bookedbymadeline's reviews
934 reviews

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I’d been longing to read this book because of friends who raved about it but it fell short sadly. It was really slow paced, and the long chapters made it hard to read for longer periods of time.

The highlight of the book was the food descriptions 🤤 don’t read this on an empty stomach though! I also marked quite a few pages with well written (and sometimes relatable) quotes.

The main characters are quite complex, and often morally ambiguous. I could relate to them occasionally or understand where they were coming from, while other times I deeply disliked them 😂 Also we suddenly get to know Reiko and get her POV at one point which only felt forced and random. But otherwise I loved her infertility storyline as I could deeply relate to it.

Now my expectations going into this were a problem at first. I knew very little about the synopsis and went in based on various summaries I’d hear from others. So because I went in knowing the bare minimum, and I guess I was expecting more of a “chase” like a Killing Eve or Hannibal situation, I felt let down. The Crime aspect gets a little lost, like how is this labeled a literary crime/thriller? It’s mainly a litfic focused on misogyny and food (which I did enjoy those parts but if you’re gonna sell me crime, GIVE ME CRIME!!

it’s suggested maybe she had a partner but then it goes nowhere?!

Eventually I let these expectations go and just went along for the ride.

I did enjoy the explorations of gender roles and misogyny in contemporary Japan, I felt like I learned a lot about the culture and food with Butter! And again, the food descriptions were deliciously detailed.

As the story goes on, it could drag at times. There were moments that were overly descriptive or had too much telling over showing, so that certainly didn’t help. Plus this book could’ve been 100-150 pages shorter and had the same outcome/message for the reader.

Overall it wasn’t what I hoped for but was still enjoyable enough. If you liked the discussions of society’s expectations for women in Japan in Convenience Store Woman then you’ll like this, it goes a lot deeper than that book! I’d also recommend if you’re a big foodie 🧈 But fair warning don’t go into this expecting crime/thriller/mystery as that was more of a back burner sub-plot.

Content Warnings

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I marked so many pages, immediately pulled in by Bennett once again! She is officially an auto buy author for me 💗

I loved following these characters, they’re complex and well written! We get to know them so well as we follow their lives throughout the years. I loved the way the story was told through “the mothers!”

I really related to Aubrey at times especially later in the book. Bennett has a wonderful way of creating her characters and breathing life into them!

It was thought provoking and emotional, with a perfect ending and all I can say to sum up my feelings is: Omg the writing 😭😍

TW/CW: adult/minor relationship, pregnancy, abortion, death of parent, suicide, domestic abuse, rape (brief mention), alcohol (specifically underage drinking), violence, infidelity

Rep: Muslim minor character, Filipina minor character, Black MCs and author, white side character, lesbian side characters

Content Warnings

Dust Tracks On A Road by Zora Neale Hurston

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slow-paced

4.0

Loved the writing style, so poetic and paints a picture of Hurston’s life and surroundings! It felt like I went on the journey of her life alongside her. Read like a novel at times the way she told her stories and shared her vivid imagination! Her autobiography is also full of humor and insight.

Dust Tracks on a Road discusses her childhood, schooling, research that led to her creating Folk concerts (to share folk songs and music of West Indies) and interviewing the last slave brought to the US, her travels around the US and Caribbean, writing her novels, and her faith.

Aside from learning about Hurston’s life, I also learned about the slave trade in Africa and the creation of Eatonville (which was the only fully Black town in the US)! I tabbed a lot of pages because like Their Eyes Were Watching God, there were many beautiful quotes.

Sometimes jumped around in time so could be confusing with the non linear narrative, and chapters were really long for my taste. Like many books that tell non linear stories (like anthologies and short story collections) I preferred some chapters over others.

Also found out upon finishing that many of this is fabricated or toned down! Apparently the publishers wanted to appeal to a white audience (its giving Uncle Sam “Too loud, too reckless, too…ghetto”) so much of Hurston’s real life story and thoughts are missing 😭 I felt disconnected from her and confused sometimes at the way the stories were written, so now it makes sense when her OWN story is forced to be heavily edited!

Overall it was a beautifully written story that allowed me a closer understanding of Hurston but one that didn’t go as deep as I expected thanks to her shit publishers.

Content Warnings

Pride and Prejudice and the City by Rachael Lippincott

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.

I was so bored 😭 I couldn’t care less about these characters and the telling over showing. Lucy sounds way too modern and Audrey feels like a one note character

Sycorax: a captivating reimagining of Shakespeare's most powerful witch by Nydia Hetherington

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.

I loved that this was dedicated to chronically ill and disabled spoonies! A Feminist Retelling of The Tempest, where we get to hear from Sycorax who in the play isn’t present except in reference, and is long dead at the time of the play.

I love retellings and wanted to love this but unfortunately I couldn’t finish the book. While the writing is beautiful, it’s very slow paced and I never felt engaged by the story or characters. The feminism aspects are very “feminism 101” which is fine but not groundbreaking or something that stuck out. And a nit picky moment was the author talking about a mountain lion, calling it a mountain lion, but then goes on to describe a lion 🙃

There are many others who’ve loved the book so I’d recommend trying it and maybe it’ll be a better read for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus for the eARC

Shut Up You're Pretty by Téa Mutonji

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I read this for my Reading Around the World Challenge/Book Club for the DRC! However this was set in Canada which I wasn’t expecting 🥲

Synopsis is misleading as hell-this wasn’t a collection of short stories but actually a sort of short novel with vignettes about one character, a Congolese immigrant, Joli. The chapters jump around her life sharing stories throughout her adolescent and early 20s. Each story could stand on its own while also painting a wider picture of Loli’s life experience!

Poetic storytelling that had me highlighting a lot but full of difficult content. The characters are complex and well written, many of their actions were sad and disturbing so that made it hard to “enjoy” so to speak.

I loved getting to know the wedding traditions of Congo and learning snippets about their culture! I read this in a single day; it was so engaging, raw, and melancholic.

I also read an article after interviewing the author and learned this: “Food, spices, and scent are common things to notice in Congolese culture. It’s something that we notice when we visit each other’s houses. You can tell the difference between tribes or regions based on the way they make their food, or the warmth of their homes, or how much sugar they put (if they do) in their beans.” I loved finding that out and knowing this it added to the cooking scenes and gave another glimpse into Congolese culture throughout the stories!

I’d recommend this if you enjoy stories that explore generational trauma, queer identity, immigrant experiences, and coming of age

TW/CW: addiction, sexual content, pedophilia, police brutality, xenophobia, alcohol/underage drinking, suicide, sexual assault, drug abuse, death of parent, pregnancy, abortion, alcoholism, infidelity

Rep: black MC and author, bi MC?, trans minor character

Quotes I loved:

"’What is the difference between this and a genocide?’ she asked.

Nobody knew, but everybody understood.”

“I don't know why he was always so kind to me. I couldn't tell if it was genuine or sexual. I tried not to make everything about sex, every act of kindness, ever well-wish, every hello. But you go through life being touched, you go through life being looked at, you go through life with an uncle commenting on your breasts, or your brother's friend giving you a condom for your birthday then denying it, you go through life being called a cunt on public transportation, you go through life being followed at midnight, you go through life being told you're pretty, you're pretty, you're so fucking pretty—it gets complicated.”

“Maybe growing up in a silent house had made me an expert at hearing the crack in things”

“‘You're leaving?’

‘Well, Dyl, yeah.’

‘You can stay until you find a place. You can at least stay the night. Or maybe you don't have to leave at all?’

I love this so much about men. How they can hate a woman and still want them. How they confuse fucking for an ‘I'll you see later.’”

“She went through life like someone who wanted to get hurt.”

“There was just something so funny about childhood-how it attempts to prepare you for the slaughter. How it fails-how it is decorated like a nursery.”

Content Warnings

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

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challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.5

After loving Such a Fun Age, I was really excited to read Kiley Reid’s newest book! It has a slow start but you’re quickly pulled in by these character’s lives. We get switching perspectives from Millie, Agatha, and Kennedy (all told through third person).

Things slowly pass by as we watch the characters unfold, until things all come crashing down! At first I didn’t know where this novel was going but wow did it keep me engaged and invested.

All the characters are morally grey but of course some are more unlikeable than others (Tyler, and Robin were completely unbearable 😅). But I love that, I think it made people more interesting! I love how quietly Reid introduces social commentary but part of me felt like I wasn’t completely understanding it at times. There were a lot of pop culture references and brand name dropping occasionally too which I normally hate but I didn’t mind as much because I was so sucked into the story and characters lives. I also think the brand name dropping added to the commentary of the characters being money obsessed and how our society views certain brands!

I also wish we got to know the characters a bit more but overall I loved Reid’s writing and she’s officially an auto-read/buy author for me!

Rep: Lesbian MC, Black MC and side characters and author, Bi MC, gay side character, indigenous side character

Content Warnings

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

Follows the Pennington siblings, told through third person POV and mainly through Dimple. I didn’t always like her, she was really self centered and would get offended when other people pointed it out. I wish we saw more from the other siblings too! I felt disconnected and a little bored with the repetitive, telling over showing nature of the story plus being in third person it made it harder to have that emotional connection with every character.

However I did enjoy that each character felt different and unique! They all had their own traits to make them stand out and keep me interested in reading about the family.

In terms of writing style it could be too much telling over showing at times, like telling us about the characters traits instead of letting us learn about them through action. This also led to feeling repetitive in the character’s actions or issues. We constantly have Dimple crying, Prynce being a player, Lizzie being blunt, Nikisha being bossy, and Danny cracking jokes. As we get later into the novel, it felt like they had nothing else going for them and were never going to develop some sort of growth!

The story was also more sexual than I expected or wanted going into the book. I’m okay with spice sometimes if it’s well written and I know about it going in, but for a non-romance book this had some unexpected spicy moments that felt out of place for the rest of the book 😂

Finally, the resolution for the Kyron storyline could’ve been resolved waaay sooner; it was so dragged out for no reason just to be resolved the way it was! I loved how unexpected it was when I went into the book but it quickly got tedious.

It wasn’t bad but I definitely prefer Queenie!

Rep: Black characters, mixed race characters (1 half white and half Black, 1 south Asian/indian and Black), sapphic character

Content Warnings

Old Soul by Susan Barker

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Thank you NetGalley and Fig Tree for the eARC!

An unsettling literary horror novel! I really liked the premise and felt pulled in right away. The novel is split into “testaments” from a lot of different characters and a present day timeline following “The Woman” which made this feel more like a collection of short stories rather than a cohesive novel. Especially because our narrator isn’t always present and I felt as if we didn’t get to know any of the characters seeing as we only spend 1 chapter with them, leaving me feeling detached from everyone.

There were some testaments that were fantastic and others that fell flat for me, I often preferred the ones with the most horror/creepy elements.

By the second half, it started to drag and my interest was wavering, especially with the last couple of “testaments”🙃 I also was disappointed slightly in the ending; the epilogue felt unnecessary and feel it would’ve been stronger to end with the final chapter instead. There also wasn’t any dialogue punctuation so it could be confusing at times but eventually I became used to it.

Overall it had a lot of potential and started off well but eventually felt like it went on too long and lost a lot of the horror aspects. I’d recommend this for literary fiction readers as opposed to horror fans seeing as the horror elements get lost in later chapters 🤷🏻‍♀️

TW/CW: death of parent, death, animal death, infidelity, incest? (Implied), cancer, body horror, ableism, alcoholism, depression, suicide attempt (brief mention), domestic abuse, suicide, child murder, drug use, sexual content

Rep: gay narrator/MC, biracial minor character, Japanese side characters, Chinese minor character, indigenous side character, bi side character

Content Warnings

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.

So unbelievably boring for a “thriller” 🙃 I could not care less about these characters especially Elin who is so stupid for a detective. Over 100 pages in and nothing is happening aside from the same repetitive “I don’t trust my brother” “I’m having a panic attack” moments. This book is all telling, no showing with way too much going on and none of it is interesting.

YOU HAVE A CREEPY OLD SANATORIUM USE IT!!! The setting and creepy vibes with an isolated locked door mystery are all there and yet goes unused and removes any potential for tension. While it’s easy to read I’d rather not suffer through this idiocy one more minute and risk a reading slump

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bookedbymadeline's reviews 934 reviews

bookedbymadeline's reviews
934 reviews