desdemonarose's reviews
238 reviews

Circe by Madeline Miller

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I listened to the audiobook version of this.  The combination of the writing and the narrator was perfect.  I loved the book and Miller's telling of Circe's tale.  I will be reading her other books.  I would give it 6 out of 5 stars if I could.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

reflective slow-paced

4.0

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The good, the author is very good at setting the mood, lots of quirky little extras which also add to the mood, and the book definitely had moments where I didn't want to put it down.

Cons, it is long and parts of it drag. I skimmed a bit of it 

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring slow-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? No

5.0

A good book for both it's story and it's look into the world of Indigenous Americans.  It doesn't dilute the horribleness that they had to deal with or the effects of said horribleness.  It isn't all gloom, but is realistic with how events would have turned out in what is an historical fiction. 

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Another great book by N. K. Jeminsin. I really like how unique the story line is. You get to follow personified boroughs of New York as they try to save the city. You learn the rules of their existence as they do (more or less). I am not familiar with NY at all, but Jeminsin was still able to give them life in a way that I could really feel for who they were. That is talented character writing. 

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This  book is as tragic as you would expect a book about Afghan women to be, but also very well written and amazing.  I didn't want to stop listening to the audiobook at all.  The narrator was very good and, as stated before, the book well written.  It follows two timelines, but moves smoothly between them and I was never confused about when or who's story I was in.   I highly recommend this book.  It is both tragic and hopeful.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

Another great story by Ian McEwan. It's a story that has probably happened a million times, but is very rarely talked about. What do you do when you unintentionally throw someone's life off course and not in a good way? 

Ian's characters are well written in their roles. The story starts off cute and sweet, but the tone changes and slowly gets darker. It is not a gloomy story without hope, but it is more based in realism than a false, "feel good," narrative. I would recommend it to anyone who is not triggered by the warnings that I will add below. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

There are some graphic war scenes (the violence tag), but nothing sensationalist. There is also a sexual assault that is a key part of the story, but it's not described in any real detail.

The Teacher by Katerina Diamond

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had low expectations for this book, but the story moved along quickly.  It is good in audiobook format since the narrator is very good.  I might have a lower rating if I read it myself, but maybe not.  It is a very dark book that covers dark topics.  It's a typical suspense story with the super evil bad-guy sorts, which you learn pretty much from the start.  Not a book if you want to read a story of redemption, but if you want a fast paced dark conspiracy investigative type novel then this one will fit the mold.  It does require some content warnings which I am adding (not sure of Storygraph shows them in the review or not).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Adding more detailed content warnings as spoiler, though the book does open with a pedophile (justifies himself with only photos and no touching) being murdered. There is no graphic description of sexual abuse, but there are torture scenes that I'm sure some would find disturbing. More in spoilers:

The book deals with massive homophobia and torture in an attempt to, "erase," perceived homosexuality. Those who are committing the acts are the antagonists, nothing is justified by the author. The book details the murder of these people and some of their actions with some pretty graphic detail at times. Though typical horror book level of detail, not torture porn levels per say (though of course that is subjective)

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really liked how the story unfolded in this book.  I also really liked how the book questioned who we are as a person and how we judge others.

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I watched the show before reading the book.  It seems like the show used the book as a rough draft, and went from there.  The book is very different in some ways.  Though it is probably an unpopular opinion, I appreciate a good rewrite that isn't a carbon copy more so than just re-scripting a book word for word.  This way I got to visit the story again, but I did not know exactly how things were going to play out.

To review the book on it's own since it deserves that and not to just be compared to the show that was inspired by it.  Great characters, very imaginative, and I appreciated how the author integrated the history of the 1950s into his book.  The story moves along well, but you still get enough character building that you care about them.  Pretty much all of the protagonist's in the book were great.  Ruff has a great imagination and I look forward to reading his other books.  This is the first book by him that I have read, but it will not be the last.