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innerweststreetlibrarian's reviews
425 reviews
Permafrost by SJ Norman
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
These stories are unlike anything I’ve read before.
Creepy, weird, a little confusing at times but also managing to pull something beautiful out of banal or frightening situations.
You don’t get a good sense of who the narrator is in most stories which gives an unusual sense of intimacy, you see the world through their eyes, their memories, their longings and fears, but never get an external perspective of who they are.
I think I’ll be pondering the collection for a long time, but “Unspeakable” was the standout for me. I have visited places with horrifying histories as a tourist many times too, I don’t fully understand the compulsion to do so but I felt like this comes close to articulating my own thoughts, being in these places where history sits very heavily, in close proximity to commercial tourism activities. There was a particularly challenging passage about eating ice creams at Auschwitz, that made me realise I really don’t know where Australia’s historical massacre sites are. I have more learning to do.
A lot of this book reads like a much better written version of my own internal monologue, or mimics the weird surrealism of my own dreams, yet from a totally different perspective and lived experience. It’s quite remarkable, very confronting, and I might revisit this review again after I’ve had more time to think about it.
Creepy, weird, a little confusing at times but also managing to pull something beautiful out of banal or frightening situations.
You don’t get a good sense of who the narrator is in most stories which gives an unusual sense of intimacy, you see the world through their eyes, their memories, their longings and fears, but never get an external perspective of who they are.
I think I’ll be pondering the collection for a long time, but “Unspeakable” was the standout for me. I have visited places with horrifying histories as a tourist many times too, I don’t fully understand the compulsion to do so but I felt like this comes close to articulating my own thoughts, being in these places where history sits very heavily, in close proximity to commercial tourism activities. There was a particularly challenging passage about eating ice creams at Auschwitz, that made me realise I really don’t know where Australia’s historical massacre sites are. I have more learning to do.
A lot of this book reads like a much better written version of my own internal monologue, or mimics the weird surrealism of my own dreams, yet from a totally different perspective and lived experience. It’s quite remarkable, very confronting, and I might revisit this review again after I’ve had more time to think about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Violence
The Swan Book by Alexis Wright
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I don’t understand this book.
I gave up on it halfway a few years ago and decided to try again. The blurb tells you essentially exactly what happens in the story, but I don’t feel like I gained much extra from actually reading the whole book, except some beautiful poetic descriptions of a hot world, getting hotter and more desperate.
It’s pretty weird.
I gave up on it halfway a few years ago and decided to try again. The blurb tells you essentially exactly what happens in the story, but I don’t feel like I gained much extra from actually reading the whole book, except some beautiful poetic descriptions of a hot world, getting hotter and more desperate.
It’s pretty weird.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Colonisation
It Doesn't Suck: Showgirls by Adam Nayman
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Well this was fun! Reading about bad movies is almost as fun as actually watching them. I was completely ignorant of the history behind the film when I first saw it, maybe 20 years after it was released and thought it was fascinatingly awful! I’ve since seen it again and enjoyed the great documentary “You Don’t Nomi”, it’s really interesting seeing the different perspectives on this film. It doesn’t suck, indeed!
The Fish Girl by Mirandi Riwoe
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Another finish this week from my recent street library haul! The Fish Girl by Mirandi Riwoe is a novella, and I went into it pre-warned that it’s quite upsetting. The story is taken from a character in W. Somerset Maugham’s book The Four Dutchmen which I have not read and don’t think I particularly want to after reading this.
This is a story about collateral damage, the violence of colonisation, and the abuse of women and naive/young/ignorant poor women in particular. It’s also very evocative of a time and place in history, I think the author has done a beautiful job of setting the scene for this tragedy.
I haven’t read many “inspired by” works, so this is a relatively unexplored genre for me. I have thought many times in the past that I would love to watch an action film with a gratuitously high body count that takes some time during the film or maybe at the end to humanise the casualties, show the obituary of gang member number 4 or share family photos of evil henchman 10 at his mum’s birthday party etc. This book does exactly that for the poor ‘Malay trollope’ of the original book, restoring her humanity. 🌺🌺🌺🌺
This is a story about collateral damage, the violence of colonisation, and the abuse of women and naive/young/ignorant poor women in particular. It’s also very evocative of a time and place in history, I think the author has done a beautiful job of setting the scene for this tragedy.
I haven’t read many “inspired by” works, so this is a relatively unexplored genre for me. I have thought many times in the past that I would love to watch an action film with a gratuitously high body count that takes some time during the film or maybe at the end to humanise the casualties, show the obituary of gang member number 4 or share family photos of evil henchman 10 at his mum’s birthday party etc. This book does exactly that for the poor ‘Malay trollope’ of the original book, restoring her humanity. 🌺🌺🌺🌺
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Medical content
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This feels less like a novel and more like an observation of the intersecting lives of the characters over a period of time. The presence and fear of the serpent is pervasive, it changes people’s behaviour and impacts the way they live their lives. The writing is excellent, the narrative interesting enough to be unpredictable and it held my attention, but not engrossing enough to read it fast. I could have happily read a chapter a month and kept pace with the passage of time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse and Infidelity
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions by Neil Gaiman
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is a disturbing bunch of weird, creepy, dark and sometimes sexy stories. Lots of monsters, of the human and the fantasy kind. The one I liked best was about the hotel cleaner in Hollywood who tended the fish ponds.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Child death, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Alcohol, Torture, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
Mermaid in Chelsea Creek by Michelle Tea
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is pretty dark. Generally I’d recommend a book with a 13 year old protagonist to kids a few years younger, but this might be quite scary/distressing for some kids. I found the story quite unpredictable and engaging.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Self harm, Medical content, Alcohol, and Death
Chocky by John Wyndham
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. A little bit creepy, it’s an interesting exploration of the family dynamics and the concern of the parents for their son, and the sometimes sinister, sometimes benevolent presence “Chocky”.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Well written, darkly funny, and a little depressing. Power corrupts etc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Trafficking, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty
The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I had misgivings early on about this book and nearly abandoned it after chapter 2. In hindsight, that probably would have been the right course of action for me. I can’t really do a review without lots of spoilers so here goes:
Bart is insufferable, he comes across as a bit of a stalker with creepy incel vibes, and yet he’s the love interest? Doug has no consideration for his daughter. JUST TELL HER WHAT IS HAPPENING. Max has no redeeming features. Anana/Alice is a poor choice of narrator. Some chapters are so boring I literally skipped ahead, something I almost never do (and not the aphasic bits, even though they were hard work too). The plot makes little sense. WHY is Doug on the run? WHY is the editor of a DICTIONARY suddenly an expert on medical treatments for viral infections? WHY is his artist/admin assistant daughter SO IMPORTANT that she needs to be smuggled out of the country, breaching quarantine regulations, but not deserving of a simple explanation of what was going on? Why keep calling her Alice? Nothing that happened really seemed like it needed any real secrecy at all.
The plot felt like it was tied up in a lazy technophobic cliche, “oh, let’s blame sinister foreign hacker terrorists, that’ll do”, instead of actually coming up with something that made sense. You can’t just absolve everyone who does shitty nefarious things because of corporate greed etc. to miraculously redeem everyone at the end. Max was not a good guy, not to anyone, and especially not his girlfriend. “Oh, but he really loved you... when he was cheating on you, lying to you, dumping you before making his millions” nope, not buying it. Not buying the idea that deathly ill people can just bribe their way through quarantine. Not buying the idea that a computer virus can somehow transcend biology and cause physical harm to humans via their immune systems. Secret societies, criminal conspiracies, underground tunnels, literary clues etc. can only go so far in keeping a story interesting, they have to actually make sense in the context of the plot too.
There’s a lot of really interesting concepts about the power of language and communication that were raised in this book, which is why I kept reading. They are just so disjointed and haphazardly applied that it’s a disappointing experience.
Bart is insufferable, he comes across as a bit of a stalker with creepy incel vibes, and yet he’s the love interest? Doug has no consideration for his daughter. JUST TELL HER WHAT IS HAPPENING. Max has no redeeming features. Anana/Alice is a poor choice of narrator. Some chapters are so boring I literally skipped ahead, something I almost never do (and not the aphasic bits, even though they were hard work too). The plot makes little sense. WHY is Doug on the run? WHY is the editor of a DICTIONARY suddenly an expert on medical treatments for viral infections? WHY is his artist/admin assistant daughter SO IMPORTANT that she needs to be smuggled out of the country, breaching quarantine regulations, but not deserving of a simple explanation of what was going on? Why keep calling her Alice? Nothing that happened really seemed like it needed any real secrecy at all.
The plot felt like it was tied up in a lazy technophobic cliche, “oh, let’s blame sinister foreign hacker terrorists, that’ll do”, instead of actually coming up with something that made sense. You can’t just absolve everyone who does shitty nefarious things because of corporate greed etc. to miraculously redeem everyone at the end. Max was not a good guy, not to anyone, and especially not his girlfriend. “Oh, but he really loved you... when he was cheating on you, lying to you, dumping you before making his millions” nope, not buying it. Not buying the idea that deathly ill people can just bribe their way through quarantine. Not buying the idea that a computer virus can somehow transcend biology and cause physical harm to humans via their immune systems. Secret societies, criminal conspiracies, underground tunnels, literary clues etc. can only go so far in keeping a story interesting, they have to actually make sense in the context of the plot too.
There’s a lot of really interesting concepts about the power of language and communication that were raised in this book, which is why I kept reading. They are just so disjointed and haphazardly applied that it’s a disappointing experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Confinement, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, Stalking, and Xenophobia