diyankilaco's reviews
130 reviews

No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre

dark funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

How beautiful it is when we see the other's gaze upon us and it seems agreeable to us, but remove those mirrors and for once we start depending on the audience's gaze, and terror strikes within us. 
Oh how we tend to downplay our freedom, our existence our very essence just to have someone else play the judge. Human beings are such fascinating creatures indeed. Sartre you marvelous little genius. 

Finger Bone by Hiroki Takahashi, Takami Nieda

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

The thing with this book is it takes the first couple hundred pages to form a back story, and as the end approaches, everything seems to fit into a fine circle. But that circle is sad and morose. And real. Even in today's world. 'Cruel' could barely define it. 

The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

"They weren't very good at fighting. I mean, it was a lactose intolerant versus a gluten-allergic. I think they hurt each other worse witht heir farts than with their fists."

Oh the trademark Backman humor never fails to amuse me even on the lowest of low days.

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro

challenging dark informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

"Not long ago I was told I was arrogant. Don't keep the names other people give you, Elena."

Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

Picking this up on a whim because it was all over my twitter feed was probably one of the best decisions ever.
Talk about missed moments, unrequited love and yearning and by the time I was done with this book my heart was on the floor and my soul shattered.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

challenging dark fast-paced

5.0

I came a couple times to push this aside as the ramblings of an old man. However, by the end everything came apart and for the first time you realise how our words can construe a responsibility. 

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

dark sad 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

4.5

As I come here I realise how the cover of the book depicts a loose 'braid', and I'm back to a broken heart.  Akwaeke Emezi is an absolutely gorgeous writer. Their way of describing a thought, a feeling, so rare. Take this simple thought -

“I kept the book for the title, for how it was spelled. Beautyful. I had no idea why that spelling was chosen, but I liked it because it kept the beauty intact. It wasn’t swallowed, killed off with an i to make a whole new word. It was solid; it was still there, so much of it that it couldn’t fit into a new word, so much fullness. You got a better sense of exactly what was causing that fullness. Beauty. I wanted to be as whole as that word.”

oh how gut wrenching it is to read something like this with the current backdrop given as the story progresses. As the book ends, you feel a little less broken, a little less whole. 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

dark emotional fast-paced

4.5

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

dark fast-paced

5.0

I have never finished something this fast. Never have I read something like this.