eliya's reviews
113 reviews

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I have read another book of Lucy Foley’s in which she uses the same basic premise: mysterious location for big event, cast of characters all narrating their individual perspectives, murder at the end, timer counting down and also swapping between after “the event” and before. I think this is what made me like the book even less. 

Eye roll at the “teen translating conversation into current slang” trope.

I did enjoy it, it was fun. I thought it was funny

how many different bones people had to pick with Will lmao.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Relaxing and sad. I think if I had read the physical book I may feel differently, I didn’t care so much for the way it was read in the audiobook. The world building was really cool. I wish there was more detail on the world building. I didn’t find myself really caring about the characters. This book was okay. 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

A classic! I’ve had this book forever I’m so happy I read it. So cool to see how the story has changed and what details were dropped. Can’t wait to read this again to the children in my life :-)

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

medium-paced

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

3.5

I did enjoy this one. It all was a little too convenient at the end the way it came together. Like what are the actual chances haha. I’m really surprised with the resolve that Cyrus came to at the end. Maybe there’s a lot of layers I just wouldn’t understand. 

It was beautiful to see all the complex and queer love stories, and all the different perspectives, generational trauma, the effects that the death of his mother had on the father, the brother, and Cyrus’s relationship with the united states and those around him. I just have so many questions and feel unresolved. Maybe that’s the idea is that Cyrus has felt so unresolved and given this loaded information, rather than asking more questions he learns to just accept things? 

Like,

I feel so bad for his father. Being abandoned, thinking your wife is dead. Maybe given the political climate of how his mother felt locked into her life, he understood but was still sad and that’s why he was like a robot to Cyrus growing up? It just seems like Cyrus was failed in a lot of ways growing up & he’s just letting it all go.

 

Beautiful insights to grief, addition, healing. Though, I would have been interested to see him actually work on himself a little more but it kind of was just over and fast as it began.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

5.0

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative slow-paced

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

5.0

The theme of choosing goodness and the critique of cal’s self-flagellation really stuck with me and I’ve been thinking about it the last few days. Scene painting was stunning.

Mayakovsky's Revolver by Matthew Dickman

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.0

I enjoyed these. A friend of mine recommended this book when my dad died last year and I finally read it. This definitely echos the festering feelings of grief. A lot of the poems had a consistent fever-dream feel that I enjoyed. The last poem, of course, was gut wrenching. 

I felt a physical aversion to the Bridge poem. Maybe that’s art and it’s supposed to make you uncomfortable. 

Poems that stuck with me were- 4. More than one life and 6- Satellite, and Weird Science. 

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

adventurous slow-paced

1.5

An ex-best friend of mine gave me this book to read after a bad breakup. I think this book was probably for a 20-year-old version of me, and I think it probably would have touched me. But I read it now, as a 27-year-old, and it didn’t. 

My favorite line : “i am not street meat, i am homemade jam.”

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

medium-paced

2.0

Down the Drain by Julia Fox

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.0

My god