dilfpercyshelley's reviews
74 reviews

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

despite my surprising enjoyment of this novel, i don’t particularly feel like writing a long review for this as i have written so very much for class. but hey! i liked it! slice of life really is fun, especially when that slice so closely resembles that of a modern slice. a very interesting comparison of gender roles within romantic and familial relationships for sure. thanks jane, you anti patriarchal fiend.

Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

like…..yeah. i read this i guess. 
it wasn’t necessarily bad, however, i did. want it to end faster than it did. and it was only 48 pages. interesting religious allegory, nothing particularly spellbinding. sorry nath!

Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

i can appreciate some funny little tales as much as the next guy, but when the pages are filled with lines and lines of such unnecessary description it does wear on a bitch. don’t get me wrong, i loved rip van winkle. and i also loved london antiques. however, the other two felt like a challenge to write about women in the most pathetic ways possible. and boy did irving win. 

Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze by Eliza Fowler Haywood

challenging funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

this was funny as hell. goofy as fuck. wacky, even. standing at only 55 pages (ish), Fantomina (or love in a maze) is a truly wonderful insight into the intelligent desires of 18th century women. Our leading lady tricks, lies and deceives without rest, seemingly just for a laugh (and some really good sex, apparently) which is the most wonderful storyline for a modern novel, nevermind one written in the early 1700s. Fantomina is certainly a beloved character (by me at least) and had me cheering her on with every deception she produced. Morally ambiguous protagonists are my thing, especially when the moral ambiguity highlights and humiliates misogynistic predispositions on the fragility and incompetence of womanhood. wonderful fucking stuff.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

mysterious relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

this book, theoretically, should’ve taken me an hour or so to get through whilst making notes. but fuck me, it did not. don’t get me wrong, i am weak at the knees for irving’s autumnal descriptions. it puts me in mind of my favourite keats’ piece ‘to autumn’ even. but, irving darling, did the description of that fucking banquet really need to be 5 pages long? did it really? the long drawn out sentences originally gave it a melodic and calming rhythm which coupled really well with the honey-thick warmth of autumn, yet as the text dragged on the length became tiresome, and the clauses too frequent. 

The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

its a crime that i have not indulged in this wonderful read sooner! it is short, like really short, yet it doesn’t feel incomplete. the fast paced, mismatched line spacing not only increased the pace of this short read, but served to further emphasise the mania of the female protagonist. the descriptions of the wallpaper were truly wonderful, whilst also being absolutely revolting. and the casual semantic field of imprisonment throughout the novel was certainly interesting. it added a whole new layer of patriarchal power imbalance to uncover, much like the peeling wallpaper revealed the protagonists hysteria. i loved it; truly so much to analyse and contemplate :)

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

“Listening to my friends go on about me and Shiraha was like hearing them talk about a couple of total strangers. They seemed to have the story wrapped up between them. It was about characters who had the same names as we did, but who had absolutely nothing to do with me or Shiraha.”

this novel truly resonated with me. feeling like an outsider, observing and meticulously taking mental notes on how to act, is a common phenomena for me. however i would just like to say: fuck you shiraha you smelly bitch.
keiko: i love you. the way she analyses the world is so wonderfully depicted that i cannot help but relate. from the blatant undiagnosed autism to the (aspirational) lowly japanese apartment. she is so me. 

this book was a wonderful take on the evils of capitalism (yet also the comforts), incels, the ridiculousness of misogynist roles infecting modern society, and japanese culture. wonderful stuff.

A Girl's Guide to Personal Hygiene: True Stories, Illustrated by Tallulah Pomeroy

funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

standing at only 110 pages, this short novella is a compilation of women’s less-than-hygienic stories from around the world. it was certainly not a marvel of literature, which it wasn’t meant to be, however the over arching message of the abolishment of equating femininity and hygiene was wonderful. definitely good for a short, feminist read to comfort you and make you giggle. especially if you are not a woman :)

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: A Facsimile in Full Color by William Blake

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

“Did He not mock at the Sabbath, and so mock the Sabbath’s God? murder those who were murdered because of Him? turn away the law from the woman taken in adultery, steal the labour of others to support Him? bear false witness when He omitted making a defence before Pilate? covet when He prayed for His disciples, and when He bid them shake off the dust of their feet against such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments. Jesus was all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules.” (satan, on god)

Satan slayed this!

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

I loved this so very much! usually with plays, i enjoy reading them aloud with others much more than i do reading them. however, this felt just as enjoyable to read to myself. it was funny and lighthearted, but at the same time the humour clearly mocked important topics such as societal hierarchies and nepotism. the humour served to highlight the ridiculousness of these topics, therefore making this both a lighthearted yet interesting critical read.