ind24's reviews
112 reviews

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Lean in: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

Nirmala by मुंशी प्रेमचंद, Munshi Premchand

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Dune by Frank Herbert

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents by Jimmy O. Yang

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

3.75

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it was entertaining, interesting, smart, and ended before I was ready to be finished with it. I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I expected to. I didn’t know much about Jimmy O Yang before reading this book. He comes across as extremely funny and personable. His wit and sense of humor is very palpable. My favorite bits were about his relationship with his father. The epilogue was unexpectedly wholesome and beautiful. Overall I’d categorize this as a quick, fun one-time read.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

adventurous dark funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

“Of course it was Loki. It’s always Loki.”

If you ask me this quote is sufficient to summarize the entirety of Norse mythology.
Anywho, I have always loved folktales and mythical stories. So I naturally gravitated towards reading this book and thanks to my biases I already knew I was, at least, going to like it. The book, I found, was a beautifully concocted modern and interesting saga of one of the coolest pantheon in the multiverse. Every story is fun and clever. You can't help but notice the similarities with other mythologies, the traditions of people who thrived miles away. I love the fact that wits and brawn are held in equal esteem, but I sure wish there was a lot more stories about the women. There's plenty of hints. Just lost fragments, however. It's a shame. I also think this would be such a fun palette cleanser to read the short stories in between novels.
It was truly a wonderful read.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Oh, what a beautifully orchestrated gothic horror novel! It is a book to be devoured. The prose is a masterclass in creating an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. The book is both concise and creepily evocative. The novel’s tension builds through understated supernatural elements and the pervasive sense of dread, leaving readers questioning reality. The Gothic architecture and supernatural elements, such as ghostly apparitions and eerie noises, enhanced the foreboding atmosphere to near perfection. The characters and the setting were immaculate for a story of this kind. The psychological and supernatural agitations and trepidations were dovetailed adroitly. There was just the right amount of constant, all-consuming sense of terror throughout the novel. A wonderful book to throw oneself off balance palatably, in my opinion.

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

While the book is a comical exposé of the fashion world with acutely funny and satirical prose, the constant whining from the main character about practically every single thing makes it very hard to enjoy the book without getting exasperated. Her attitude towards any and everything from the get-go is that of a bellyacher. It is hard to get past pages and pages of written rants about the tiniest of things, many times not even about Miranda, to appreciate the hustle, hard work, glitz, and glam so obviously inundating the content of the story. This is not necessarily a book I would recommend reading but people could still enjoy it if fashion and New York are the pillars that their identities are built on.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This is a deep, remarkably layered, and absolutely incredible story. If there’s any book that’s truly small yet mighty. It’s this. Claire Keegan has concocted the prose with subtle lyricism. There’s a very tangible undercurrent of softness in this grim slice-of-life kind of story which I appreciated. At its most boiled down state Small Things Like These is a book about kindness and goodness, about small but precious everyday deeds, about making hard but right choices, even when the consequences might be dire, especially when the consequences might be dire. It shines light on the fact that true heroes in our day-to-day lives are rarely loud and seldom swanky. 
My only qualm with this book is that there isn’t more of it.