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august_ambrosia's reviews
50 reviews
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
i gave 1.25 stars for plot 1.5 star for characters and 1 because i did love the concept.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
fun book! i did basically devour it in a few days umm i loved addie <3 i thought she was great i loved her spite and anger and i thought luc was infuriating!!!!!!! i had a few little nitpicky things about the plot - why does addie only stay in europe? why does she only know european languages? she has no opinion on politics? i suppose its not the point of the novel -- her driving force isn't politics or government or power. i loved the little bits of art at the beginning of each part and the links to beauty and loving life and the way addie worked within the confines of her curse so cleverly. i did love the writing style and how smooth it was to read :) all in all a very easy read and queer in a lovely understated way!
i gave 1.25 stars for plot 1.5 star for characters and 1 because i did love the concept.
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
didn't compel me :( also i can't really handle scary things. this was a bit scary/creepy
The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
woo the longest book of my year so far! i picked it up because i knew i would deeply resonate with the characters, being muslim and indian myself. i really wanted to enjoy this book, and genuinely i started off loving it. the characters are so human and make such human mistakes! however, there was moments i could tell that this was a debut. moments turned into chapters, and the last part of the novel was just... not it. (1) what happened with ehsan? was he or was he not attacked! why is it so relevant that he was not seen! (2) there was a lot of medical talk, and it felt slightly unrealistic at times! i dont know that people can stay in vegetative states for 10 years! and (3) zahra was so ... not nice !!!!! her reactions to saahils story felt SO unrealistic, and the story itself was sort of tricky to follow because saahil's narration said things that he hadn't told zahra, so it felt quite disjointed. so its uh 1 star for plot, 1 star for characters and half for a compelling story + idea.
On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf, Lieke Marsman, Nadia de Vries, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Lucia Osborne-Crowley, Audre Lorde, Deryn Rees-Jones, Mieke van Zonneveld, Sinéad Gleeson, Jameisha Prescod
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
5.0
gorgeous absolutely amazing collection of essays that i will be reading & rereading for a very long time. i love hearing older women talk :)
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
oh my god. easy 5 stars. ignore how long it took me to finish this book i was trying not to get invested and sob (it didnt work btw) but ooohh my god. o'farrell writes so BEAUTIFULLY. this is lyrical prose on another level. absolutely adored it i wanted to underline and highlight so many sections but alas i was reading in a library book. but i will be ordering my own !!!!! just... spellbinding. the way she describes everything so vividly, its like i can smell and see and touch everything. everyone feels so alive. the little note that the midwife had a jar of pennies at the bottom of the garden. we dont know her name but we know she wont tell anyone about them. everyone is SO ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!! there was something so terrible about reading it knowing the ending. (the ending that is on the blurb, btw. i didnt go in with any other 'spoilers') but its a beautiful exploration of grief and siblinghood and love!!!! and complex relationships, and flawed people, and a whole world is created with the tenderness of the descriptions. the cats and the boy with the monkey with the fleas. susanna!!!! the other women, and agnes. and the way we are told how to pronounce her name. and the horror with which the glover's son falls to the ground after reading his sister's letter about his daughter's illness. the description of grief is heart wrenching tbh. won't ever forget the passage where agnes considers her three children. susanna? at the neighbour's house. judith? upstairs. and hamnet? (he is dead) and hamnet? (he is dead, he is dead.) but hamnet? where is he? (and his lifeless body rests in her arms.)
but i will end this long, rambly review by just saying. ohhh hamnet. dearest hamnet. it shall not be. he wills it so. its a story about a boy who, full with love and life, does the impossible. and meets the inevitable.
but i will end this long, rambly review by just saying. ohhh hamnet. dearest hamnet. it shall not be. he wills it so. its a story about a boy who, full with love and life, does the impossible. and meets the inevitable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content
The Murder Game by Tom Hindle
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.0
YIPPEE i loved this no lie...... i did not realise that mysteries were so fun. i feel like towards the end there was plot twists every other chapter and it felt a bit like GASP oh GASP AGAIN??? AND ANOTHER THING!?? but if you like that sort of thing then i think this is definitely for you!!!! i honestly loved this i couldn't put it down. from the beginning to the end i was just captivated. loved the fun thing at the end, honestly i loved will as a character just completely. cute little sadboy <3 (hes not real so i can say that dw)
i'm trying to think why i wouldn't rate this five stars.. hm. get back to me on this. right now its a solid four but it would be incredibly fun if my first book of 2024 was a five star read. generally i dont rate books by white men that highly! but everything in this was so vivid and clear, and the multiple narrators was handled so cleverly and the reveal was just. chefs kiss. bit cliche to have everything solved in one confession, but thats murder mysteries for you. just once i'd like multiple murders to be absolutely unrelated. not a deal breaker though.
i'm trying to think why i wouldn't rate this five stars.. hm. get back to me on this. right now its a solid four but it would be incredibly fun if my first book of 2024 was a five star read. generally i dont rate books by white men that highly! but everything in this was so vivid and clear, and the multiple narrators was handled so cleverly and the reveal was just. chefs kiss. bit cliche to have everything solved in one confession, but thats murder mysteries for you. just once i'd like multiple murders to be absolutely unrelated. not a deal breaker though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Infidelity, Death of parent, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Bullying
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
good lord. its so refreshing to read something so unapologetically feminist. i have never loved a girl more than 16 year old medusa. the writing in this was so clever - i particularly loved the chapter where medusa's snakes talk about the moments before. and i wont pretend to have been able to keep my composure reading the words "she didn't want to hurt him." what a girl. oh darling :(
loved the narrator's voice and especially loved the discussion on what makes a hero and what makes a monster. i think with another narrator i would have cried at quite a few different points, but with this one i felt slightly detatched from the emotion of the tragedy. but it did consistently feel like a tragedy, and haynes so deftly navigates through the various stories and carries so much weight in just a few words.
definitely a book i will return to over and over again. excited to read more of haynes' work.
loved the narrator's voice and especially loved the discussion on what makes a hero and what makes a monster. i think with another narrator i would have cried at quite a few different points, but with this one i felt slightly detatched from the emotion of the tragedy. but it did consistently feel like a tragedy, and haynes so deftly navigates through the various stories and carries so much weight in just a few words.
definitely a book i will return to over and over again. excited to read more of haynes' work.
Lady's Well by L.J. Ross
lighthearted
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? No
2.5
solid c-tier book. aggressively average plot and pace and characters. the .5 is because i didnt realise this was the 20th book in a series with the same characters so part of that is my fault. however i dont think there's ever a need to make a book series this long. it gives authors an opportunity to give up on character development because they have a reliable audience and know they already love the characters they're seeing talk for 80% of the book. it felt very fanfic-y because of that. there was also a few untied plot threads at the end of the story but i didn't particularly feel compelled to be excited for a next story to see if they get solved either. anyway.