Scan barcode
icedpinecones's reviews
186 reviews
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways by Eve Kellman
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I don't know what to say. I suppose a full warning would be: the protagonist is deeply unlikeable, and the ending left me absolutely fuming 😭 this is a well written book if you're aching to have a dislikeable, corrupt & female rage centred story. I just couldn't condone the behaviour of the main character, and the actions at the end of this story is unforgettable and unforgivable. A car crash you can't look away from.
Characters:
So the main character here is Millie, who hates everyone and everything especially dodgy men which is perfectly valid. But she also finds a way to hate coworkers who are just looking out for her, longtime friends, sheep and people who make boomerang videos on their instagrams. To cut it short: she will find a way to complain about anyone and anything. I knew I was getting into a murderer, but I did not think I was getting into someone who is so angry at the world. I couldn't root for her! I enjoyed all the side characters and that just made the fact that we're in her perspective the entire book so much worse!
Atmosphere:
Can't say one was created? The tale is supposed to be an audio recording for about 80% of the book but isn't written like that narratively at all. I much more enjoyed the way this kind of telling the tale was done in books such as 'the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo' so this book just kind of read as a normal story in that sense, and I knew there was gonna be murdering so it kinda dragged 😅 I didn't feel gripped, didn't feel myself desperate to see the story play out. It doesn't really get engaging til about the 70% mark of the story.
Writing:
Like I mentioned briefly, despite supposedly being an audio recording this book isn't written that way at all, like someone speaking their tale. The chapters felt too long and the writing didn't engage me so I did have to switch to an audiobook and have it on as I went about my day as it was so hard to focus given that the book doesn't really get good til the third act.
Plot:
After her sister is raped, Millie is hellbent on vengeance (notably, not for her sister but much more so for herself). She runs a phone line where people can contact her if they're in dodgy situations, and begins murdering people who are causing the biggest issues. You're listening to a tape recording of her recounting her crimes as the walls close in.
Intrigue:
I was really hoping for girlboss vengeance, but it's hard for me to get behind a main character who hates every other woman in her life? It was giving internalised mysoginy and on a worse day for me I wouldn't have been able to finish it. I can't really stand main characters who hate everyone around them, and the fact that she doesn't grow at all through this is worse.
Logic:
Erm... Many many times in this story did I have to go 'you can't really avoid a murder charge like that'. Not only does the main character make several dumb choices with her murders that leave you wondering how she ever got as far as ten in the first place, but her logic on evading being caught is flawed. She just deletes her messages to clear tracks and it's like... Girl that's not how that works please 😭 it gets really annoying eventually
Enjoyment:
I was so excited to read this. It wasn't what I expected, I was so excited for girlboss murder revenge fantasy but I got a girl who hates every other woman around her & repeatedly makes the dumbest choices. The ending as well ruined it for me. It just feels uncalled for, unjustified, fucked up. I can't reccomend this book, I like my murderers compassionate to the victims and this was not it
Characters:
So the main character here is Millie, who hates everyone and everything especially dodgy men which is perfectly valid. But she also finds a way to hate coworkers who are just looking out for her, longtime friends, sheep and people who make boomerang videos on their instagrams. To cut it short: she will find a way to complain about anyone and anything. I knew I was getting into a murderer, but I did not think I was getting into someone who is so angry at the world. I couldn't root for her! I enjoyed all the side characters and that just made the fact that we're in her perspective the entire book so much worse!
Atmosphere:
Can't say one was created? The tale is supposed to be an audio recording for about 80% of the book but isn't written like that narratively at all. I much more enjoyed the way this kind of telling the tale was done in books such as 'the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo' so this book just kind of read as a normal story in that sense, and I knew there was gonna be murdering so it kinda dragged 😅 I didn't feel gripped, didn't feel myself desperate to see the story play out. It doesn't really get engaging til about the 70% mark of the story.
Writing:
Like I mentioned briefly, despite supposedly being an audio recording this book isn't written that way at all, like someone speaking their tale. The chapters felt too long and the writing didn't engage me so I did have to switch to an audiobook and have it on as I went about my day as it was so hard to focus given that the book doesn't really get good til the third act.
Plot:
After her sister is raped, Millie is hellbent on vengeance (notably, not for her sister but much more so for herself). She runs a phone line where people can contact her if they're in dodgy situations, and begins murdering people who are causing the biggest issues. You're listening to a tape recording of her recounting her crimes as the walls close in.
Intrigue:
I was really hoping for girlboss vengeance, but it's hard for me to get behind a main character who hates every other woman in her life? It was giving internalised mysoginy and on a worse day for me I wouldn't have been able to finish it. I can't really stand main characters who hate everyone around them, and the fact that she doesn't grow at all through this is worse.
Logic:
Erm... Many many times in this story did I have to go 'you can't really avoid a murder charge like that'. Not only does the main character make several dumb choices with her murders that leave you wondering how she ever got as far as ten in the first place, but her logic on evading being caught is flawed. She just deletes her messages to clear tracks and it's like... Girl that's not how that works please 😭 it gets really annoying eventually
Enjoyment:
I was so excited to read this. It wasn't what I expected, I was so excited for girlboss murder revenge fantasy but I got a girl who hates every other woman around her & repeatedly makes the dumbest choices. The ending as well ruined it for me. It just feels uncalled for, unjustified, fucked up. I can't reccomend this book, I like my murderers compassionate to the victims and this was not it
Sound the Gong by Joan He
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I've been reading Joan's books since descendant of the crane, five years ago now, and watching her finally get the duology she deserves is a feat within itself. She is a kind, passionate and spirited hard worker and I am honoured to of been given an ARC for this book. Terrified because I've never read a duology in which the second book didn't fall short of the first, but honoured none the less. I shouldn't have been worried. This review has taken me so long to write because in all honesty the book as so many details and so much nuance that I'd have to do a spoiler review and a spoiler free review, a book based on the duology as a whole and a book based on just this book. You see my problem? Anyways, this is a spoiler free review of just sound the gong, however this will have spoilers for the first book of this duology STRIKE THE ZITHER. The books are essentially two halves of a whole, so it's near impossible to talk about this one without the other! With that said; onto the CAWPILE! 🩷
CHARACTERS
The characters in Sound the Gong are the same as in Stike The Zither (which I'm going to begin abbreviating from here) however STG adds so many more layers. While in STZ we saw everyone mostly through Zephyrs perspective, were able to learn a lot more about everyone because she's in different bodies now. Tourmaline is my favourite, and her relationship with Ren melts my heart, but all the sworn sisters are given so so much more depth it's harrowing to see when things go lobsided. Alternately, we also learn so so much more about the other sides of the war (Miasmas camp and Cicadias camp) and this depth really adds to the overarching themes of the book; will this be worth it? Each character has charm & depth that's unlike anything I've known in any other book, and having to leave them at the end of the tale left me feeling numb.
ATMOSPHERE
The book is right into it, STG does not play around, with major twists and turns and wrenches to Zephyrs strategies & a heavy atmosphere layering intensity and hope and desperation over eachother. It truly is a war, with casualties all over that cannot be quantified. Even the smaller tidbits of information you get (such as one casual throwaway line from Joan about Tourmaline or a line about crows reaction to an event that takes place in STZ) really layer on the dread. You cannot predict how this book will end, and I can't predict for you if you'll love it or need the bonus epilogue, but I can say you'll be immersed!
WRITING STYLE
STG moves quickly and swiftly, much as a late stage war does, and Joan does an insanely good job of keeping you at that pace with her. It's lyrical, engaging, scenic & packed with so many quotable things that I'm due to buy a second copy and several highlighters to annotate.
PLOT
Ok so, spoilers for STZ, but we pick up exactly where we left off. Crow is actually working for Cicadia, Zephyr is inside Lotus's body & war is warring. The book is a direct sequel in the sense that it's the second half of a whole so it follows on and amps it up. I'd say it's way more action packed than the first, because the first was setting up the dominos and the second is letting them fall!
INTRIGUE
There's so much that intrigues me with this series, I'm not familiar with the romance of the three kingdoms so I was going in pretty fresh to it all, but I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed this. The main things for me is the characters, how they've all god morals and code and loyalty that isn't really depicted in western media (loyalty ≠ infatuation or love) and I enjoy it. I enjoy watching characters clamber and do some of the most unforgivable things in the names of their lordesses!
LOGIC
You have no idea how amazing this is to read purely because of how many things are mirrored from book one to book two and how many things are picked up again. There is not a single plot hole, a single line unmatched, a single story not satisfactorily ended. Everything was PERFECT!
ENJOYMENT
INCASE YOU CANT ALREADY TELL!!! I am absolutely in adoration with this book, I've never read a duology where the second hasn't fallen short so I can't tell you how overjoyed I was to read this. It's truly just a masterpiece in my eyes, and I'll be rereading it for years to come just on how amazing it is!
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
CHARACTERS
The characters in Sound the Gong are the same as in Stike The Zither (which I'm going to begin abbreviating from here) however STG adds so many more layers. While in STZ we saw everyone mostly through Zephyrs perspective, were able to learn a lot more about everyone because she's in different bodies now. Tourmaline is my favourite, and her relationship with Ren melts my heart, but all the sworn sisters are given so so much more depth it's harrowing to see when things go lobsided. Alternately, we also learn so so much more about the other sides of the war (Miasmas camp and Cicadias camp) and this depth really adds to the overarching themes of the book; will this be worth it? Each character has charm & depth that's unlike anything I've known in any other book, and having to leave them at the end of the tale left me feeling numb.
ATMOSPHERE
The book is right into it, STG does not play around, with major twists and turns and wrenches to Zephyrs strategies & a heavy atmosphere layering intensity and hope and desperation over eachother. It truly is a war, with casualties all over that cannot be quantified. Even the smaller tidbits of information you get (such as one casual throwaway line from Joan about Tourmaline or a line about crows reaction to an event that takes place in STZ) really layer on the dread. You cannot predict how this book will end, and I can't predict for you if you'll love it or need the bonus epilogue, but I can say you'll be immersed!
WRITING STYLE
STG moves quickly and swiftly, much as a late stage war does, and Joan does an insanely good job of keeping you at that pace with her. It's lyrical, engaging, scenic & packed with so many quotable things that I'm due to buy a second copy and several highlighters to annotate.
PLOT
Ok so, spoilers for STZ, but we pick up exactly where we left off. Crow is actually working for Cicadia, Zephyr is inside Lotus's body & war is warring. The book is a direct sequel in the sense that it's the second half of a whole so it follows on and amps it up. I'd say it's way more action packed than the first, because the first was setting up the dominos and the second is letting them fall!
INTRIGUE
There's so much that intrigues me with this series, I'm not familiar with the romance of the three kingdoms so I was going in pretty fresh to it all, but I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed this. The main things for me is the characters, how they've all god morals and code and loyalty that isn't really depicted in western media (loyalty ≠ infatuation or love) and I enjoy it. I enjoy watching characters clamber and do some of the most unforgivable things in the names of their lordesses!
LOGIC
You have no idea how amazing this is to read purely because of how many things are mirrored from book one to book two and how many things are picked up again. There is not a single plot hole, a single line unmatched, a single story not satisfactorily ended. Everything was PERFECT!
ENJOYMENT
INCASE YOU CANT ALREADY TELL!!! I am absolutely in adoration with this book, I've never read a duology where the second hasn't fallen short so I can't tell you how overjoyed I was to read this. It's truly just a masterpiece in my eyes, and I'll be rereading it for years to come just on how amazing it is!
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-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
As a huge fan of translated fiction (namely Meiko Kawakami) and finding a recent favourite book (Pachinko by Min Jin Lee) to also be a historical fiction book I decided I'd allow myself to read more of this genre if it interests me! I got an ad for this book on Instagram and after that I couldn't escape it! Book stores, more ads, other people reading it, and I'm so glad I picked it up because I LOVED this book!
CHARACTERS
We follow Ichi for the majority of this book, a child sold into prostitution, and I find her perspective enjoyable and easy to read. There's some other recurring characters such as the Orian she works under (Shinonome) and her teacher (Tetsuko) are all great characters to follow too, I'd love books from their perspectives as well because they were all such well thought through characters!
ATMOSPHERE
This book is both enjoyable and foreboding, Ichi is such a kind and gentle girl so you really feel it when she gets hit down by something. You know what's happening is deeply wrong, and you feel terribly for the girls, but it isn't a hard read either in the sense that you're scared to know what happens next.
WRITING STYLE
I found the writing style deeply enjoyable, easy to follow & I really enjoyed having Ichis diary entries & poetry throughout the book as it really helped me learn more about her character (and in scenes where other characters write poetry it's an event better insight into their character)
PLOT
So we follow Ichi who is sold into the pleasure district, namely the Shinonome pleasure house, as she learns the ways of prostitution and battles her own complex feelings about it as she grows up and begins her work in the brothel. It then shifts into focusing on strikes, changing law & differing perspectives on prostitution from the prostitutes themselves, lawmakers, religious organisations etc.
INTRIGUE
I don't know what to put here most of the time! It was really intriguing to me as I'd wanted to read about this, but can't say 'Memoirs of a Geisha' (I'm pretty sure Geisha and Orian are different things too) seemed it'd give an accurate presentation of the time period given it was written by a white man who plagiarised and dramatised the actual life of Mineko Iwasaki.
LOGIC
Book made sense for the most part, there was one scene (smallest and lightest spoiler) in which Shinonome teaches Ichi to clench her period in? With her vaginal muscles? I'm not sure if that's a thing you can do for several hours and then 'release' it I'm gonna be so for real. But maybe? Who knows, I use a cup lol.
ENJOYMENT
I!! LOVED THIS BOOK!!
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
CHARACTERS
We follow Ichi for the majority of this book, a child sold into prostitution, and I find her perspective enjoyable and easy to read. There's some other recurring characters such as the Orian she works under (Shinonome) and her teacher (Tetsuko) are all great characters to follow too, I'd love books from their perspectives as well because they were all such well thought through characters!
ATMOSPHERE
This book is both enjoyable and foreboding, Ichi is such a kind and gentle girl so you really feel it when she gets hit down by something. You know what's happening is deeply wrong, and you feel terribly for the girls, but it isn't a hard read either in the sense that you're scared to know what happens next.
WRITING STYLE
I found the writing style deeply enjoyable, easy to follow & I really enjoyed having Ichis diary entries & poetry throughout the book as it really helped me learn more about her character (and in scenes where other characters write poetry it's an event better insight into their character)
PLOT
So we follow Ichi who is sold into the pleasure district, namely the Shinonome pleasure house, as she learns the ways of prostitution and battles her own complex feelings about it as she grows up and begins her work in the brothel. It then shifts into focusing on strikes, changing law & differing perspectives on prostitution from the prostitutes themselves, lawmakers, religious organisations etc.
INTRIGUE
I don't know what to put here most of the time! It was really intriguing to me as I'd wanted to read about this, but can't say 'Memoirs of a Geisha' (I'm pretty sure Geisha and Orian are different things too) seemed it'd give an accurate presentation of the time period given it was written by a white man who plagiarised and dramatised the actual life of Mineko Iwasaki.
LOGIC
Book made sense for the most part, there was one scene (smallest and lightest spoiler) in which Shinonome teaches Ichi to clench her period in? With her vaginal muscles? I'm not sure if that's a thing you can do for several hours and then 'release' it I'm gonna be so for real. But maybe? Who knows, I use a cup lol.
ENJOYMENT
I!! LOVED THIS BOOK!!
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Another year, another Ali Hazelwood book I find myself drawn to reading. Her books are like shit reality TV shows to me in that I love them & know I shouldn't. This was her first foray into paranormal romances and I found it fine & arguably better written than most of her other romances; unfortunately the dreaded third act breakup (with some trite comments made by the MMC) completely removed my investment in the amendment of their relationship because WHO WOULD SAY THAT TO SOMEONE?! Also PSA: this book has knotting in it. It was weird, and I'm not into it (sorry omegaverse fans) but I'm not kinkshaming anyone.
Aaaaanyways, onto the CAWPILE! Which if you don't know is a little system that lets me evaluate several different factors of a book (so feel free to scroll to whatevers important to you in your books).
CHARACTERS
Our main character, Misery, is who we follow through the book and as far as main characters go she's quite likeable and kind. I do feel the split of her going from emotionless and apathetic to full of emotions could've been managed better because it's more like a no emotion to lots of them but that's about all my gripes. Lowe is your standard overbearing alpha male love interest (with a penchant for drawing that's just never explored) and then you've got a cast of various side characters that are all done well enough.
ATMOSPHERE
I can't say this book went out of its way to have any kind of atmosphere, the plot circles around both romance and a mystery but I'd say the general vibes remain solidly romance with no fear on the more intense moments.
WRITING STYLE
Classic Ali Hazelwood style, fanfic esque & easy to read. Would definitely recommend this as a cozy and easy October read.
PLOT
Okay so we've got two plots going on; one being a dissapearing best friend mystery that's linked to the MMC, and the other more main plot being the forced marriage of the FMC and MMC to broker a tenuous werewolf vampyre alliance. It ain't much deeper than that but we have some overtones of racism going on due to the whole werewolf v vampire v kind of humans too?
INTRIGUE
We all know the intrigue of these books is the romance & subsequent smut. If you're feeling curious on trying something new I again point to the knotting but can't say I'll be reading more in this genre 🫡 I just couldn't stop thinking about like... This is a thing with actual dogs and they are pets and there was that weird woman on YouTube who erm.. you know. Just reminded me of that so I ended up skipping the aforementioned knotting as I just felt a bit uncomfortable.
LOGIC
I would say everything adds up and makes sense apart from an incredibly forced and uncomfortable to read third act breakup which completely revoked my enjoyment of the MMC.
ENJOYMENT
Standard romance book, definitely reads better than the other genres Ali has been publishing (and god am I glad for the change in not constantly reading about how petite the FMC is and how tall and beefy and everything the MMC is) but to me these books are always just standard romance books and never seem to emotionally stretch beyond that for me. I've read romances that really did make me feel things emotionally, but this book didn't do that (as didn't her others) and I'm chill with that.
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
Aaaaanyways, onto the CAWPILE! Which if you don't know is a little system that lets me evaluate several different factors of a book (so feel free to scroll to whatevers important to you in your books).
CHARACTERS
Our main character, Misery, is who we follow through the book and as far as main characters go she's quite likeable and kind. I do feel the split of her going from emotionless and apathetic to full of emotions could've been managed better because it's more like a no emotion to lots of them but that's about all my gripes. Lowe is your standard overbearing alpha male love interest (with a penchant for drawing that's just never explored) and then you've got a cast of various side characters that are all done well enough.
ATMOSPHERE
I can't say this book went out of its way to have any kind of atmosphere, the plot circles around both romance and a mystery but I'd say the general vibes remain solidly romance with no fear on the more intense moments.
WRITING STYLE
Classic Ali Hazelwood style, fanfic esque & easy to read. Would definitely recommend this as a cozy and easy October read.
PLOT
Okay so we've got two plots going on; one being a dissapearing best friend mystery that's linked to the MMC, and the other more main plot being the forced marriage of the FMC and MMC to broker a tenuous werewolf vampyre alliance. It ain't much deeper than that but we have some overtones of racism going on due to the whole werewolf v vampire v kind of humans too?
INTRIGUE
We all know the intrigue of these books is the romance & subsequent smut. If you're feeling curious on trying something new I again point to the knotting but can't say I'll be reading more in this genre 🫡 I just couldn't stop thinking about like... This is a thing with actual dogs and they are pets and there was that weird woman on YouTube who erm.. you know. Just reminded me of that so I ended up skipping the aforementioned knotting as I just felt a bit uncomfortable.
LOGIC
I would say everything adds up and makes sense apart from an incredibly forced and uncomfortable to read third act breakup which completely revoked my enjoyment of the MMC.
ENJOYMENT
Standard romance book, definitely reads better than the other genres Ali has been publishing (and god am I glad for the change in not constantly reading about how petite the FMC is and how tall and beefy and everything the MMC is) but to me these books are always just standard romance books and never seem to emotionally stretch beyond that for me. I've read romances that really did make me feel things emotionally, but this book didn't do that (as didn't her others) and I'm chill with that.
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
Idol, Burning by 宇佐見りん, Rin Usami
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Welcome to my review of 'Idol Burning' by Rin Usami! In short, I found this to be a good story but very misrepresented by it's marketing. The story promises obsession, a view of cancel culture & parasocial relationships but in actuality it's more of a coming of age story exploring the effects of parasocial relationships on a teenager. It delivered on some points, but never touched the rest. Due to this I found myself not enjoying the book, but if you're going into this knowing it's more about an obsessive parasocial relationship not cancel culture you'll probably enjoy!
Now onto the CAWPILE, which is a way of reviewing books! Feel free to scroll to certain aspects you focus on in your books and get the key information you need to work out if you want to read this or not! My social medias are all linked at the bottom of this review if you want to check out my pages! Thank you for reading!!
CHARACTERS
We follow Akari for the majority of this book, and her descent into depression as her obsession with her idol slowly destroys her life. I found her annoying at several points, but in a way I'm sure is relatable to every teenager who had a rough time growing up and just feels embarrassed by how they used to behave. I felt that the aspect of seeing an idol be cancelled from a fans perspective wasn't explored as much as the blurb promised, being that we just see her obsession and blog posting and buying things, it's not really exploring cancel culture through the lens of a fan at all.
ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere isn't strong in this book unfortunately, it's very all over the place with the general golden thread of the entire story being the depression and obsession NOT the dread of cancel culture. I never felt the sense of dread and desperation Akari was feeling when her idol began to lose popularity. At times it felt clunky having scenes of her at school or work as there was just no consistent atmosphere to convey her life destructing in these scenes.
WRITING STYLE
I found this book a little less smooth than quite a vast variety of translated fiction I've previously read, again the only word I really have to describe it is that it comes across as clunky. I'm unsure if the book became like this in translation, but it just lacks a lot of depth. The book is only 110 pages with the other 20 being interviews and comments from both the author and translator, so I guess it has to be clunky in order to get from scene to scene but I just found it very disjointed.
PLOT
The general plot of this book is occasionally misrepresented in blubs I'd say. The idol assaults someone, and we spend most the book just following Akari and her obsession; I'd of hoped we got more of a push and pull with an idols life being destroyed/the darkness of the idol industry and how it takes advantage of fans too but it just never hit that depth. It felt much more like the plight of a teenage obsession rather than the darker ruthlessness promised. It was more of a coming of age story/exploration of teenage obsession. Cancel culture/an idol burning up is talked about a lot in both the authors note and interviews with the author in the latter section of the book but I found the story itself to focus very little on that. It's a great look into parasocial relationships, but not cancel culture.
INTRIGUE
The intrigue of this book for me was that it promised to look at cancel culture, coming of age, obsession & parasocial relationships. I found it definitely delivered on parasocial relationships and coming of age, but fell short with cancellation & how random reacts to that. I found myself enjoying the book less as it went on, as I had to come to terms with the fact that it's been misrepresented online by it's marketing.
LOGIC
The story jumps in time a lot, spanning over more than a year from the inciting incident of abuse from the idol that our main character follows. The relationships between the characters and their family is juttery and doesn't make sense at times, and the behaviour of the character while she goes to school or works her job is clunkily done and hard to follow. For example, at one point of the book we have the character burn herself out over summer by overworking to make money to buy merchandise and go to concerts to support her idol. Then we jump to the start of her school year, where she is stated to be very thin, have severe acne and poor hygiene due to how she only focuses on her idol. Then shes in the nurses office, then she's back at home, then she's failing school. It all jumps and is hard to follow and know exactly how long it's been since the last paragraph.
ENJOYMENT
While I found the metaphors and journey of the main character to be done well, I just couldn't enjoy the majority of this book while I was waiting on it to deliver a story that never came. I found it reminiscent of reading 'Lemon' by Kwon Yeo-Sun which was also misrepresented (being sold as a thriller/murder mystery when really it's just an exploration of grief), in the way that this book is definitely sold as a darker and obsessive story of a fan dealing with her idol being cancelled it's moreso just a teenager growing out of a parasocial relationship. If it was advertised as that, I'd of still been interested and probably enjoyed it more as it isn't a bad book, but unfortunately the misrepresentation of the book led me to just not enjoy it at all.
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
Now onto the CAWPILE, which is a way of reviewing books! Feel free to scroll to certain aspects you focus on in your books and get the key information you need to work out if you want to read this or not! My social medias are all linked at the bottom of this review if you want to check out my pages! Thank you for reading!!
CHARACTERS
We follow Akari for the majority of this book, and her descent into depression as her obsession with her idol slowly destroys her life. I found her annoying at several points, but in a way I'm sure is relatable to every teenager who had a rough time growing up and just feels embarrassed by how they used to behave. I felt that the aspect of seeing an idol be cancelled from a fans perspective wasn't explored as much as the blurb promised, being that we just see her obsession and blog posting and buying things, it's not really exploring cancel culture through the lens of a fan at all.
ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere isn't strong in this book unfortunately, it's very all over the place with the general golden thread of the entire story being the depression and obsession NOT the dread of cancel culture. I never felt the sense of dread and desperation Akari was feeling when her idol began to lose popularity. At times it felt clunky having scenes of her at school or work as there was just no consistent atmosphere to convey her life destructing in these scenes.
WRITING STYLE
I found this book a little less smooth than quite a vast variety of translated fiction I've previously read, again the only word I really have to describe it is that it comes across as clunky. I'm unsure if the book became like this in translation, but it just lacks a lot of depth. The book is only 110 pages with the other 20 being interviews and comments from both the author and translator, so I guess it has to be clunky in order to get from scene to scene but I just found it very disjointed.
PLOT
The general plot of this book is occasionally misrepresented in blubs I'd say. The idol assaults someone, and we spend most the book just following Akari and her obsession; I'd of hoped we got more of a push and pull with an idols life being destroyed/the darkness of the idol industry and how it takes advantage of fans too but it just never hit that depth. It felt much more like the plight of a teenage obsession rather than the darker ruthlessness promised. It was more of a coming of age story/exploration of teenage obsession. Cancel culture/an idol burning up is talked about a lot in both the authors note and interviews with the author in the latter section of the book but I found the story itself to focus very little on that. It's a great look into parasocial relationships, but not cancel culture.
INTRIGUE
The intrigue of this book for me was that it promised to look at cancel culture, coming of age, obsession & parasocial relationships. I found it definitely delivered on parasocial relationships and coming of age, but fell short with cancellation & how random reacts to that. I found myself enjoying the book less as it went on, as I had to come to terms with the fact that it's been misrepresented online by it's marketing.
LOGIC
The story jumps in time a lot, spanning over more than a year from the inciting incident of abuse from the idol that our main character follows. The relationships between the characters and their family is juttery and doesn't make sense at times, and the behaviour of the character while she goes to school or works her job is clunkily done and hard to follow. For example, at one point of the book we have the character burn herself out over summer by overworking to make money to buy merchandise and go to concerts to support her idol. Then we jump to the start of her school year, where she is stated to be very thin, have severe acne and poor hygiene due to how she only focuses on her idol. Then shes in the nurses office, then she's back at home, then she's failing school. It all jumps and is hard to follow and know exactly how long it's been since the last paragraph.
ENJOYMENT
While I found the metaphors and journey of the main character to be done well, I just couldn't enjoy the majority of this book while I was waiting on it to deliver a story that never came. I found it reminiscent of reading 'Lemon' by Kwon Yeo-Sun which was also misrepresented (being sold as a thriller/murder mystery when really it's just an exploration of grief), in the way that this book is definitely sold as a darker and obsessive story of a fan dealing with her idol being cancelled it's moreso just a teenager growing out of a parasocial relationship. If it was advertised as that, I'd of still been interested and probably enjoyed it more as it isn't a bad book, but unfortunately the misrepresentation of the book led me to just not enjoy it at all.
Jessie (she/her)
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/icedpinecones
www.goodreads.com/icedpinecones
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/icedpinecones
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
After a crushing DNF of a much anticipated fantasy book, I had to go back to something I could trust! A broken blade had an interesting premise, and while I didn't expect much, it certainly deliverered!
Warning: this book contains themes of abuse, sexual assault, self harm and alcoholism! Please check trigger warnings before reading.
The protagonist, Keera, is a flawed but great character to follow. She struggles with an alcohol dependency & memories of the past that haunt her. She's the kings assassin, unwillingly but without the motivation to do anything about it. She's tasked to find 'the shadow', a vigilante making a mockery of the king and driving Keera to her wits end but as their worlds collide it becomes clear that an alliance might just save them all.
The world building was rich and entrancing with various fantasy races with equally as different powers to note. However, they don't impede your read & I didn't get confused by any of it! The prose is great to follow along with and I didn't get bored at any point, I found myself flying through chapters which is unusual with me and physical books!
At first I found it quite basic in it's tropes, but I didn't expect to see the world expand and develop as it did. The side characters like Nikolai are equally as interesting and loveable as the main cast of characters & the plot points (while a little on the more predictable side as a seasoned fantasy reader) I found worked really well with characters not being as cookie cutter as standard books!
The romance was also GENUINELY a slow burn, not in the sense that they only hold hands by the end but in the sense that they've only really come around to eachother by the end of the book romantically and that relationship could very easily crumble with distrust.
I think the only thing I'd of wanted to improve was the plot points and twists being a bit predictable, but I've been reliably informed that the second book cracks the narrative right open (think throne of glass to heir of fire) so I'm really excited to continue the series later!
IG : @Icedpinecones ✨
Warning: this book contains themes of abuse, sexual assault, self harm and alcoholism! Please check trigger warnings before reading.
The protagonist, Keera, is a flawed but great character to follow. She struggles with an alcohol dependency & memories of the past that haunt her. She's the kings assassin, unwillingly but without the motivation to do anything about it. She's tasked to find 'the shadow', a vigilante making a mockery of the king and driving Keera to her wits end but as their worlds collide it becomes clear that an alliance might just save them all.
The world building was rich and entrancing with various fantasy races with equally as different powers to note. However, they don't impede your read & I didn't get confused by any of it! The prose is great to follow along with and I didn't get bored at any point, I found myself flying through chapters which is unusual with me and physical books!
At first I found it quite basic in it's tropes, but I didn't expect to see the world expand and develop as it did. The side characters like Nikolai are equally as interesting and loveable as the main cast of characters & the plot points (while a little on the more predictable side as a seasoned fantasy reader) I found worked really well with characters not being as cookie cutter as standard books!
The romance was also GENUINELY a slow burn, not in the sense that they only hold hands by the end but in the sense that they've only really come around to eachother by the end of the book romantically and that relationship could very easily crumble with distrust.
I think the only thing I'd of wanted to improve was the plot points and twists being a bit predictable, but I've been reliably informed that the second book cracks the narrative right open (think throne of glass to heir of fire) so I'm really excited to continue the series later!
IG : @Icedpinecones ✨
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 1 by Mokumokuren
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is only Volume one so maybe it picks up but so far it's been a very slow read and not what I was expecting. It seems almost jumpy at times with going back and forth but not explaining what time we're in.
Rouge by Mona Awad
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Just not for me/Not the right time. I need to get stuck into the horror and this was a really slow opener for me
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
How am I supposed to explain this book without myself sounding unhinged? This book is not a light read, it deals with some very heavy topics pertaining mostly to child abuse and child sexual abuse and then cannibalism in the latter half.
Murata is a sensational author who I adore, and she tackles the rules of society we've implemented and this book is no different. Similarly to convince store woman we're looking into the expectations of women and men on getting married, having kids and it's referred to as the 'factory' in this book. So the main themes is societal expectations, how trauma affects your mental state and what not but the book goes about it in a very unhinged fashion.
Our main character believes she is an alien, is in an incestuous relationship with her cousin Yuu & the first 80 pages of the book covers this depraved childhood of abuse and trauma. It's a very tough read, but also heartbreaking to see some of my own experiences reflected in her psyche.
The latter 160 pages of the book is her adulthood in her estranged marriage & reuniting with Yuu and exploring societal standards again. It's a very odd read.
I loved it, I love Sayakas work, but again this book is insane.
Murata is a sensational author who I adore, and she tackles the rules of society we've implemented and this book is no different. Similarly to convince store woman we're looking into the expectations of women and men on getting married, having kids and it's referred to as the 'factory' in this book. So the main themes is societal expectations, how trauma affects your mental state and what not but the book goes about it in a very unhinged fashion.
Our main character believes she is an alien, is in an incestuous relationship with her cousin Yuu & the first 80 pages of the book covers this depraved childhood of abuse and trauma. It's a very tough read, but also heartbreaking to see some of my own experiences reflected in her psyche.
The latter 160 pages of the book is her adulthood in her estranged marriage & reuniting with Yuu and exploring societal standards again. It's a very odd read.
I loved it, I love Sayakas work, but again this book is insane.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book is complex to rate as it has many high points and many lows. The good is seen in the story of James and Oliver, the prose being a mix of screenplay and standard book writing and the complexities of other characters such as Meredith. Where there's ups there's also downs, the main twist/motive for the villain is poorly executed and really makes the whole thing fall short. Characters such as Alexander and Wren are poorly explored, with things just stated then ignored. I enjoyed it for the most part, but the characters that fall more lackluster make the book fall short and lag behind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Drug use, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, and Vomit