danaaliyalevinson's reviews
96 reviews

An indigenous Cree gay man returns home to gather the stories of those he grew up with as part of an academic project. There’s a lot I loved about the book. The characters were well written. The prose was poetic. For me, it felt like a cross between Anna Hogeland’s “The Long Answer” and Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”. The latter is referenced in the text itself as well as in the acknowledgments. And sometimes I felt it was a little bit too close in form and structure. The other thing is that the main character is in academia, and in the beginning of the book, there’s a lot of dialogue that felt self-referential and intentional in its usage of in academia theoretical frameworks that aren’t necessarily accessible. It did feel like a choice, but sometimes I felt the moments where the book was getting into theory could’ve bridged the gap a bit more to make those passages more accessible for those who don’t have backgrounds in the theories being discussed.

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Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I’m honestly not sure how to rate this one. I’m a trans femme writer (in a different medium, but writer nonetheless). I tend to like really confrontational storytelling. So I wanted to love it. It felt in many ways like a rehash of Helen Oyeyemi’s “White Is For Witching” which is one of my favorite books, by way of Chuck Palahniuk. There were passages that really worked for me. There are some interesting ideas being explored. But there was a whole lot that felt bordering on pornographic for no real narrative necessity. The result for me was kinda a mish mash wash from someone who I suspect is a very good writer, but needs some more experience. So I look forward to what Rumfitt does next. But this book was rough for me.

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The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

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3.5

Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book truly floored me. It was a meditation on grief but one of the things I loved about it is that it was about a grief familiar to all of us but rarely explored, the grief of might’ve beens. There is Akash, an alcoholic closeted gay man, still deeply affected by the trauma he experienced as a child in the form of homophobic bullying at school, his first love as a teenager, and the fact that he had no space to process that trauma because his family didn’t allow that space for him. Then there is his mother Renu, mourning the loss of her husband and Akash’s father, but even more so, losing herself in the reverie of what might have been if she had fought to stay with her first love, Kareem when she was a young adult and her parents arranged a marriage for her. Both characters lose themselves in regret, and it causes such tension with each other in the present. The denouement of the book and the way these parallel storylines came together was devastatingly beautiful and really got to the essence of the human condition. All of the characters are beautifully drawn. The prose is beautiful. And every single beat of the story felt so incredibly earned. I read this in one sitting. Absolutely loved it.

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Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

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4.25

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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 Sri Lankan Civil War, this is a surrealist and metaphysical take on a murder mystery in which a ghost must find his killers, protect his friends and boyfriend, and decide whether or not to move on or seek revenge. This book was a wild ride and I largely enjoyed it.

Witty prose. Fun characters. A vibrant world. Karunatilaka also did a great job at bringing us into the backdrop of the war without ever getting us bogged down in it. Sometimes I struggled with the sheer amount of characters (some with multiple nicknames) and also the way the narrative seamlessly moved between the metaphysical plane, the real world, and also flashback. Oftentimes I would find myself needing to go back over pages to resituate myself in the narrative. But overall, it was a good read!

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danaaliyalevinson's reviews 96 reviews

danaaliyalevinson's reviews
96 reviews