hellokatya's reviews
151 reviews

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

my first introduction to this story was through the film. somehow, i had come across it in relation to ezra miller - more true to character than we’d originally thought! - and was immediately interested. unfortunate to report, i was not a fan. however, upon finding out this was a novel first, through a sale at a book store, i was rekindled in my interest: hoping it would deliver better. 

the movie took on the same layout as the book where it is going between two timelines, i thought it ruined the potential that the story could’ve had, and i felt a bit similarly reading it. it is revealed in the blurb on the back of the book that kevin is a school shooter and murdered people, leaving his mother to deal with the fallout, but throughout the book it is hinted at, not fully acknowledged or confirmed until the very end where she, in great detail, describes her assumptions of how thursday went down. 

when i first began reading this, i was - and still am - in the throes of a reading slump. this was one i really looked forward to and counted on to bring me out of it; it did in smaller ways than anticipated. 

1. i absolutely loved the way the author writes. it is so eloquent and well spoken, sounds extremely educated, but it came to feel condescending in the end - and maybe that was purposeful but i just could not wait for it to be over with. this book did take me a bit to finish (just over two weeks) and i was dragging my way through it. in some other reviews i’ve read on storygraph, people were also taken aback by this. no real person talks like that. nonetheless, the writing intrigued me and i wanted so badly to finish it. it was just a bit of a drag and felt pretentious at times
2. the “letters” do not feel like letters to someone at all. they’re more diary entries, or reliving memories. they are not cohesive with the way the book is formatted and it was bothersome for me. though, one of my main points with perks of being a wallflower, was that the letters felt too impersonal and left far too much out for me to really be unconditionally in the story.
3. towards the end, i was contemplating whether i think eva is an unreliable narrator and if her accounts of kevin’s behavior and nature are to be trusted, or if they’re tinged red with fury and resentment. are children truly born evil? was he toying with her for so long from such a young age or was he really a lost boy trying to get through to his mother? 
   1. it almost made me begin to empathize with him and i loathed it

overall, i do not think i would recommend this book, as it is far too rich and i began skimming ~70% way through just to have it over with.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Minor: Classism

The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.25

i went into this book fully into a reading lull, knowing that it would bring me out. freida mcfadden is fantastic at leaving an audience wanting more and building tension or suspense. her books are fast paced and guaranteed to capture your attention - this one however had a problem maintaining it. the book did not get good until well past halfway through. it was a bore for quite a while. 

i could not bring myself to think about it once i’d put the book down. it was not one that i felt the need to continue on reading for long periods of time, and i had to take breaks between chapters the first day. granted: that could be due to my reading slump and inability to stick to a book this month. 

either way, this one was not a personal favorite from freida, but i was more satisfied in the logic behind the plot twist/reveal. the entire book until that point had me pondering who it would be. i am familiar with her writing style and her penchant for twisty plots,

so already i knew it couldn’t have been liam, especially with how HARD she went at trying to misdirect. every other paragraph was about how evil he is and how it’s all erika’s fault.

a part of me wishes that it would’ve been from someone else’s perspective, maybe hannah?, it might have been more bearable of a read. 

i was not a fan of erika as a main character. she takes on far too much responsibility and guilt from the [men] around her. she was insufferable to read from. 

lastly, it was truly disheartening to see how flat the women cast is, once again. they are nowhere near dimensional and have no more personality than a rock. they also do not have any sort of respect from each other, their loved ones, or from the author writing them. 

the side story about liam

tying up the girl in kindergarten should’ve come up again somewhere. maybe she could’ve been the body that was in the hole with olivia, or she had been the one that was being taken now,

anything with her than just making liam look bad. 

frank should also have had a more substantial part in the ending. he was creepy and slightly offkilter but it doesn’t really pay off. 

overall, it was okay. it did the job it had to do. it was nice to have a book opposite to her normal formula [good plot bad end > bad plot good end] and get out of my reading slump. will continue to take her books into consideration when picking tbr. 

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

4.0

Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

3.5

Cabin Fever by Alex Dahl

3.5

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

4.75

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

5.0

Under the Dome by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

where to begin with this behemoth? 

this book was a monster to get through. it had sat on my bookshelf for months - maybe even a year - before i committed to the idea of finally getting through it.

i have admired king and his writing for quite some time now, years at this point, and had (failed) to appreciate his world building and storytelling through my read through of IT, and decided this one would get my all, which (for the most part) i succeeded in. 

this book was very good — let me start there. it is a fantastic fly on the wall look into the way a “close knit” community falls apart when left to their own devices, and manipulated so heavily by a truly evil power figure. i will say that i was almost shocked by how many truly despicable characters and personalities there were in this novel. a few morally ambiguous - or more gray? - types, and a LOT of “protagonists”. it almost felt a little too skewed to the dark side, but then again, it is a king novel. it latched it’s arms around you and squeezed — it felt almost as suffocating as being trapped in the dome with them. 

i do wish that there hadn’t been so many characters, or at least so much focus on some of them, and that it had been a more intimate ensemble cast. it was hard trying to remember who each person was - even with the aid of character lists -, their relations to eachother, and their role in the bigger picture. it also felt like it took away from the immersion into the evil political goals of big jim. 

also a complaint is that the book should have been divided up by the passing days — not the way they were (that i honestly can’t comprehend). it only took place over about a week, which is made clear in the story, but i feel would’ve made the story much more cohesive and digestible, especially considering the length of the novel. 

there is quite a lot of violence in this novel, a lot more than i had expected — especially when my first introduction and taste of this concept was the tv show. now, i did not expect it to be a carbon copy, but i was expecting more similarities than i got, and the show was much more polished and censored. 

angie’s death really stuck with me for a couple days after i read it and not in a good way.

maybe i’ve just become squeamish and don’t have the stomach for it anymore, but i felt a lot of the violence could’ve been toned down, or at least spread out amongst more men — it was heavily aimed at the women and left a bad taste in my mouth. 

there’s a lot of sexual violence, a lot of it implied, thank god; but doesn’t make it quite a lot easier to get through. 

also the group bullying then gang r*pe of a (personally beloved) character was really jarring and left me with sorrow and a heavy heart.

 

in addition, i think the book could have been quite a bit shorter. as i also felt at the end of IT, the bulk of the story felt very dragged out and the ending much too quick. it all happened very quickly and felt like a quick wrap up to an otherwise very intricate and colorful world. 

the use of children aliens and a box — the whole explanation as a whole — felt very underwhelming and like it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. it felt like something that could’ve been explored much further and not been a side story — especially considering that the entirety of the novel is about the dome itself.

i wanted that explored in greater detail and would still love to see that talked about in the future. 

and finally, big jim. that man is the stuff of nightmares. he is so to the core horrible. i hate that man with every fiber of my being, and he deserved so much worse than he got.

his death felt very quick and painless, almost making you question if he truly died, when (per a paragraph earlier) the women had it so decidedly worse and drawn out. there is no doubt that he’s capable, so what’s the hold up?

as a whole, i loved this novel and feel so accomplished to have finished it. i think the timing was perfect, and i was able to give it the love and attention i desired. i highly recommend it, but come prepared with an iron stomach and tissues. 

PLEASE read TW as every single one you can possibly imagine is included. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Racial slurs and Racism

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

this is one that i will hold dear to my heart. i adored it from the first word to the last sentence. 
absolutely loved and will recommend to everyone. i regret waiting so long to pick this one up. everyone needs to read atleast once. lots of trigger warnings though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Abandonment

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

i went into this book excited for a romance - the last book i had read felt too focused on the world, rather than on the relationship, felt like a full season of a tv show - i wanted a more focused romance. 

coming out of this book, i was happy that it encompassed both aspects. i got a lot more romance, almost felt nostalgic for the world focus, and still knew what was happening around the central relationship. 

i was not pleased with the ending. while this book will most definitely be put on my top 5 of the year, it could have gone so much higher - especially with the rating. 

i thought the ending, phoebe deciding to cut things off with sam and focus on herself, her career, was such a satisfying and realistic ending. i didn’t want her to throw away her life dreams for a man who was only going to distract her and hold her back. she hadn’t known him long, he had Been distracting her from everything she needed to accomplish, she originally wanted a fling and made that very clear to him ⏤ there weren’t many redeeming factors for her here. she spent the majority of their time together worrying about what it was, although there was a lot of acceptance and love for herself. character growth.

maybe it’s the cynic in me, but i felt the book was more justified with them being apart from eachother and moving on. also, the declaration of love could not make me take it seriously. again, they hardly knew eachother and had only been romantically involved for a few months, most of which she was restating that she did not want and could not give what he was looking for.

i do think her journey of opening herself up to people, breaking down her walls she’s spent so long building, and becoming a better version of herself was truly beautiful. 

she was a very closed off and walled up woman. she would not let people in further than she was comfortable with, and kept everyone an arm’s length away. she was not insecure in her body, but she became more comfortable with her sensuality, and it was beautiful to hear someone outside of a petite build love the way she looks and feels. 

the sex scenes weren’t particularly uncomfortable, but some of the language could’ve been workshopped more. might be a bit of my homosexual preference, but i just was not super interested or particularly entertained by the sexual encounters. 

i would definitely recommend this book. it was a humorous and interesting take on a romance, phoebe felt very real and well rounded. seeing her personal and academic growth put a smile on my face and a took a laugh from my mouth. there were numerous occasions that it was truly laugh out loud funny, i could not have asked for a better book at this point in my reading career.