jarvvis's reviews
80 reviews

Maurice by E.M. Forster

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

It’s a surprise to me that I’m giving this book five stars, as for most of it I bumbled through it, enjoying the writing and the silly 20th century Englishness and the fact it reminded me of Brideshead Revisted, but not totally mad about it either.  Honestly I found Maurice and Clive’s relationship to be somewhat uncompelling, not wholly so, I liked their sweet touches and quiet companionship, but I certainly feel like it lacked something (sex, or a proper future). And then (spoilers from here on out)

Clive goes to Greece of all places and decides he’s straight after all and Maurice is plunged into darkness once more.

The man who awoke him to his own identity and desires has now abandoned him to walk the road alone, and Maurice cannot sink back into ignorance. And then he meets Alec. Oh Alec Scudder my dear. Alec and Maurice seem to get each other on an intuitive and intimate level: there is no more Plato, or complex metaphors and constant fear: Maurice calls and Alec comes. The end is what saved this book for me, a happy ending in an unexpected quarter. Maurice no longer has to trudge along in a relationship doomed to be suppressed by society with a man not brave enough to really accept who he is and what he wants: he gets the guy who missed the boat to Argentina for someone whom he’s slept with twice and knows he loves. 

To be queer is to be ruined, it is also to want. To read something that ends so well reeks of desire and hope and rings true more than anything else. To a happier year indeed.

The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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

4.25

For a small portion of this book, I found it overwrought and overwritten, but pretty quickly I fell into its ridiculous prose and naval-gazy attitude. Two men, close friends but vastly different from one another, embark on a mission to form elaborate crop circles: a plot that’s not really about anything but soon opens itself up to a multitude of musings on life and art and war and the future. It’s summery and strange and contemplative.

Ending complaints here:

the ending was definitely sudden and interesting, but I didn’t really feel like it went with the rest of the book and I’m not sure if/how the burning of the last crop circle was meant to comment on any of the themes. It was incredibly abrupt and very jarring.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Did not expect to give a Christmas themed novella five stars, but no one is doing it like Janice Hallett.
The bitchy emails between different members of an amateur theatre group are to die for, and I forgot how well-rounded the cast of The Appeal are, they’re genuinely well developed, funny, lovable characters. The comedy in this book is very good, as is the mystery, which twists and untwists and wraps itself up. Its tone is really consistent and never slips into the realm of too serious or too lighthearted. Just really fucking good crime fiction.

A Book of Dreams by Peter Reich

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

2.75

A bit of a strange, directionless book and one in which I feel like more of a familiarity with the background would have helped me along. The last 10% of this I really enjoyed, where Reich is finally unpacking the impact of his childhood and his opinions on his father’s work, but the other 90% is filled with aimless stories. An interesting read, but very vague and unsatisfactory.

Opal by Maggie Stiefvater

emotional inspiring reflective relaxing fast-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? Yes

4.0

If you see me reviving on old interest the day before my maths exam, no you fucking didn’t.
Cute! I love Raven Cycle dreamer lore and implementation and good summer vibes.

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.

Bad novel. Boring. No excitement. Opposite of Challengers.

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I’m really starting to love short stories tbh and this is a pretty fun collection of them! Some of them fall flat (read: Los Angeles) but I liked the majority of them and their surrealism. They’re all about very different things, bizarre hooks for each of them, but every story is tied to Asian-American immigrant experience in some way which tethered the stories together and made the whole collection more coherent. Definitely worth a read.

Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

Wonderful! A delight! Nothing I loved more than following this OAP lovable bastard around for 300 pages and seeing his life laid bare for me. Realistic and charming and filled with great complications. This book is relatively quick, both in terms of page count and actual time covered in the novel (a little under a month with the occasional time skip) - and yet there’s so much packed in here, a whole life and family and community. The climax comes to a head quite fast, but it’s obvious it’s over 40 years in the making. 

Are You Loathsome Tonight?: Stories by Poppy Z. Brite

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Normally there’s nothing I love more than Poppy Z. Brite, but this was a bit much even for me. Not as well written as a lot of his other works and definitely quite unfocused and bizarre (sex with the cat man really threw me for a loop). Some of them are pretty good though: “Saved”, “Self-Made Man” and “Entertaining Mr. Orton” were probably my favourites. Not his best work, but still good enough

Bad Gays: A Homosexual History by Ben Miller, Huw Lemmey

informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

Been a huge fan of the pod for a long while now, so this was good fun.
I love history, I love gay history, and I particularly love history that I have heard a hundred times before when I’m very stressed. Do tell me about King James I & VI.
Well researched and well put together, very coherent and fast paced. Not by any means a comprehensive historical text, more like character profiles with a central theme. Very good character profiles though.