caitsidhe's reviews
992 reviews

Stop Looking At My Tiny Town by Evan Doherty, Arcane Bullshit

dark funny fast-paced

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

3.75

funny, inimitable Arcane Bullshit style

The Devourers by Indra Das

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is incredible. Filthy, profane, erotic, sad, thoughtful. It reminds me of THE LAST WEREWOLF (https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/7b7bf378-1763-40d3-bd05-ce27032d9fcf), a book I also very much enjoyed - and if you loved that you'll love this, and vice versa.

Ascension by Nicholas Binge
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

writing style not working for me

See What You're Missing: 31 Ways Artists Notice the World – and How You Can Too by Will Gompertz, Will Gompertz

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

Enjoyable and inspiring, but given that the cover said 'and how you can too' I would have liked some exercises to train this artistic observation? Still, it was a good book.

Nettles by Adam Scovell

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

dreamlike and desperately sad account of the effect of childhood violence with a maybe real, maybe not folk horror element

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

sad and enraging, but nuanced. The contrast between the poverty in which Henrietta's family still live, unable to afford medical care, and how much some of the labs manufacturing her cells are making is appalling. 

On balance, I am glad that Henriettas cells were taken and have saved probably millions of lives by now. I just think she and her family deserved better and more respect.

The Future Future by Adam Thirlwell

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

You can tell it's *literary*  because it doesn't use speechmarks and because these 17th century girls and women talk like the author imagines modern teenage girls do.

I understand perfectly what it's trying to do. I just don't think it does it well.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.

I've liked other stuff by Novik but IDK, this just didn't grab me

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Enjoyable, with good spooky atmosphere, but let down by a too obvious and neat ending and a very obvious Meaning

The Sussex Devils: A True Story of the 1980s Satanic Panic by Marc Heal

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

very solid memoir with an infuriated, in-depth, nuanced look at the satanic panic and the life-long trauma it caused everyone it touched.