Scan barcode
book_club_cat's reviews
231 reviews
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I can’t even pinpoint why I liked this so much. Maybe the unique narrator, commentary on capitalism, social pressures… this was great!!!!
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Ahhh I LOVE the way Andy Weir writes about science. I had so much fun reading this and trying to guess how Grace would solve the problems presented. This may be my favorite book I’ve read in 2021 so far!
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
1.5
very capitalist and full of fat-phobia and privilege. If you need someone to tell you to suck it up, make a goal, and get shit done, fine, but that’s nothing new or revolutionary. Maybe skip reading about this white chick’s time in India and their opinions on how it’s your responsibility to make money and find another book. And if anyone ever talks about losing weight to feel sexier again I’m going to loose it. Oh and also maybe don’t put yourself in debt to buy a fancy Audi you don’t have money for because you need to live the life you you want to have- like what the hell kind of advice is that? Glad it worked for you Jen, but there are a million better ways to tell people to take risks and chase their dreams
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
2.0
I flipped between 2 & 3 stars and ultimately landed here because I really did like reading this book- I was engaged the whole way through and was appropriately spooked and scandalized. However, (spoilers ahead) the moments of sexual abuse and dialog on race felt very weird to me…. I loved the general idea going into the book- Patricia was gaslit repeatedly and the women all suffered under the patriarchal community they lived in and they had to believe in themselves and work together to fight evil- but Patricia, who is white, was the main focus of the story, and she and her friends basically neglected the black children in the story… it’s talked about and I think is supposed to be making a point, but it’s still kind of brushed under the rug as a mistake and the white women save the day. All of the women are pretty one dimensional too- Patricia the main character is a stay at home mom and her one trait besides that is that she likes reading trashy true crime books (and I felt like the descriptions of her house duties felt kind of condescending) and the black characters have even less personality. Mrs Green is a housekeeper and has Christmas decor in her house. That’s it. That’s the only black character with more than a couple of lines. Considering the author chose to write about feminism and race it felt very white savior-y and white centric. After reading those parts I was kind of confused because for some reason I had naively assumed due to its popularity and the subject matter a woman of color had written the book, but when I read those parts I googled it to confirm because of how I was feeling and was super surprised to see it was written by a white man. I haven’t figured out yet what I think of those parts of the book, but writing about the female sexual abuse and betrayal of the black community felt very inauthentic and if I picked up on that just casually reading, I feel like there’s more to be said. Overall it kind of felt like someone taking a feminism class in college and this was their final project or something. I know the characters are supposed to be imperfect and sort of like caricatures of southern mothers, but it still felt like it missed the mark.