fjerda's reviews
33 reviews

Th Screwtape Letters - Letters from a senior to a junior devil by C.S. Lewis

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

C.S.Lewis uses the format of the book to great effect, and the story reads amusingly and darkly. I found some aspects of it uninteresting and preachy but overall it was a fun, speedy read. 

Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

This book reads beautiful as a dystopia from the cold war. Misery is the name of the game and mankind are the only players. Would certainly recommend if you fancy a short spell of cosmic hopelessness. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, War, and Injury/Injury detail

The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner

funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

I adore the writers natural tone, and he communicates so vividly and with such innate passion. I especially like the anecdotal asides he wanders through.  Academically if was very accessible which I have a lot of respect for. A lovely little book! 

A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

‘The act of living is different all through. Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything.’

C. S. Lewis, here, has written the most truthful book about grappling with the sharp pains and dull aches of grief that I think can be done. His honesty and contradiction yet unerring intelligence and questioning is a tonic. I felt deeply his grief, and as he is in conversation with God, the ‘Cosmic Sadist,’ the element of religiosity as a help and hinderance to the grieving process is beautiful. This book is painful and has helped me reframe my own deep and expansive grief in a way I didn’t know I needed. 

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is perhaps the best book i have ever read. Although a significant amount of it drags through historical obscurity, the twisted and heartbreaking characters, the beautiful prose and the last fifty pages make up for it. eco expertly propels motion in this book making a phenomenal, memorable, adrenaline raising book. The pay-off of ridiculous obscurity is a gut punch of expert story telling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Alcohol

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

A short story I always pull out in the winter months. It’s just heart ache on paper in the matter of very few words.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

A Little History of the English Country Church by Roy Strong

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

‘I would dispute [Jenkins] conclusion, “a church is a museum:” as long as one Christian remains… within its walls a church is not a museum.’ After reading this reverently written book, as a non-Christian, I agree with this point. Strongs adoration of his subject shines wonderfully in these pages making an extremely readable and enjoyable work of non-fiction. 

Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain by Amy Jeffs

adventurous dark informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

4.75

This anthology is remarkable, touchingly written and the research is wonderful. The writer obviously adores the subject matter, and writes with such love and tenderness. She is especially
good at humanising women, who so often are forgotten or simplified in retellings like these.

Fragile Things: Short Fictions & Wonders by Neil Gaiman

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

4.0

As always, Gaiman is a wonderfully vivid and heartbreakingly concise story teller. The stand outs from this collection are October in the Chair, Harlequin Valentine and Sunbird. A warm, fuzzy and utterly cold and callous collection.

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Pullman’s writing is concise and gorgeous: lush in the extreme. Lyra and Will pull on my heartstrings deeply. A very well executed finale. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War