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chocopankek's reviews
77 reviews
China Room by Sunjeev Sahota
4.0
Going into reading this book I thought I was going to enjoy Mehar's third-person narrative more than the first-person one, and I was correct. I cared a lot more about the characters in her story, and while no parts of this book were necessarily boring, some of the first-person parts had the potential to be if they were much longer. I found myself wanting to know what happened to Mehar when I was reading them. The novel, overall, is well-written and engaging, though more engaging at some parts than others.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
3.0
Like many others who read this book, I wanted it to say something. There were moments I felt that I was actually getting somewhere with the story. Something would be revealed, something interesting, and absolutely nothing would be done with it. With such an interesting world, so little is explored, and no significant social commentary is made. This book feels like a missed opportunity. The ending isn't amazing in my opinion, either. I enjoyed bits and pieces, and it wasn't hard to get through, but this book could have been so much more. I'm not mad, just disappointed.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
5.0
Not at all what I was expecting. A really weird yet funny, strangely heartfelt at times story that's really easy to get through. It's probably a good weekend read as it's a shorter book and can easily be read in a few days without really speed-reading. I enjoyed it very much.
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
5.0
Trigger warning for pretty much everything.
This book really is gripping. As much as the subject matter is often incredibly serious and hard to read, it really does feel like you know the characters from the beginning. I said in one of my reading updates that everyone in this book sucks. I stand by that to some degree, but everyone is written in a way that is believable, and even though Mungo's struggle is the main driving force of the narrative, it doesn't become glorified trauma porn like some other books. I wouldn't recommend reading this in one sitting, because that is a lot of heavy stuff to take on at once. Break this one up into multiple sections while reading, folks.
This book really is gripping. As much as the subject matter is often incredibly serious and hard to read, it really does feel like you know the characters from the beginning. I said in one of my reading updates that everyone in this book sucks. I stand by that to some degree, but everyone is written in a way that is believable, and even though Mungo's struggle is the main driving force of the narrative, it doesn't become glorified trauma porn like some other books. I wouldn't recommend reading this in one sitting, because that is a lot of heavy stuff to take on at once. Break this one up into multiple sections while reading, folks.
Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters
3.0
The worldbuilding was the most interesting part of this book. I appreciated the subtle differences between this alternate history and our own; for example, rather than the Norman Rockwell painting The Problem We All Live With depicting the US' violent transition into integrated education, in this universe the painting depicts the opening of the first elementary school for black students.
That kind of thing is great, and really emphasizes how little difference exists between this world and our own. The characters have fine motivations, as well. The only thing I would say annoyed me about this book was the way the main character interacts with those around him.
At some points the book veers into a detective/spy novel style, so sometimes the main character looking unrealistically cool and collected under pressure is reasonable. I just couldn't take that every female character who appears for more than a page in the book seemed to fall for his irresistible charm immediately, and that the main character seems capable of overpowering any person who stands in his way physically.
This was a problem that lessened as the book went on. I think at the beginning it seemed to fall into more of the detective-story tropes in a more obvious way, and later on the book places more emphasis on the the mission.
Not a bad book at all, but these two little things irked me a little.
That kind of thing is great, and really emphasizes how little difference exists between this world and our own. The characters have fine motivations, as well. The only thing I would say annoyed me about this book was the way the main character interacts with those around him.
At some points the book veers into a detective/spy novel style, so sometimes the main character looking unrealistically cool and collected under pressure is reasonable. I just couldn't take that every female character who appears for more than a page in the book seemed to fall for his irresistible charm immediately, and that the main character seems capable of overpowering any person who stands in his way physically.
This was a problem that lessened as the book went on. I think at the beginning it seemed to fall into more of the detective-story tropes in a more obvious way, and later on the book places more emphasis on the the mission.
Not a bad book at all, but these two little things irked me a little.