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jcnfia's reviews
53 reviews
The Humans by Matt Haig
4.0
“The point of love was to help you survive. The point was also to forget meaning, to stop looking and start living. The meaning was to hold the hand of someone you cared about and to live inside the present.”
Beautiful, funny, and inspiring.
Beautiful, funny, and inspiring.
Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton
4.0
Paris is a businesswoman first and foremost, and you can feel that being a major focus of the book. However, she chooses to shed her glamorous layer for the sake of vulnerability and connection. In an era of social reckoning of the mistreatment of women, and people in general, her story is especially powerful. Paris has survived unimaginable trauma and she encourages others to find the same strength within themselves that kept her going all these years. I didn’t care as much for the glitzy details of her life, mostly because I’m just not invested in celebrities like that. But she’s telling her story on her terms and that’s respectable.
Clarity & Connection by Yung Pueblo
5.0
This book is dense with wisdom. I intend to hold it close to my heart for as long as it takes for the words on the page to become my own. The messages are so human and profound that I truly believe this book is for everyone.
Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
4.5
This was so brilliant and grotesque. The writing and attention to detail was stunning and in such a short book I came to care a lot about the main character’s fate, because in truth, it lives in every woman. It seems people either love or hate this book, and I think it comes down to if you’re the kind of person who revels in strange, off putting, and indeterminate stories. This story thoroughly weirded me out while simultaneously keeping me engaged and dazzling me with its prose.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
4.25
A Wrinkle In Time really is something special. Did it blow my mind? No, but it did surprise me in a very pleasant way. Christianity felt like the forefront thought, as it often does, but I will say you can’t dismiss how unusual it is for a children’s book from this time to also have a mix of witches, science, and intuition with mentions of other religions. Honestly, I’m not sure this story would be what it is without all it’s different sets of beliefs and ideas, so I’m glad Madeleine L’Engle didn’t play it safe.
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
3.0
DNF. It was pleasant enough, but unfortunately it was just a bit too slow for me. It is a sweet story (from what I did read), but it just didn’t interest me enough to continue reading. I also couldn’t help but think of the OG orphan children’s book, Anne of Green Gables, and it just can’t compare.
(Side note: sometimes you can’t expect this to be helped as it’s the background of the author and time period, but the Christianity aspect was a bit grating. I am totally biased in this respect because I really despise pushing religion, but from what I’ve read I’m definitely not alone in this opinion as even in it’s time it was criticized for this.)
(Side note: sometimes you can’t expect this to be helped as it’s the background of the author and time period, but the Christianity aspect was a bit grating. I am totally biased in this respect because I really despise pushing religion, but from what I’ve read I’m definitely not alone in this opinion as even in it’s time it was criticized for this.)
The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
5.0
This is more of what I consider as horror. The anxiety and dread built up until I was left feeling so deeply disturbed that I know I’ll be thinking about this story for a long time. THAT is horror to me, and this story did it excellently. It truly is a feminist piece, as I can’t see a man understanding this level of claustrophobia, hopelessness, and obsessiveness. This could be viewed through multiple lenses as well, making it the perfect quick re-read.
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
3.0
“Books may be temporary, dicks are forever”. This story was… so… odd. And that was a good thing until the end. Wtf.