ida03a's reviews
173 reviews

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.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

4.0

When I started this book I first found the main character quite annoying, which is probably the authors intention, but quite quickly I started to find her very charming. A lonely and socially awkward woman, with lots of built up trauma, who we slowly see  blossom and evolve, it was quite touching actually. Her relationship with Raymon feels so genuine and heartfelt, and it was quite funny at times too. The characters all felt very real, and the dialogue also felt very realistic and had a good flow. It was also very nice to see the beauty of friendship through Eleanors eyes, it made me appreciate many small things that I often don't notice. Also did not expect the twist at the very end, though I wished it would have been revealed a little earlier so one could go more into detail with it.
Interesting read that was very much worth it.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.

All of these stories were very boring to me, and I found the writing very choppy and unpleasant to read... maybe I just don't like short stories, but this one was certainly not for me.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

5.0

Ok, this was NOT what I expected, but in a very good way! I imaged this would be hard to read, an a hassle to get through but it was absolutely the opposite. The writing was very well done, I especially enjoyed Tarrts Dialouge, which there is quite a lot of and drives the plot forward in a very engaging way. It also feels very realistic, despite it in itself being quite unrealistic. Though the characters all seem quite unusual they really feel like real people. I always love reading about morally ambiguous characters, so this was honestly perfect for me, as none of the characters seem to contain a single grain of empathy (: 
I also like Tarrts descriptions of weather and the season, it really adds to the vibe, is poetically written and shows a portrayal of time moving forward in a very nice and understandable way. 
Another very nice touch was the beginning, starting out knowing that Bunny would be murdered by the friend group very much drove the plot and made you look extra close for any clues, it made it a very fun experience.
The only thing I wish could've been different were that the French and greek phrases were a bit much at times, as I don't know either language I would've had to translate each phrase to fully understand the context (I was way to lazy for that and translated nothing) so there was probably some points that were lost on me. There were in some instances translations directly after the phrase, but not always. It didn't really bother me that much, Im just a little worried that I missed out on anything lol. (This didn't bring down my rating, just a thought I had) 
I was engaged and curious to keep reading throughout the whole book, and the ending honestly came as a surprise to me. Would 100% recommend, especially during the fall<3

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

5.0

Ok, I'll just have to say, I loved this. The plot was unlike anything I've read before, so unique, but also so fun and engaging. The characters also felt very real and everything about them felt very natural. I also found the book quite funny at times, and had to chuckle to myself a bit. But what I liked the most was how fast paced and thrilling it was, every time I read I just wanted to keep going, and I ended up reading the book very quickly. Some people seem to not like the "grotesque" part towards the end, but I truly felt it fitting, I also enjoyed the ending of the book though it felt a little abrupt.

Would recommend if you want an engaging and thrilling book with commentary on race, culture, gender and class.

Rouge by Mona Awad

5.0

I am so happy Mona Awad came out with another book for me to love!! Had really high expectations to this as I LOVED Bunny and All's well, but it certainly lived up to it! I just love her writing style. This was such a hard book to put down and the last 100 pages were sooo good. I really enjoyed the themes of beauty, grief and mother-daughter relationships. Would 100% recommend if you like the authors other books. This was also a great autumn read - the vibes are great for fall.