cuppa_t's reviews
5 reviews

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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adventurous sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Es & Flo by Jennifer Lunn

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Es & Flo have been in love since the eighties, but Es' family can't know. Now Es' memory is starting to fail her, and her son wants her to move to a nursing home, which would leave Flo homeless.

Es & Flo is a really sweet play, with moments of joy to counter the moments of sadness. All the characters are full of life, and the concept is well explored.

If you're looking for great moral dilemmas and philosophical questions, it's probably not the play for you. This is a play that explores a concept to its capacity, in a bittersweet and cosy 95 pages.
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Three Rooms by Jo Hamya

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informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

 A young woman (left unnamed) journeys through her life after graduating while struggling with the financial crisis that follows after Brexit, from a pretty cushty job as a research assistant at Oxford University to the harsh reality of being overworked and underpaid while paying £80 a week to sleep on a strangers sofa-bed. 

The one good thing this book did was assure me that many people have been here; desperate to find any job that pays a decent wage that doesn't make you want to tear your hair out. Hamya also does a pretty decent job of enclosing both sides of any argument into her prose, but due to this, the book felt more like a collection of essays that had been re-packaged into fiction to make it easier to sell.

The book is incredibly slow, solely character-based (possibly caused by the fact that it felt very autobiographical) with zero plot to help move anything along. The protagonist is unlikeable; while going through both good times and bad, she ruins good times for herself by running them through the societal commentary machine and seemingly almost desperate to feel hard done by, resulting in her believing there is absolutely nothing good going for her.

Had this been written as an autobiography or a collection of short essays, I would have liked it far more, but as it stands, it is a very short book that took me a very long time to read. 
Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

After someone close to Yamaye is murdered in police custody, she finds herself under scrutiny and in need of escape. She travels, constantly running from people and past while chasing sounds and dub rhythms.

Fire Rush is a beautifully written book filled with poetic gems of prose. If you’re looking for a character-led story, you’ll find Fire Rush absolutely phenomenal. Crooks' descriptions of personalities, relationships and emotions are second to none. Yamaye’s relationship with music is hypnotic. Every time the story shifts location, you are there with her.

However, as it is entirely character-led, I felt like at least four main plots were only taken halfway; the book ended because the character arc had been completed, rather than the plot coming full circle. I understand that this may be because it is semi-autobiographical, but a few loose ends were left too loose for me, particularly the plotline regarding her mother; I would love to read a version of this book where that was resolved.

Overall, it was a beautiful read but not as compelling as I had hoped. 
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