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danaaliyalevinson's reviews
91 reviews
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
This was a quick little read, just barely over novella length.
There's also a movie adaptation with Cillian Murphy that just premiered at Berlinale, which looks great. This book is great for anyone looking for a quick yet still deeply emotional read
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Set over the course of a few days in Ireland, a man is forced to confront his own demons when he unwittingly stumbles upon one of Ireland's infamous Magdalene Laundries a few days before Christmas.
This was a quick little read, just barely over novella length.
The prose was lofty and beautiful. The characters were packed a big emotional punch. To my only criticism ory the book is that I wished it were *slightly* longer. By the time I felt like it really got going, it was almost done. In an odd way it reminded me of Emily St John Mandel’s “Sea of Tranquility” despite being very different in terms of genre. Something about how lyrical and yet short and sweet it was.
There's also a movie adaptation with Cillian Murphy that just premiered at Berlinale, which looks great. This book is great for anyone looking for a quick yet still deeply emotional read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry
Masters of Death by Olivie Blake
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.75
A vampire, a ghost, a couple of demons, guardian angels, a demigod and a handful of other mythic creatures team up with the godson of Death to gamble at Death's table.
This was one of those books that I deeply wanted to love because the premise is so up my alley... but 1 only liked it. A lot was really fun, the characters were fun, the prose was snappy and the characters were well drawn. But the story was extremely complex, and there were so so SO many characters.
And so sometimes I felt the story lost itself.
But it really hit the hardest when it got down to the themes the book is truly about: loss, love, and the meaning of life explored by characters grappling with their own immortality and historical lack of feeling. It was still absolutely a fun read, and I think it you like other Olivie Blake books you'll prob love it. And again, I still really enjoyed it, just didn't *love*.
But it really hit the hardest when it got down to the themes the book is truly about: loss, love, and the meaning of life explored by characters grappling with their own immortality and historical lack of feeling. It was still absolutely a fun read, and I think it you like other Olivie Blake books you'll prob love it. And again, I still really enjoyed it, just didn't *love*.
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
I really enjoyed this book. I tend to love historical fiction that centers fictional characters against the backdrop of world events, and while fictional, 1 always feel like it gives us a glimpse into how this massive world events may have affected real people. This book did not disappoint on this front; in turns towering and intimate, this is a beautiful portrait of shattered promises, family bonds, and the tides of history that hurl themselves at the barriers of safety people try to erect around themselves and their loved ones.
It is a multi-perspective book, and sometimes 1 tound the switches happening too quickly, just as I would settle into whatever storyline 1 was following in a particular chapter. And I felt some storylines converged at the end better than others. But it was still a really great read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of
Malaysia, a Malaysian woman makes a fateful decision which changes the course of history and the lives of everyone she knows.
I really enjoyed this book. I tend to love historical fiction that centers fictional characters against the backdrop of world events, and while fictional, 1 always feel like it gives us a glimpse into how this massive world events may have affected real people. This book did not disappoint on this front; in turns towering and intimate, this is a beautiful portrait of shattered promises, family bonds, and the tides of history that hurl themselves at the barriers of safety people try to erect around themselves and their loved ones.
It is a multi-perspective book, and sometimes 1 tound the switches happening too quickly, just as I would settle into whatever storyline 1 was following in a particular chapter. And I felt some storylines converged at the end better than others. But it was still a really great read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Confinement, Kidnapping, Rape, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, War, Death, Excrement, Infidelity, and Self harm
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I will be thinking about this book for a long long time.
An audacious story about the rise of fascism and descent into civil war in Ireland told not through the eyes of those in power, but through the quotidien life of the Stack family.
An audacious story about the rise of fascism and descent into civil war in Ireland told not through the eyes of those in power, but through the quotidien life of the Stack family.
The book did an incredible job of portraying the escalation into war through the lens of everyday choices, capturing so well the constant question of when is the point of no return? When is leaving no longer an option?
The way the author first set up normal life and then took the reader on the ride of a slow drip of conflict escalating into a food, with such emotionality, and with such attachment to character, was incredible. And as the war spiraled out of control, I couldn't help but think of Kfar Aza, and Gaza City, and Damascus, and Mariupol, and everywhere war touches, intruding upon and often destroying the lives of those who just want to live in peace, safety, and dignity.
And this was clearly an intentional choice, keeping the contours of the conflict hazy, and in effect it could be about anywhere, which allows the book to serve as both prophecy and warning. And while at first I found the fact that it didn’t use any paragraph breaks or quotation marks to be difficult, by the time I got to the second half of the book, its effectiveness as a literary device became clear, making the reader feel as if they are in the same panicked stream of consciousness as the characters, bringing us into their emotional state.
It is no wonder this book won the Booker. A truly triumphant work of fiction.
And this was clearly an intentional choice, keeping the contours of the conflict hazy, and in effect it could be about anywhere, which allows the book to serve as both prophecy and warning. And while at first I found the fact that it didn’t use any paragraph breaks or quotation marks to be difficult, by the time I got to the second half of the book, its effectiveness as a literary device became clear, making the reader feel as if they are in the same panicked stream of consciousness as the characters, bringing us into their emotional state.
It is no wonder this book won the Booker. A truly triumphant work of fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Dementia, War, Blood, Grief, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual harassment
All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A vampire who has seen so much destruction in the world having lived in Europe and Egypt for 200 years in the company of Roma, Jews, and Arabs who she loved, must face her nihilism when strange parents enroll their equally strange child into the upstate NY private school she runs.
At the end of the day, it's about grief and choosing to live through immense pain. And in a weird way, the moral ambiguity of bringing a child into a painful world. It dealt deftly with themes of abuse, abandonment, loss, genocide, destruction and new beginnings. It was actually kind of fascinating from a thematic perspective. The prose was well written and compelling as were the characters.
My only issue is that occasionally the narrative felt repetitive. And it also toggled back and forth between Europe and Egypt from the 1800s-1945, and 1984 New York and the two timelines didn't always feel connected. So I kept on finding myself needing to 'get back into it' every time we switched between time periods.
But overall, I definitely liked it a lot and there's a lot in here that was quite fascinating. And it did have a 15/10 ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, War, Grief, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault