imaginary_space's reviews
217 reviews

Ist Mr. Marx zu hause? Anekdoten by Margarete Drachenberg

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

Unterhaltsame kleine Sammlung von Anekdoten.

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Unfortunately, I found this collection to be very inconsistent. It has great stories and stories I didn't like, which came down to length and pacing. Some were just too long and I think the book could have profited from a little more editing. Most of the stories would have had more impact if they were shorter, I think.

The Husband Stitch
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really liked it. The description of everyday activities with this constant tension made it memorable.

Inventory
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Seeing a catastrophie unfold from a purely introspective perspective was really new and interesting for me.

Mothers
⭐⭐ - Unfortunately, too long for me and motherhood isn't really my topic.

Especially Heinous / Season 5 / Season 8
⭐ - I think this was 2 or 3 separate stories, but they all go together. Unfortunately I skipped them, they were too long, too detailed and too incoherent for me to listen to.

Real Women Have Bodies
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really liked this one, maybe a tad too long.

8 Bites
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Loved it! Very unsettling, very relevant, very creepy.

The Resident
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the atmosphere of the story.

Difficult at Parties
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Very interesting and impactful concept.

FireWords Quarterly: 'Escape' by Jen Scott, Dan Burgess

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

I just need a better audio version of this.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Tell me you are a horror author from the US without telling me you're a horror author from the US: 

"The house was super batshit crazy old. It was 80 years old." 

This was super fun. I enjoyed: 

• the descriptions of the hauntings
• how Eleanor and Theodora are such good friends
• all the parallels between past & present thourought the story
• how the house is described as a living thing without explicitly mentioning it
• the mysteries that remained intact
• the ending

It didn't quite get to me emotionally, though.

 "I'm no good at talking to people ... and saying things."

- I feel you, honey.

Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a great book and I recommend it if you're searching for something outside of the repetitive mainstream.

Things I enjoyed most: The slow pacing, the suspense, the weirdness, that it's about a teenager but not a YA story (at least I wouldn't call it one), the unique world building, the prose, the philosophical concepts, the fantastical intertwined with mundane problems and the fact that we didn't get any real explanations (I hate when books with magical mysteries do that).

And yet, something makes me not rate this 5 stars. I don't know exactly what it is. Maybe it was a little too long-winded towards the end. Maybe the prose was overdone in some instances in the English translation - I'll have to read a German translation to find out.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the journey immensely.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

short, scary and to the point.

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This is a fast, entertaining read. Very unique and interesting worldbuilding, no red flags in the romance story and two rival love interests who actually manage to have a conversation and work together like grown-ups when the situation demands it. Yes, the bar is that low.
I wasn't super engaged emotionally, but I was entertained, and I just love Calpurnia.

Doktor Erich Kästners Lyrische Hausapotheke by Erich Kästner

3.0

Man findet immer etwas bei Kästner, insgesamt war diese Sammlung für mich jedoch an vielen Stellen zu oberflächlich, um mich wirklich mitzunehmen.

Venice: A New History by Thomas F. Madden

informative

4.0

Very informative and interesting to read, but gets too US-centric in the last chapter.