drossg's reviews
18 reviews

Buddha's Little Finger by Victor Pelevin

adventurous challenging funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

For the type of book it is, it’s 5 stars. For me, it’s 4 stars.

The Epiphany Machine by David Burr Gerrard

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Definitely worth a read. Tragic that the author died, had to get his other book in case it becomes more difficult to find. Adam Lyons is like a messed up Dr. Sean Maguire

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

3.0

My main thought while reading the book was that I hate the way Franzen writes about my mom, and then the last 50 pages or so were a kind of horror novella. I’m shocked and sad! I have no choice but to read Freedom and Purity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Classism

Taipei by Tao Lin

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I do agree with that one guy who says that whether you like the book or not is besides the point, for what it's worth, and, to be fair, I mostly read this book to prepare to read Leave Society, which this book seems like a companion to, considering how much drugs they do, if that makes sense.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

A Person of Interest by Susan Choi

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This book is 3 stars and not 4 only because I really just did not enjoy the sections that took place in the past, and that took up a significant portion of the book. That being said the payoff might be worth it for you! And I look forwarding to reading the author’s other work.

Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

This one is difficult. I’d compare it to The Great Gatsby in that, while it’s far from my favorite novel, I would call it a perfect novel (I don’t actually know if this novel will, in the end, be judged as perfect, I’m more just commenting on the craft). Unlike F. Scott. Fitzgerald, though, Dana Spiotta has made me care about, and even like(!) unlikable characters (I also imagined Nik as Kyle MacLachlan, which helped)

As an aside I would recommend everyone watch The Devil and Daniel Johnston. The truth is stranger than fiction!

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

I’m not much of a horror guy, but I really enjoyed what this book was using horror to do and the more I think about it the more I like it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments by David Foster Wallace

adventurous funny informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita

challenging funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

A bit like watching Paprika, Do the Right Thing, The Limey, and Repo Man

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed reading this book, Zadie Smith is a very entertaining writer. However, sometimes it felt like I was being written “at” if that makes any sense, but I also don’t know if that’s just something of a feature of English social novels™. 

I very much enjoyed all the sorts of irony in the book, particularly with the faithless-religious Samad and the not-so-religious but very full-of-faith Archie. I found all the characters endearing despite their flaws, except the Chalfens, who are my least favorite characters I’ve ever read about in my entire life (joking, slightly).