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daiinty's reviews
159 reviews
Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems by Denise Duhamel
4.0
“it was just the alabaster moon, a little girl, and a young woman. / it was definitely one of those “therapeutic i” moments. / a moment that would have reminded gardner / of a much better literary moment, maybe something / that shakespeare wrote about with more flair.”
i was gifted this collection by my professor for my advanced poetry workshop and it was such a joy to read, especially knowing it was handpicked for me by someone who knows my poetry intimately. duhamel has such a direct way of writing that is so evocative.
i was gifted this collection by my professor for my advanced poetry workshop and it was such a joy to read, especially knowing it was handpicked for me by someone who knows my poetry intimately. duhamel has such a direct way of writing that is so evocative.
Circe by Madeline Miller
5.0
“He does not mean that it does not hurt. He does not mean that we are not frightened. Only that: we are here. That is what it means to swim in the tide, to walk the earth and feel it touch your feet. This is what it means to be alive.” – Madeline Miller
i absolutely love how miller is able to breathe new life into such established myths. i think that will always be my favorite thing about mythology re-tellings: the newfound intimacy i feel with the character it explores. i just read the odyssey again last year, and seeing events through circe’s eyes — pre- and post-odyssey — had me fall deeply in love with this minor goddess.
i absolutely love how miller is able to breathe new life into such established myths. i think that will always be my favorite thing about mythology re-tellings: the newfound intimacy i feel with the character it explores. i just read the odyssey again last year, and seeing events through circe’s eyes — pre- and post-odyssey — had me fall deeply in love with this minor goddess.
Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Rey
5.0
so i’ve had this book on my shelf since i received the pre-order in 2020 and just now got around to reading it. anyone who knows me knows i’m a lana stan, and i had high hopes for this collection because of how poetic her lyrics are, and ms del rey delivered. my favorite part it how interactive it is: the rough drafts, fixed typos, photographs and notes page were such great added touches. i resonated the most with “ringtone” and “in the flats of melrose”. literally laid out on the floor with the book over my face.
Blue Iris by Mary Oliver
5.0
“Understand from the first this certainty. Butterflies don’t write books, neither do lilies or violets. Which doesn’t mean they don’t know, in their own way, what they are. That they don’t know they are alive—that they don’t feel, that action upon which all consciousness sits, lightly or heavily. Humility is the prize of the leaf-world. Vainglory is the bane of us, the humans.”
such a great read for a sunny spring afternoon. i’m definitely going to be on the lookout for more of mary oliver’s poetry.
such a great read for a sunny spring afternoon. i’m definitely going to be on the lookout for more of mary oliver’s poetry.
Mistress of the Revolution by Catherine Delors
4.0
i would if i could give half-stars i would give this book a 3.5, but for the sheer amount of research delores did to make this novel historically accurate is the reason i’m giving a 4 instead of a 3. the romance aspect of the book just didn’t do it for me because all of the men were insufferable and the MC is just kind of swept along for the ride, but for that reason i also thought it felt realistic??? i liked how this was done as a “memoir” and we are getting these accounts of the revolution from someone who just happens to be swept up in court life, not directly in the action (though we definitely do get to see some action). it really felt as if i were reading a memoir of an exiled noble woman who survived the revolution.
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
5.0
“I would be Medusa, if it came to it, I resolved. If the gods held me accountable one day for the sins of someone else, if they came for me to punish a man’s actions, I would not hide away like Pasiphae. I would wear that coronet of snakes, and the world would shrink from me instead.” – j.s.
i love a greek mythology retelling, especially when voices are given to the women in these myths who are typically kept silent. i really appreciated how the central thread saint kept bringing us back to through ariadne was the fact that it was always women who would pay the price for men’s actions.
*spoilers ahead*
for this reason, i found it really interesting that when ariadne unfortunately became one of those women who paid the price for her husband’s wrath saint decided instead of having dionysus rescue her from the underworld and deify her, he made her into a constellation.
this diversion though makes sense, though, with the characterization we get of ariadne throughout the book. namely, her anger towards the careless wrath of gods. i don’t know if becoming a deity – one of the beings who were the cause of her family’s suffering and the suffering of so many other mortals – is something she would appreciate.
this was a book i just couldn’t put down. if i wasn’t so busy with moving i probably would have finished it it a day. i think the only complaint i had was the excess of purple prose at the beginning of the novel, but seeing that dissipated also coincided with ariadne maturing as she aged, so maybe that was intention. i don’t know. 10/10 would recommend for greek mythos fans.
i love a greek mythology retelling, especially when voices are given to the women in these myths who are typically kept silent. i really appreciated how the central thread saint kept bringing us back to through ariadne was the fact that it was always women who would pay the price for men’s actions.
*spoilers ahead*
for this reason, i found it really interesting that when ariadne unfortunately became one of those women who paid the price for her husband’s wrath saint decided instead of having dionysus rescue her from the underworld and deify her, he made her into a constellation.
this diversion though makes sense, though, with the characterization we get of ariadne throughout the book. namely, her anger towards the careless wrath of gods. i don’t know if becoming a deity – one of the beings who were the cause of her family’s suffering and the suffering of so many other mortals – is something she would appreciate.
this was a book i just couldn’t put down. if i wasn’t so busy with moving i probably would have finished it it a day. i think the only complaint i had was the excess of purple prose at the beginning of the novel, but seeing that dissipated also coincided with ariadne maturing as she aged, so maybe that was intention. i don’t know. 10/10 would recommend for greek mythos fans.
The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout
3.0
this time ms. jennifer had casteel say something about not being “a snack, but a whole meal”, and i thought i was gonna lose my mind HSBSBSNNS
a lot of the characters did complete 180s from the behavior they exhibited in past books, and i find an overpowered protagonist boring. the ending was wrapped up pretty lazily, so i’m a bit confused on specifics about that.
HOWEVER. i have really grown to care about some of these characters and i’ve gotten this far, i just need to know how it all ends.
a lot of the characters did complete 180s from the behavior they exhibited in past books, and i find an overpowered protagonist boring. the ending was wrapped up pretty lazily, so i’m a bit confused on specifics about that.
HOWEVER. i have really grown to care about some of these characters and i’ve gotten this far, i just need to know how it all ends.
A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout
3.0
overall the book was entertaining, but kind of unmemorable. still can’t get over the fact that “living in my head rent free” was a phrase in a high fantasy novel LMAO.
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
5.0
it’s wild to think back at just how much happens over the span of this book and it still wasn’t overwhelming. i really enjoy the way gabaldon writes and how intimately we get to know all of the characters. also, as someone who watched the show first, it’s really interesting to see the changes the show runners made to the original text as far as how they wanted to tell the story vs. how gabaldon does it here.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
4.0
“She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.” – Kate Chopin
i found this to be both a very captivating and relaxing read. i really enjoyed how chopin weaves the ever present metaphor of edna’s “awakening” and its ties to her breaking of patriarchal norms of the late nineteenth century with this normalized narrative of a woman’s infidelity. beautifully written.
i found this to be both a very captivating and relaxing read. i really enjoyed how chopin weaves the ever present metaphor of edna’s “awakening” and its ties to her breaking of patriarchal norms of the late nineteenth century with this normalized narrative of a woman’s infidelity. beautifully written.