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gossamer_lens's reviews
1420 reviews
In a Grove by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A very interesting short story utilizing multiple point of view in a very unreliable and interesting way. It leaves one wholly unsatisfied with the conclusion, but in the best way possible and clearly highlights how complicated the telling of certain events can be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence
Blood Is Another Word for Hunger by Rivers Solomon
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
The way Rivers Solomon captures emotion and so darkly and interestingly portrays human pain and writes gore/horror is so good. I think I will never get tired of reading their work. I'm glad I went out of my way to find this.
A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison by Paul Jennings
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
The narrative of Jennings was informative and full of emotion. The ending where a short few paragraphs of historical context was provided was gut punching. The way slavery worked is just so twisted, brutal, and such a twisting of the natural spirit of man and truth. The book is short enough, it can speak for yourself. Everyone should read narratives from actual peoples lives like this. I would recommend this particular edition so you get that punch of historical context as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
Gourmet's Journey by Time Princess
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
Very cute, fun, and emotional. I loved the emotional ties between characters and it helped carry the book during some weaker parts of the plot. One of the plot twists was super obvious to me which maybe detracted from the plot a little bit. But it was a fun read with some great emotional throughlines.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, War, Classism
Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
A solid and emotional piece of work. Reading this as an audiobook, I feel like I lost a little bit of my ability to sit with the words. So I probably would like this better as a physical read. But the author's performance of her own writing was beautiful to hear and I wouldn't have found this if my library hadn't had an audiobook available immediately to borrow of this.
Definitely recommend to anyone dipping their toes into poetry. It is par sable and emotional and has a nice narrative flow to it.
Definitely recommend to anyone dipping their toes into poetry. It is par sable and emotional and has a nice narrative flow to it.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? No
4.75
I really really enjoyed this book. I would give it a 5 star if there weren't some very reductive views/ideas taken as fact in this book about women's bodies. There is a sort of bio essentialism and fear of women's love that is odd and frustrating at times.
That said, the world and vibes were perfect for me. I found it distinctly unsettling and intriguing in a most perfect way. I wanted to know at every point where things were going and I found a lot of the reflection on things to be starkly interesting, strange, and thoughtful.
Basically if this author hadn't been scared of embracing the gay and not perpetuating hymen myths... I would have loved it with complete abandon. Even with that, I will probably wish to revisit this at some point. Or I'll wish to revisit Piranesi... we shall see.
That said, the world and vibes were perfect for me. I found it distinctly unsettling and intriguing in a most perfect way. I wanted to know at every point where things were going and I found a lot of the reflection on things to be starkly interesting, strange, and thoughtful.
Basically if this author hadn't been scared of embracing the gay and not perpetuating hymen myths... I would have loved it with complete abandon. Even with that, I will probably wish to revisit this at some point. Or I'll wish to revisit Piranesi... we shall see.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I really wanted to like this more then I did. The plot was there, the characters were there... but the way Jemisin writes just doesn't quite work for me. Her writing style is very dry, almost textbookish. But I absolutely love the creativity that her work has. It just is funny how so many moments feel like they should be emotional to me... but it just reads like "and then this happened" instead of jumping off the page for me.
I wonder if in part the issue is the narrator's delivery combined with her writing style, as I have read a short story of hers previously and found it a little more digestible and enjoyable. So I am going to try to read the 2nd book as an ebook instead of an audiobook.
But overall once I hit 50% of the way through, I had to know what was going on with this world and put the 2nd book on my TBR. So I'm excited to keep going and would definitely say I enjoyed this even if something about the whole things felt a little off vibe wise.
I wonder if in part the issue is the narrator's delivery combined with her writing style, as I have read a short story of hers previously and found it a little more digestible and enjoyable. So I am going to try to read the 2nd book as an ebook instead of an audiobook.
But overall once I hit 50% of the way through, I had to know what was going on with this world and put the 2nd book on my TBR. So I'm excited to keep going and would definitely say I enjoyed this even if something about the whole things felt a little off vibe wise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Pedophilia
The Past Hangs over the Future by Art Spiegelman
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
4.0
A good side companion to the original books. Dark, sad, but hopeful too.
The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
An interesting flipping of perspectives on gender and a good plot and emotional grounding for the experiment of directly flipping genders. It make it clear how dumb misogyny and gender roles can be.
Lore Olympus, Season 3 by Rachel Smythe
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-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? Yes
5.0
I quite enjoy this season and the ending is pure perfection in my books. The way Persephone comes out of all the events of this series is... perfection! Same for Hades. I just really enjoy this whole series and the ending was icing on the cake!