august_ambrosia's reviews
50 reviews

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

4.0

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i will be rereading this so many times. good lord woolf writes so well. there was passages that i just read and reread and underlined because WOW. just flowed like poetry.. intense

The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde

5.0

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

SOO good i love love ocean's style of writing i want a copy of this immediately !!!!!

This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

wow. when they said unflinchingly honest they meant it. i feel strange talking about diaries being so interesting they had me hooked from the first page, but as someone who is applying to med this year i thought it was such a fascinating look behind the eyes of someone who had been in my shoes. 

also, if you don't have the stomach for blood or gore or death, don't read this book. or this next section of my review.

i showed my friend (non-medic applicant) an entry about a woman who attempted to eat her own placenta and she went a bit green. i also won't forget the graphic detail of kay's first death, or the woman diagnosed with cancer who he spoke with for 2 hours. i won't forget the woman who refused cancer treatment at 32 weeks to give her baby the best chance at life and who delivered at 37 weeks, spending only two weeks with the baby. how could you forget that? they're stories that just stay with you. the breaking point for adam kay is described so graphically and in just around a page. really, its more of the last straw than a breaking point.

i am comforted by the fact that i still want to do medicine. i lingered on the page where kay spoke about how much he loves what he does, despite the horrible long-hour-and-no-pay overtime shifts and absolute lack of a social life. i think its noble that he kept going through all of the unsupported horrors. i also think its noble that he knew when to stop. i think its especially noble that he published this and refused to be silent about the truth. i will be buying my own copy and annotating the hell out of it. i've learnt so much. there's still so far to go. can't wait to begin. 

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

cute as hell <3 would love to get my own copy so i can highlight all the bits about learning to love the simple things. the mystery was so lovely but at some point i realised i didn't mind if eleanor left it secret. her grief and trauma was handled really well. also my copy had book club questions which is always so so fun so my copy will be thoroughly annotated for those too! just heed the content warnings! this felt like pretty light reading to me but i could easily see how people would struggle at parts. take care of urself!

Pandora's Jar by Natalie Haynes

4.5

Hold Your Own by Kae Tempest

emotional hopeful reflective

4.5

absolutely amazing loved this so much. had me open mouth gaping at some pages. definitely want to listen to the audiobook i said a few poems to myself and they're all so well crafted and almost lyrical........ so vivid too <3

Wade in the Water: Poems by Tracy K. Smith

informative reflective

5.0

such a lovely collection of poems ! smith had me fully gasping in the library at all the metaphors and imagery. particularly loved "a man's world" and all the found poems - very clever and it didn't surprise me that the poet is poet laureate !!

Dear Child by Romy Hausmann

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

literally every content warning. please be careful. however i do recommend i read this in about 3 hours?? maybe 2. it was very interesting and tense i could NOT put it down & the crafting of the characters was just. amazing. the ending was sad but that was the point. thumbsup. solid thriller. and i usually hate thrillers.