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bratatouille's reviews
159 reviews
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
2.0
I do not enjoy pandemic books and wasn’t aware this was one when I began. I creator whose opinions I care about recommended this book and I may need to reassess her choices. The female lead goes on a plethora of personal tangents unrelated to anything critical. The love interests admit their love within two weeks at the big age of 38 years old. They also decide to live together in that time. Groundwork is laid for possible character growth but you never actually watch any significant developments happen. I’ll admit it’s a fun sought-after trope to have the celebrity you ogled after for a short time span email you years later during a particularly low point in their life! However, that should remain fan fiction trope! I was in no way convinced of the chemistry or compatibility of these two characters. At most, one of them has been to a lot of therapy and learned to communicate and the other is funny.
PET by Akwaeke Emezi
2.25
This accomplishes what it sets out to do. I’d even argue that it does it well. This book is essentially the “society if leftists took over” that right wing people are so afraid of. It discusses the demons that live within people who know and love and how impossible it can be to identify them. It normalizes gender queerness, non cis-het relationships, accessibility, and has a fuckin cool/scary angel creature. The reason the rating is so low is because it has the Barbie Movie problem. Everything is perfectly spelled out for the reader because it’s meant to introduce them to broad strokes of clear concepts. As someone who is not new to any of these topics, I found it to be like reading a middle grade woke book. Which is good for new audiences but I am not that; so it impacts my experience. All of the conflict was predictable, even down to the character responses to it. Similarly, the resolutions were underwhelming. I like some of Emezi’s writing and do believe this story holds a lot of merit. It just wasn’t intended for me.
Why Are People Into That?: A Cultural Investigation of Kink by Tina Horn
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
This is told largely through personal experience and holds very little actual data or fact. There’s a whole section where the author explains a concept using an odd reader x author imagine instead of third party imaginary characters.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read a lot of weird books but this is probably the most peculiar one I’ve read in a while. A young mother turns into a dog but only kind of and also not at all in a werewolf way. It was a crazy dive into the feral and beastly woman. There’s violence and some unsettling behaviors, but nothing that would be odd for a common stray dog. I’m struggling to articulate the experience of this book. It’s hard to determine what’s real and what’s in her head. Despite this, you can’t deny with the results she gets. Her relationship with other characters is interesting because of how unreliable our narrator is. Her experiences with her son, her husband, and other mothers and dogs feels questionable. If you liked Bunny, this is an equally bizarre and brutal dive into female culture. I highly recommend it. I guess they’re making a movie?