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handove's reviews
141 reviews
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
adventurous
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
girl all i know is that i finished this in one sitting at 3am and that fag2fag communication was beautiful
[edit 15-03-25: i wrote 1,700 words about this and most of them are positive & all of them are funny]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wea-c7pRdlbdWf606eAUbe7K-HvQqhwTqRO_KfBRy5E/edit?tab=t.kkyweol92633
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
mentioned in acknowledgements
- lee mandelo - Reading Joanna Russ: How to Suppress Women’s Writing (1983) https://reactormag.com/reading-joanna-russ-how-to-suppress-womens-writing-1983/
- conner habib - if you ever did write anything about me, i'd want it to be about love
- jane eaton hamilton - never say i didn't bring you flowers
- leah horlick - for your own good
- melissa febos - abandon me
- sawyer lovett - retrospect: a tazewell's favorite eccentric zine anthology ("hello...")
- terry castle - the professor
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
4.5
contentious one. i've liked all of rfk's previous work so i had clear expectations — beautiful prose, a fascinating magic system, at least one annoying character. she has this special quality to her writing so sometimes you don't even notice when the narrative drags because it's so well-written, like insanely well-written, which is what ended up saving the book.
katabasis chronicles postgrad alice's journey to save her advisor's soul for her recommendation letters (according to the first two pages, anyway), which sounds pretty ridiculous, but [rfk voice] she really really loves magick, okay. i liked alice as a character because of her conviction, but 90% of what we learn about her is all the lengths she goes to for magick and i think i would've connected to her more if someone bothered to explain better why she was so invested in it. girl just do physics atp
strangely i don't think that dampened my enjoyment too much. reiterating the fact that rfk writes gorgeously because this was unputdownable. that said. the book's solid plot was ruined a little by dragging in the middle and alice & peter's plot armor annoyed me. kuang reinvents hell in a way that makes it feel fresh even though it's literally just university. not kidding. pride is a fucking student center.
moving on! if i replaced peter with an intelligent talking burger the narrative would be three-quarters the same. he had zero flavour. his white ass probably tastes like baked beans. nevertheless i LOVED his and alice's banter like no you should not follow immanuel kant's advice on pretending to be in love when he died a virgin at age 79 alice you're right.
the magic — sorry, magick — system is based off logical paradoxes and just barely bends the laws of reality. every time a new paradox was introduced i got happy because they're so good to chew on. i've gone into wikipedia rabbit holes about this. this was a main component of the book and i still wanted more. if others' complaints about katabasis talking down to its readers was about this i will say i am known to— [gunshot]
final thoughts - the romance between alice & peter is lackluster and their reasons for avoiding/hating each other felt a little flimsy. also wished alice got a life. also wished this was longer because god rfk writes so well have i mentioned that yet
br w/ clover
katabasis chronicles postgrad alice's journey to save her advisor's soul for her recommendation letters (according to the first two pages, anyway), which sounds pretty ridiculous, but [rfk voice] she really really loves magick, okay. i liked alice as a character because of her conviction, but 90% of what we learn about her is all the lengths she goes to for magick and i think i would've connected to her more if someone bothered to explain better why she was so invested in it. girl just do physics atp
strangely i don't think that dampened my enjoyment too much. reiterating the fact that rfk writes gorgeously because this was unputdownable. that said. the book's solid plot was ruined a little by dragging in the middle and alice & peter's plot armor annoyed me. kuang reinvents hell in a way that makes it feel fresh even though it's literally just university. not kidding. pride is a fucking student center.
moving on! if i replaced peter with an intelligent talking burger the narrative would be three-quarters the same. he had zero flavour. his white ass probably tastes like baked beans. nevertheless i LOVED his and alice's banter like no you should not follow immanuel kant's advice on pretending to be in love when he died a virgin at age 79 alice you're right.
the magic — sorry, magick — system is based off logical paradoxes and just barely bends the laws of reality. every time a new paradox was introduced i got happy because they're so good to chew on. i've gone into wikipedia rabbit holes about this. this was a main component of the book and i still wanted more. if others' complaints about katabasis talking down to its readers was about this i will say i am known to— [gunshot]
final thoughts - the romance between alice & peter is lackluster and their reasons for avoiding/hating each other felt a little flimsy. also wished alice got a life. also wished this was longer because god rfk writes so well have i mentioned that yet
br w/ clover
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
3.5
wouldn't say i adored this book but it was a good ride. i liked the commentary on the beauty industry & materialism & self-worth but thought it was pretty surface level; the highlight of the book was honestly the mc exploring her relationships with her parents (and the grief that came with those) and music. the writing was really lovely, with a sort of disconnected floaty tone that i enjoyed, but i don't think the horror elements were used to their full potential. it goes from 0 to 100 in the last quarter and the body horror is gross but lasts approximately three seconds. overall, i'm glad i read this at all but it was meh. so.
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
twelfth night modern retelling but olivia/viola endgame god this is everything i've ever wanted
that said. i do think this dragged a little in the middle and it ended up sitting on the backburner for a solid month (sorry 😭). short fun chapters to make you through it. i also think it would've benefitted from a little more closure but it was a good book overall, rec if you like messy protagonists in ya lol
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Violet’s breath catches. She’s never really thought of her heart before. The heart’s a muscle that works to keep her alive. Works to keep this other girl alive, too. Two muscles squeezing over and over to keep them upright, all for the purpose of this moment, right now.
They’re standing far away, but Violet can feel Liv’s hand on her own heart.
twelfth night modern retelling but olivia/viola endgame god this is everything i've ever wanted
that said. i do think this dragged a little in the middle and it ended up sitting on the backburner for a solid month (sorry 😭). short fun chapters to make you through it. i also think it would've benefitted from a little more closure but it was a good book overall, rec if you like messy protagonists in ya lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Drug use and Suicide attempt
Minor: Biphobia and Homophobia
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
emotional
sad
3.0
the way this book keeps you engaged is that it always ends a section slyly referring to another event or incident which it then expands upon, which worked, but also made it feel like a very drawn-out dialogue. i was confused in the beginning but ishiguro did a good job at building up the details throughout so when the reveals came i wasn't surprised. overall, a little boring. didn't really love any of the characters and there wasn't the closure i wished for but well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
girl this was ass
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wea-c7pRdlbdWf606eAUbe7K-HvQqhwTqRO_KfBRy5E/edit?tab=t.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child abuse
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
plot was meh but it raised some interesting questions. fleshed out the characters a lot more than aart through changing povs.
adored miranda and maya's povs. i am too woke for andy.
adored miranda and maya's povs. i am too woke for andy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Racism
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
this was cool, i was engaged the whole way and i don't rly think it dulled at any point. april's pov was a bit weirdly written at some points but those were easily ignored
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
okay this was so cute. i am on a lesbians in space kick and this was so lovely and a pleasure to read. there's some plot, some romance (which is more in the second half), some mystery and an ominous pov for a while. so. read it. and thank me