biblioleah's reviews
275 reviews
Cannonball by Kelsey Wroten
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Death Valley by Melissa Broder
3.0
This was an overall very enjoyable read! My main critique lies with it feeling like it was far too long and dragged out, which resulted in me feeling like I was rereading the same chapter for about 40% of the book. I feel like this could have been edited down to the most phenomenal, weird, psychologically riveting novella. The themes of care work, addiction, grief and loneliness were so intriguing and yet with how much (extra) space there was in this book, none of these themes really felt fleshed out to their full potential. Perhaps I just prefer more succinct stories, but if there was less time spent literally being dragged through a desert I feel we could have really meditated on what promising material was already there. I will say, the characters were maybe my favorite part of this story as the dialogue was incredibly humorous and I would have never thought proper characterization could be given to rocks and succulents and roses, but it somehow worked. I also want to take some time to say how much I enjoyed the more weird and bizzare parts of this book that made you really question the main character's reality (even if I personally think the last major magical realism moment was a bit of a cop out and jumped the shark too much for my liking). Every scene that had to do with the giant cactus? Marvelous, hilarious and perplexing. I just wish that the story as a whole worked better for me pacing wise.
Thank you to NetGalley for the early review copy!
Thank you to NetGalley for the early review copy!
Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories by Agustina Bazterrica
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
just… incredibly mediocre and i could not find enough interest to finish the collection. got half way through and could not tell you one memorable story or moment.