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bookishflaneur's reviews
230 reviews
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
this book was brilliant and made me giggle and laugh in all the best ways but why did the ending have to hurt so much and why was it the the exact situation i’m in rn.
Bunny by Mona Awad
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Bunny is a dark and brilliant satire. It reads like a fever dream, spiralling and throwing you around and never explaining anything to the point that you understand. The writing style is compelling in the way of dark academia books and this book are me alive. It’s dark and shocking with underlying satiric commentaries on art and relationships, desire and the idea of perfection.
The novel is set in and around a prestigious arts school. The cohort of the four bunnies and samantha are so brilliantly
and meticulously crafted. The bunnies were alluring objects of morbid desire and the disparity created between these characters and samantha was striking. the book was hallucinogenic and mystifying and frankly i don’t know enough to be able to understand and criticise the intentions of the author. it was a very surreal read that i consumed in a few short sittings but that i will definitely never forget.
The novel is set in and around a prestigious arts school. The cohort of the four bunnies and samantha are so brilliantly
and meticulously crafted. The bunnies were alluring objects of morbid desire and the disparity created between these characters and samantha was striking. the book was hallucinogenic and mystifying and frankly i don’t know enough to be able to understand and criticise the intentions of the author. it was a very surreal read that i consumed in a few short sittings but that i will definitely never forget.
Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine And Myth in a Man-Made World by Elinor Cleghorn
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pizza girl was a book that really hurt to read. it’s about the unraveling of a young pregnant girl as she struggles with alcoholism and with her mental health and it’s not romanticised or lyrical but it’s raw and ugly and punches you in the gut. having her character as the unreliable narrator through whom i viewed the narrative was both extremely effective - especially with the short length of the novel i think it definitely pullled at my emotions more in this way - but it also really hurt.
pizza girl, jane, is pregnant and delivering pizzas and this woman, jenny, unknowingly changes the trajectory of her life. jenny becomes the object of her attention in every waking moment, replacing every stale feeling and every dull thought. it’s obsessive; the way this young girl clutches at the idea of being a part of this woman’s life, driving past her house without being called. she starts to crack as her alcoholism worsens spurred on by her dads death and finally shatters in a terrifying and devastating event.
pizza girl was crafted meticulously - it’s simple in its language but so effective. it hurt to pick up and it hurt to put down and it’s truly a great piece of literature. it’s short which definitely helped my attention span but this definitely doesn’t mean it is lacking.
pizza girl, jane, is pregnant and delivering pizzas and this woman, jenny, unknowingly changes the trajectory of her life. jenny becomes the object of her attention in every waking moment, replacing every stale feeling and every dull thought. it’s obsessive; the way this young girl clutches at the idea of being a part of this woman’s life, driving past her house without being called. she starts to crack as her alcoholism worsens spurred on by her dads death and finally shatters in a terrifying and devastating event.
pizza girl was crafted meticulously - it’s simple in its language but so effective. it hurt to pick up and it hurt to put down and it’s truly a great piece of literature. it’s short which definitely helped my attention span but this definitely doesn’t mean it is lacking.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous rearranged something in me. it’s a fragmented yet somehow whole narrative: memories and vignettes aren’t sequential thoughts but occurrences, invasive. i felt a penumbra of emotions throughout this read that was discomforting and devastating - but in a way that calls to you. this book says, here we’re trying to define ourselves. to find ourselves. to make sense of the violence from which we were born and see that there was still beauty there.
the short novel is a son’s letter to his mother, who cannot read but wants to know; what is writing? how do we unravel ourselves onto a page? what are these combinations of letters and words that attempt define the complex nature of our existence and history? to be a writer, answers little dog through the structure of this book, is not linear but meandering and both the good and the the devastating are of consequence. reading this book felt like capturing and examining one snowflake at a time - some similar to others, but few and far between - and trying to make sense of the world of white that is slowly enveloping your field of vision.
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is a wrenching narrative that deals with being a child of the vietnam war, of being a first generation immigrant, of discovering a queer identity. it’s about how our identity and our history simultaneously complete us and wear at us, and how our existence is so vivid for such a small fragment of time that.. on earth we’re briefly gorgeous
i fucking loved this book.
the short novel is a son’s letter to his mother, who cannot read but wants to know; what is writing? how do we unravel ourselves onto a page? what are these combinations of letters and words that attempt define the complex nature of our existence and history? to be a writer, answers little dog through the structure of this book, is not linear but meandering and both the good and the the devastating are of consequence. reading this book felt like capturing and examining one snowflake at a time - some similar to others, but few and far between - and trying to make sense of the world of white that is slowly enveloping your field of vision.
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is a wrenching narrative that deals with being a child of the vietnam war, of being a first generation immigrant, of discovering a queer identity. it’s about how our identity and our history simultaneously complete us and wear at us, and how our existence is so vivid for such a small fragment of time that.. on earth we’re briefly gorgeous
i fucking loved this book.
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
3.25
carmilla is a story of infatuation and obsession and it’s perfect to be consumed at night with candlelight and on one sitting. this is a lesbian vampire story that PREDATES DRACULA and it’s perfect gothic literature sprinkled with a queer plot line that i loved. it’s groundbreaking because of when it was written and there’s so much to talk about yet it’s also not a complex story so it’s fairly easy to follow along with the language. i would say it’s a really accessible classic because of this and it’s something you can get really sucked into for a short period of time. this book feels like how the month of october would feel and i love that. it’s dancing around the monsters in the dark and occasionally darting in for a kiss. laura and carmilla, the two main characters, are so curiously obsessive over each other in the most enthralling way and i loved it. the setting was also vivid in the way that only gothic novels and high fantasy books can achieve. while it personally won’t linger too much in my mind i did really enjoy it and it was a solid read.
This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
So I want to go to medical school. And this was the first non-fiction book I decided to pick up for wider reading to see if I was genuinely interested and if this would be the right path for me. I’m really really glad that I read this and have begun to understand just what life as a health care worker is like; truly there are some horrors in this book that I never would have imagined, and I’m really glad this book opened my eyes to just how difficult the life of a junior doctor will be if I choose to follow that path. Despite this, I really do think that becoming a doctor is something that will fulfil me.
The book is well structured and a perfect balance of comedy with describing the exhaustion and trauma that comes working in a hospital ward. This was such a good read and is definitely going to make me think in a lot more detail about the career I choose to pursue in the future.
The book is well structured and a perfect balance of comedy with describing the exhaustion and trauma that comes working in a hospital ward. This was such a good read and is definitely going to make me think in a lot more detail about the career I choose to pursue in the future.