ida03a's reviews
168 reviews

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

4.5

Super fast and insightful read. I enjoyed the whole book and found the writing style very satisfying to read. Would recommend, especially if you liked the movie.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

4.5

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro

4.0

This book started out a bit slow for me but then drew me in completely! The mystery and eventually reveal of the circumstances around Rita's death was very engaging while also learning more about Parkinsons and how it affects people was very interesting. It's a topic I rarely see being written about but I found it is very important. I have to say, I wasn't a big fan of the structure of the dialogue - it felt a bit messy and was a bit confusing to read at times.

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

4.0

Very beautiful and well written story that I both related to and learned from. The only thing that threw me off a bit was the second person narration, but I got more used to it towards the end of the book. Would recommend as a quick read with gorgeous prose.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

3.0

Why is it so hard to actually find a good thriller? This one did not impress me. I figured out the "twist" during some of the first chapters, so it was very predictable. The characters didn't feel very real and a lot of the dialogue felt very cliche and a bit cringe at times. Still, I was entertained for most of the time so not quite sure how to rate this book.

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

3.75

Vey interesting concept, but I'm not sure if I actually fully understood it? Is the book  supposed to be confusing and weird or did I just not get it?

It starts out with a woman telling her coworkers that she is pregnant and can't make coffee anymore, as it makes her nauseous, she then goes on pretending and tries to keep up the appearance that she really is pregnant. Then, she suddenly starts to seem like she actually is, and her own mindset also shifts. She now feels real pregnancy symptoms, her stomach grows and she (and others) feel the baby kicking. The baby even shows up on ultrasound at the doctor. But then the mc tells a friend that she is lying about "something" but doesn't go on to specify. In the final pages of the book she births the child and we get a page of "12 months later" of her talking about her son. As I finished I found myself very confused, did the baby exist or not? Still, I kind of enjoy being confused when reading, as it makes me want to read on to understand the situation. What it lacked though was an explanation in the end, was this a woman going crazy and truly believing she had a child? Was it a magical instance where a baby actually was created from nothing? (Like the Virgin Mary?) I kind of think it has to be the latter since she actually felt the baby kicking and everything? Maybe this was supposed to be a magical realism book. Still not sure lol. Because of this, I found the end a bit anti-climactic and expected something more.

On the other hand, I think it was an enjoyable read, the writing style was simple but nice and I could read it fairly quickly. I especially enjoyed learning more about womens role in Japanese society. 

Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

5.0

I enjoyed this book very much. I was a little unsure about it when I picked it up because I had heard several people recommend it, but also felt that the blurb was very vague. I turned out to be pleasantly surprised and read the book in four days. The writing was very simple and straight forward, but I really liked that as it almost felt like reading a personal diary. Learning more about the queer community in Soul with a gay main character was very interesting. I also liked seeing the protagonists different relationship throughout his adolecense, everything from his friendships, his relationship with his mother, his lovers and the relationships that broke him. It all felt very real, and i suspect the author has drawn a lot from his own life, which I admire. 

Notes to Self by Emilie Pine

5.0

If I were to describe this book with one word I would say inspiring. It deeply inspired me to write my own story, to speak up in this world and to put my fears aside. The author is so vulnerable and shares so much of her personal struggles and traumas, I feel very thankful to know such intimate things about a stranger and that she is willing to open up to the world in such an honest way. It made me feel all the feelings and I was truly touched. It all reminded me a lot of Dolly Aldertons writing, who I also admire as an author.
Would recommend this to everyone.

I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel

4.0

This was a really interesting and fast read. The commentary on selv destructive obsessive women really spoke to me and was at times quite relatable, which hurts a little further into the book lol. 
I found the narrators disgust of "rich people" but simultaneously her fantasy of attaining said wealth very interesting. 
The narrator is so contradicting and accuses everyone around her of being the problem, while also admitting to physical and psychological violence towards her partner and lover, which made me realize that she herself might be the real villain of this story. I think the reveal of her being this quite horrible person is very interesting, she hides behind being the victim of her lovers unfaithfulness, though he is always 100% honest with her and she is willingly putting herself in this situation.
I also enjoyed the theme of social media and how that plays a big role in todays relationships and obessions.
The only bad things I have to say about this was that it was a bit repetetive at times, and it got a bit tedious to read the same situation over and over.
I also missed a bit more drama in the end, how is this woman so unhinged and it not resulting in any major event or turning point. The end really didn't feel like an ending or a conclusion, it felt a little like the author just felt done writing...
Also not sure if I liked or didn't like the vagueness of the writing? You know so much about these people, but also so little? You get very vague descriptions of what they work as and that both annoyed and intrigued me.
I was also a little confused by all the time jumps throughout the book, it really is a little all over the place and it's very hard to imagine a clear timeline of the different scenes, so I think this could've been a little clearer.
All in all I think it was a good book, and would recommend as an unhinged and fast read.

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

2.5

Ok, I think I just have to realize that short story collections mostly aren't for me. Some of the stories did catch my attention, but once I actually got invested, it was over, done, and a new one would begin. This is such a frustrating reading process, as I see the unfulfilled potential...
Some of the stories also didn't catch my interest at all, and I found them boring to the point of wishing them to be done.
The writing style was alright, but many of the themes were very repetitive in a way that felt overdone and unoriginal.
Would sadly not recommend this once, but it might also just be me who doesn't like short stories in this format.