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16 reviews
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
All my homies hate Agamemnon!
Book is beautifully written. It’s a challenge to write this time period in a way that’s still easy to consume but this book definitely accomplishes that. It’s also super difficult for me to keep up with a lot of characters, but the descriptions and callbacks were so good that I rarely had to look back at the character list (which is also helpful)! I do feel like some scenes and details could be cut. While the book wasn’t especially long, it took me longer to get through than I expected. Overall I would recommend this to anyone interested in Greek mythology and/or female rage, with the caveat that you should definitely read the content warnings first.
Book is beautifully written. It’s a challenge to write this time period in a way that’s still easy to consume but this book definitely accomplishes that. It’s also super difficult for me to keep up with a lot of characters, but the descriptions and callbacks were so good that I rarely had to look back at the character list (which is also helpful)! I do feel like some scenes and details could be cut. While the book wasn’t especially long, it took me longer to get through than I expected. Overall I would recommend this to anyone interested in Greek mythology and/or female rage, with the caveat that you should definitely read the content warnings first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, and War
Minor: Bullying, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Classism
I listed a ton of content warnings, yes, but most of them overlap for the same scenes and passages. The book is pretty honest about the treatment of people in this time, particularly women, so there are a lot of traumatic topics. I struggled with the amount of SA occurrences, but not so much that the book wasn’t worth it. Much of the book is dark, but moves on quickly and the end leaves you with some spark of retribution.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
R.F. Kuang does not miss!! You are going to HATE June Hayward, but you are going to love this book. It almost reads like a mystery where you’re in the mind of the criminal, waiting to see whether she will get caught (and hoping she will).
I actually started noticing so many stories like this one coming up on Twitter while I was reading. We always wonder, with these celebrities who go off the rails with bigoted rhetoric, how their thought process works and how they get to such a place. Yellowface shows you just that. I can’t tell you how many times I was screaming at the page and wanted to type out an argument just like I would online.
The book also shows an interesting peek into the publishing world in almost a meta way (except we would never want to relate R.F. to June). This is a struggle we readers don’t have to think about too often! We just lap up the books with no real appreciation for the fight that goes into getting honest work onto the table.
I only take off half a star for this book because the ending wasn’t my favorite.Candice’s actions felt hard to believe and out of nowhere. I truly thought Athena’s “ghost” would just be June descending into madness in consequence to her own choices and struggles.
I actually started noticing so many stories like this one coming up on Twitter while I was reading. We always wonder, with these celebrities who go off the rails with bigoted rhetoric, how their thought process works and how they get to such a place. Yellowface shows you just that. I can’t tell you how many times I was screaming at the page and wanted to type out an argument just like I would online.
The book also shows an interesting peek into the publishing world in almost a meta way (except we would never want to relate R.F. to June). This is a struggle we readers don’t have to think about too often! We just lap up the books with no real appreciation for the fight that goes into getting honest work onto the table.
I only take off half a star for this book because the ending wasn’t my favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol
The Winter King by C. L. Wilson
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
I am so shocked that no one is talking about how problematic the themes in this book are. We start out with very incestuous tones from the very beginning before Khamsin is even an adult. And then we have Wynter. At first I thought he seemed like a decent dude. But then I started seeing red flags in the way he talked about the princesses as objects at his disposal. There is a power dynamic there that gets extremely concerning. But I kept reading. And then I got to the part where he meets Khamsin. This section was absolutely appalling. He doesn’t know this girl, thinks she’s a maid, and shoves his crotch against her. He then proceeds to feel up her chest and think disgusting things about her, all while she’s screaming for him to let her go. The author knew what she was doing too, considering Wynter literally has to tell himself he’s not a rapist, but then continues touching and kissing her anyway, thinking to himself that she likes it. It’s textbook sexual assault. I am so upset that people think this is okay, and beyond that actually think it’s sexy. CONSENT IS SEXY. I read romance to escape the real men of the world and see men who actually care about women and see them as human! And that can still involve consensual dominance! I am in no way a prude, I just don’t think assault is hot. Good writers know how to create sexual tension without making it non-consensual. I can’t trust the people who recommended this book at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Child abuse
Do not read if you don’t want to read about a male lead sexually assaulting a female lead!
Babel by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
Such a beautiful book. I started out expecting dark academia with some social commentary and was taken on a journey so much further than that. I’ve rarely loved a protagonist so much as I loved Robin. My heartstrings were tugged in every direction.
Despite being about language and often delving into etymology, the book is in no way pretentious. It’s quite the opposite. Accessible literature is the key to liberation and Kuang shows us that with both the character’s journey and with the book itself. At times I did wish some footnotes were simply in the text above, as I lost my place every time I checked one. However, the footnotes did bring an even more intimate touch to the book and were sometimes helpful.
If I really scrape my brain to find anything not to like about the book, it is only in lack of setup for some key plot points. First, Letty. That witch. I’m not going to say I didn’t expect her to turn on them. Of course I did. But I felt it would have been more in character for her to simply turn them over to the police or call her dad and never show her face until the end. Killing Ramy??? (cried forever btw) I get she was in love with him, but she just doesn’t seem like she’d have it in her to directly do it. I mean that to say she’d take the cowardly way, but still betray them by turning them in. Even with that being said, I 100% agree with hammering in the point of the privileged white woman who will do anything to look like the victim while destroying others.
The other part I felt needed a better setup was Robin and Victoire’s storm on Babel. It felt a little underwhelming and to be honest I don’t think so many people would be so easily convinced to go along with occupying the building, especially not Craft who we had never heard express discontent with Babel before, even though she knew everything they were doing. And I didn’t really get why they were so protected from the police. I know why they couldn’t kill them, but why couldn’t they enter the building? Not questioning the plot at ALL here. I think it’s so important to show strikers as the assets they are. Just commenting on some things I felt were a little confusing. All in all, these comments are just me coming up with the only tiny complaints I possibly could! The book is incredible!
Despite being about language and often delving into etymology, the book is in no way pretentious. It’s quite the opposite. Accessible literature is the key to liberation and Kuang shows us that with both the character’s journey and with the book itself. At times I did wish some footnotes were simply in the text above, as I lost my place every time I checked one. However, the footnotes did bring an even more intimate touch to the book and were sometimes helpful.
The other part I felt needed a better setup was Robin and Victoire’s storm on Babel. It felt a little underwhelming and to be honest I don’t think so many people would be so easily convinced to go along with occupying the building, especially not Craft who we had never heard express discontent with Babel before, even though she knew everything they were doing. And I didn’t really get why they were so protected from the police. I know why they couldn’t kill them, but why couldn’t they enter the building? Not questioning the plot at ALL here. I think it’s so important to show strikers as the assets they are. Just commenting on some things I felt were a little confusing. All in all, these comments are just me coming up with the only tiny complaints I possibly could! The book is incredible!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and War
Minor: Slavery
The list of content warnings seems long, but most of these things are tied intrinsically into the class themes in the book, on large scale and personal level. I’m very sensitive to triggering content and there were only a couple parts of the book that were hard to read. I try to include all content warnings to help people like me, but don’t be scared away from this book at all! Kuang handles everything in the best possible way.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.0
I seem to be in the minority in my feelings about this book, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
First, the positives: Donna Tartt is an incredible writer and the book is undoubtedly well-written. The dark academia vibes are there if that’s what you’re looking for. The imagery is so vivid. I felt like I could clearly see the campus and visualize all the characters, which typically isn’t easy for my nd brain. It was a page-turner for me despite how slowly things moved (though I wonder if that is because I kept turning, hoping to find what everyone was raving about).
Now, for the negatives: After hearing the reviews for this book, I went in expecting pure dark academia with layers of mystery and intrigue (one reviewer said it was like “grown up Harry Potter”; my expectations are not Tartt’s fault). I expected suspense and plot twists around every corner. But, to be honest, it didn’t take long to be able to predict what was going to happen at each turn. Yes, the characters seem at first to be unpredictable, but in reality they turn out to be entirely predictable to the point of being a cliché. So okay, maybe suspense and plot are not the purpose of the book. In that case, what is? When I finished the book, I was so confused. Was that really it? They supposedly have this obsession with Greek, but everyone except Henry seems hardly interested in it at all. So what are they forming their cult around? Henry himself? Boredom? None of them had an ounce of remorse, only fear of consequences. It felt like they were a group of sociopaths. Was this some commentary on privilege? If so, then why were only two of the characters actually rich? Why can’t the less-privileged ones see any horror in what they’re doing? Many people said that they found the characters likable at first and slowly realized how horrible they were, but that wasn’t the case for me. They had their moments, and certainly they were intriguing, but they always seemed horrible. And strangely all alike, with none of them except Bunny feigning disapproval of the wild decisions being made. Maybe they aren’t meant to be realistic characters, but a representation of this addiction to superficial aesthetics? If so, that point wasn’t really driven home for me. I am searching for anything substantial to get out of this, but sadly I haven’t found it yet.
First, the positives: Donna Tartt is an incredible writer and the book is undoubtedly well-written. The dark academia vibes are there if that’s what you’re looking for. The imagery is so vivid. I felt like I could clearly see the campus and visualize all the characters, which typically isn’t easy for my nd brain. It was a page-turner for me despite how slowly things moved (though I wonder if that is because I kept turning, hoping to find what everyone was raving about).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Incest
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Medical content
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
adventurous
fast-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
4.75
This book got me out of a reading funk! It’s inspired by multiple fairytales but not in a gimmicky way. Reads like lore and the world is so beautiful!! I loved Eammon’s character so much and thought the romance with Red worked so perfectly. My only complaints are that I didn’t really enjoy Neve’s POV and the voices between her and Red weren’t different enough. I know we needed to see the other perspective throughout, but I was always excited to get back to Red’s POV. Still such an incredible read!!