blueberryhotel's reviews
49 reviews

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

well! didn’t expect to love this as much as i did but these characters are so incredible, their relationships and dynamics and growth so complex and real, the challenges they face so familiar, etc. really really beautiful and touching 

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I Must Be Living Twice: New and Selected Poems by Eileen Myles

challenging funny reflective slow-paced

3.75

eileen myles hive

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

going from the last book i read (which had stories that were written over a span ranging from 1893 to 1972) to this one practically gave me whiplash, the writing style is so different i almost really hated it at first but i acclimated quickly because the plot immediately sucked me in. it’s so suspenseful and action-driven that i couldn’t stop reading and finished it in about 4 days. the unreliable narrator trope emerged later in the book when i wasn’t expecting it, which added some interest, and i really felt lynette’s paranoia and hypervigilance leaching out of the pages into my mind. for a second there i thought i was going to hate the ending because

it seemed the author was going to throw away the feminist undertones and subverting-the-horror-genre approach in favor of a shocking twist

but he managed to defy my expectations once more at the very end which is impressive. at times could be somehow both predictable and confusing - i kept getting bogged down in the details and chronology of events - but overall a fun read

The Other Persuasion: short fiction about gay men and women by Seymour Kleinberg

challenging dark emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

this was a super interesting read; i really appreciated the chronology of stories that served as a retrospective on gay people in literature and therefore a reflection of their reputation in society writ large. it’s always fascinating and comforting (though often upsetting) to read perspectives from and/or on gay people throughout history and draw links to the present, noting how much has changed and how much has stayed the same. it was also fun to take on the challenge of reading older literature, where the prose can often be dense and i need to stop every few sentences to look up a word i don’t know. 
some of my favorite stories: mabel neathe, momma, my brother writes poetry for an englishman, two on a party, a step towards gomorrah, middle children
there’s a lot of tragic and unsavory material in here too, of course, and much to unravel re: race and class relations. important to keep in mind and reckon with while reading

Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction by Jack R. Hart

challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

3.25

maybe not exactly what i expected, looking for something more on the subject of creative nonfiction and finding instead a very journalistic approach to nonfiction, but informative and interesting nonetheless

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.0

really interesting but sooo depressing lol and kind of hard to follow / long-winded

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

i don’t even know where i would begin to review this book. all i’ll say is 1) this got me out of a rut where i was reading multiple books at once but finishing none of them and 2) i have a feeling dave eggers is about to become one of my favorite writers 

Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson

adventurous dark informative mysterious fast-paced

3.75

i know that lady is burning in hell