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eliya's reviews
127 reviews
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
3.0
Some seriously cringy bits, rough start, and some pretty obvious self-insertion going on here BUT I did have fun with it and it didn’t feel like a waste of time. Might read on.
this book steals from // has VERY dicey parallels to:
- Beauty and the Beast
- Hunger Games
- Sword of Truth
- Stardust
- Cinderella 😭😭🙈
this book steals from // has VERY dicey parallels to:
- Beauty and the Beast
- Hunger Games
- Sword of Truth
- Stardust
- Cinderella 😭😭🙈
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Loved this book. This one felt similar to Matrix by Lauren Goff just the way it followed a woman through her life, I loved that. I wasn’t expecting the book to keep growing, but it did. The last chapter was delicious and made me hope to live again. I have been feeling idk less than thrilled to be alive, but I will swim in the words she wrote so beautifully about savoring growing old. I can’t wait to grow old with my beautiful love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Death of parent
Freedom by Sebastian Junger
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
thoughtful, thorough musings of current events with historical context, it seemed like an essay or collection of three essays that the author wrote during or immediately following their hike/journey. i think it would spark incredible conversation.
sparked some interesting thoughts about political growth / evolution. i do not want to go on a journey with the boys i think.
sparked some interesting thoughts about political growth / evolution. i do not want to go on a journey with the boys i think.
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I had a whole review written out yesterday and I didn’t save it and now it’s gone 😪
It took me about a month to read this pretty short book lol. 13 hours of reading time.
Loved the “weird” nature of the book, combining two loved genres, the snide remarks the characters make about each other. There are some good quotes from this book that I’ll be listing below. I don’t think you’re supposed to like any character and I definitely didn’t lol. Loved the physical descriptions the author used to describe feelings.
Did not love the writing style. The author focused a lot on scene dressing and filled most of the book with painful, needless details and empty attempts to develop internal dialogue between the different characters.
I think Casey was spot-on- Amanda and Vanessa were the same character, one just had two moms and talked mostly about how that shaped her vs the other one who wanted to fuck Jeremy so much. Lilah Mae was a caricature of the toxic Christian trope & Renee… I’m conflicted about Renee. She was a curmudgeon the whole book, understandably so, but I don't find valor in just being a hater.
In the author’s note, the author talks about how it took courage to write this “weird” book, but it truly was not weird enough.
I had a lot of hopes for this book, but all in all, it was: boring, boring, cringy and unbelievable, funny, boring, until 80% through, then it was really exciting!! Where was that the whole rest of the book?
Favorite quotes out of context -
“For Alexa, the knife in my heart”
“But that was the point, wasn’t it? To be reminded.”
“Some pretzel bags are prettier than others…”
"But she's trying to stop searching for herself in the eyes of others"
"Standing over her like a gangly teenager about to ask his mom for lunch money"
"He tasted minty and yet somehow still disgusting, like Altoids that had been scraped off of the floor of the car."
"She imagines what it would be like to have a brain unburdened by intelligence--and then Vanessa's..."
"Casey didn't finish; she wasn't expecting to"
"It seems like the sort of place where you could actually just live life, instead of researching the best way to live your life on the internet."
It took me about a month to read this pretty short book lol. 13 hours of reading time.
Loved the “weird” nature of the book, combining two loved genres, the snide remarks the characters make about each other. There are some good quotes from this book that I’ll be listing below. I don’t think you’re supposed to like any character and I definitely didn’t lol. Loved the physical descriptions the author used to describe feelings.
Did not love the writing style. The author focused a lot on scene dressing and filled most of the book with painful, needless details and empty attempts to develop internal dialogue between the different characters.
In the author’s note, the author talks about how it took courage to write this “weird” book, but it truly was not weird enough.
I had a lot of hopes for this book, but all in all, it was: boring, boring, cringy and unbelievable, funny, boring, until 80% through, then it was really exciting!! Where was that the whole rest of the book?
Favorite quotes out of context -
“For Alexa, the knife in my heart”
“But that was the point, wasn’t it? To be reminded.”
“Some pretzel bags are prettier than others…”
"But she's trying to stop searching for herself in the eyes of others"
"Standing over her like a gangly teenager about to ask his mom for lunch money"
"He tasted minty and yet somehow still disgusting, like Altoids that had been scraped off of the floor of the car."
"She imagines what it would be like to have a brain unburdened by intelligence--and then Vanessa's..."
"Casey didn't finish; she wasn't expecting to"
"It seems like the sort of place where you could actually just live life, instead of researching the best way to live your life on the internet."
"Leafless trees poking out through the cracks between them, like arms worn down to their sinews reaching up to be fed."
"Nothing but silence and sky. It feels like the end of the world."
" 'Maybe you would have rather gone home with Amanda?! ... You kissed her way better than you ever kissed me!' 'That's because you taste like unwashed asshole, Jeremy' "
"...barely notice it at first, is a fresh human head, detached from a body that is nowhere to be found. Her hair tied in a ponytail, her expression frozen in shock, a layer of blood caking on pale skin. 'Hi, Amanda,' Renee says, looking down at the head. Amanda doesn't speak back, because she's a disembodied head. Alas, poor Amanda."
"Nothing but silence and sky. It feels like the end of the world."
"...barely notice it at first, is a fresh human head, detached from a body that is nowhere to be found. Her hair tied in a ponytail, her expression frozen in shock, a layer of blood caking on pale skin. 'Hi, Amanda,' Renee says, looking down at the head. Amanda doesn't speak back, because she's a disembodied head. Alas, poor Amanda."
New words:
Indefatigable - Persisting tirelessly.
Eponymous -
Indefatigable - Persisting tirelessly.
Eponymous -
- (of a person) giving their name to something.
- "the eponymous hero of the novel"
- (of a thing) named after a particular person.
- "Roseanne's eponymous hit TV series"
Adroit - clever or skillful in using the hands or mind. "he was adroit at tax avoidance"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Abortion
Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, Grief
The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? Yes
5.0
:) that’s more like it
The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
Moral of this story was confusing, didn’t like that it didn’t seem to come to a concise end. Maybe this is supposed to end that way to set up for the Big O, so we have backstory on both sides??
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
✅ sobbing
✅ sobbing many times
✅ yearning
✅ i will be thinking about this book for a long time
✅ i am a love and my love is my love we are two beams of light connected to eachother
✅ love is beautiful
❌ the war bit was hard for me to get through, felt really slow from that 50-70% mark but i’m so glad i persisted
this book is so beautifully written
i’ve discussed the similes and metaphors painted in this with friends, and we all craved figs after this
i want to experience live with the same absolute mindfulness as patroclus does
i could re read the first 50% and the last 10% of this book over and over and over again
edit: this book = unreal unearth hozier album
specifically francesca
✅ sobbing many times
✅ yearning
✅ i will be thinking about this book for a long time
✅ i am a love and my love is my love we are two beams of light connected to eachother
✅ love is beautiful
❌ the war bit was hard for me to get through, felt really slow from that 50-70% mark but i’m so glad i persisted
this book is so beautifully written
i’ve discussed the similes and metaphors painted in this with friends, and we all craved figs after this
i want to experience live with the same absolute mindfulness as patroclus does
i could re read the first 50% and the last 10% of this book over and over and over again
edit: this book = unreal unearth hozier album
specifically francesca
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt
Galatea by Madeline Miller
LOL “as for pigmeleon, i accepted him as [name] wrote him- term ‘incel’ was not in circulation when i wrote this book”
…
“THAT IS THE SOURCE OF A GOOD MYTH - IT IS WATER SO WIDE IT CAN REACH ACROSS CENTURIES” OUCH
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
…
“THAT IS THE SOURCE OF A GOOD MYTH - IT IS WATER SO WIDE IT CAN REACH ACROSS CENTURIES” OUCH
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.75
reading this book was unwrapping a perfectly wrapped present and not ripping the paper. formulaically perfect.
this isn’t like “speak” to me in any holy ways or make me think any deeper about my own life. this is just a good story told exactly like it should be.
this isn’t like “speak” to me in any holy ways or make me think any deeper about my own life. this is just a good story told exactly like it should be.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
dark
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
this took me f o r e v e r to read
i started on sept 7th and MAN did it slow me down. took me 11h 46m to read and i was not very motivated to read it, but once you get in the groove it reads like gossip.
some people don’t recommend doing the audiobook and reading at the same time but i honestly do recommend it. there are some differences in the wording, some paragraphs added or taken out here and there, but it felt like i got the full recounting.
the author is very clever in the way he kind of leaves little foreshadowing clues - toward the end i think i was a little over the “that was… until” type of wording from him though. omnipresent in the most educated way lol. felt very much like i was living it // a work of fiction rather than an amalgamation of random facts here and there.
really enjoyed learning about the chicago fair, crazy how many things were just accepted because of the time. i would not have like to be apart of that time lol.
i made so many notes reading this lol there were so many fun facts that felt so important i’m glad - really glad - i read this but MAN i’m also glad it’s over
i started on sept 7th and MAN did it slow me down. took me 11h 46m to read and i was not very motivated to read it, but once you get in the groove it reads like gossip.
some people don’t recommend doing the audiobook and reading at the same time but i honestly do recommend it. there are some differences in the wording, some paragraphs added or taken out here and there, but it felt like i got the full recounting.
the author is very clever in the way he kind of leaves little foreshadowing clues - toward the end i think i was a little over the “that was… until” type of wording from him though. omnipresent in the most educated way lol. felt very much like i was living it // a work of fiction rather than an amalgamation of random facts here and there.
really enjoyed learning about the chicago fair, crazy how many things were just accepted because of the time. i would not have like to be apart of that time lol.
i made so many notes reading this lol there were so many fun facts that felt so important i’m glad - really glad - i read this but MAN i’m also glad it’s over
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content, Terminal illness