I would have enjoyed it even if it had less plot. The way places are described (Reva's cluttered apartment), or the weird details of Dr Tuttle and her fat tabby. Every little thing the narrator bought from the bodega. The early 2000s of it all. So bizarrely fascinating. I am very much looking forward to reading more of her work.
I did find the ending was a little quick. It was obvious what would happen, but maybe one more chapter could have made this part more natural. But I liked this a lot more than I expected. And now I'm worried I'll hate the adaptation! I don't trust a man to make this movie. But oh well, I can always come back to the book. I have a feeling I'll reread this and enjoy it even more the second time.
The author's writing is unbelievably captivating. There's not too much plot going on (considering the whole sleeping thing), but honestly, I would have enjoyed it even if it had less plot. The way places are described (Reva's cluttered apartment), or the weird details of Dr Tuttle and her fat tabby. Every little thing the narrator bought from the bodega. The early 2000s of it all. So bizarrely fascinating. I am very much looking forward to reading more of her work.
I did find the ending was a little quick. It was obvious what would happen, but maybe one more chapter could have made this part more natural. But I liked this a lot more than I expected. And now I'm worried I'll hate the adaptation! I don't trust a man to make this movie. But oh well, I can always come back to the book. I have a feeling I'll reread this and enjoy it even more the second time.
The Invisible Hotel by Yeji Y. Ham
dark
emotional
tense
4.0
A unique take on how modern Koreans are dealing with the generational trauma from the war. Very haunting and dreamlike - literally. The main character is plagued with bizarre, feverish dreams of a hotel.
These were the weakest part of the book for me. I felt the themes were clear from Yewon's waking experiences, and the dreams confused me. They were too abstract.
Other than that, the book was haunting. The bones in particular - they caught me off guard at first, and gave me chills whenever they were referenced subsequently. The family relationships were well portrayed and I could easily imagine them as real people. A solid 4 stars.
These were the weakest part of the book for me. I felt the themes were clear from Yewon's waking experiences, and the dreams confused me. They were too abstract.
Other than that, the book was haunting. The bones in particular - they caught me off guard at first, and gave me chills whenever they were referenced subsequently. The family relationships were well portrayed and I could easily imagine them as real people. A solid 4 stars.