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jem_ko's reviews
57 reviews
Fair Play by Tove Jansson
3.0
Putting aside my expectations and releasing my wants for this book I do have to admit it is an excellent quiet piece and the most honest homage to the true nature of enduring love. It is all at once atmospheric (specifically creating the feeling of constant thunder if that is something you like), sweet and humbling.
This is where my personal expectations re-emerge, when I sought sweetness in this book I found it to be in the bitterest form: truth. This is not the sweeping tale of love and kindness that keeps through age, time and distance but rather the blunt and brittle kind of fiction that plays out in beautiful but short-cut vignettes. It is amazing how true the words of both critics and fans of Tove’s work ring: she managers to write about “everything” by somehow writing “about nothing at all”.
This is the perfect just-over-100-page read for a rainy day but it will not warm your heart in a any swooping or customarily romantic way. My expectations certainly dimmed my experience of this book.
This is where my personal expectations re-emerge, when I sought sweetness in this book I found it to be in the bitterest form: truth. This is not the sweeping tale of love and kindness that keeps through age, time and distance but rather the blunt and brittle kind of fiction that plays out in beautiful but short-cut vignettes. It is amazing how true the words of both critics and fans of Tove’s work ring: she managers to write about “everything” by somehow writing “about nothing at all”.
This is the perfect just-over-100-page read for a rainy day but it will not warm your heart in a any swooping or customarily romantic way. My expectations certainly dimmed my experience of this book.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
5.0
Read this book. No, shut up. Just go read it.
This soft sci-fi tale is nothing exceptional in terms of narrative (not so enticing i know) but it is the kind of character-driven novel that will have you wrench your own heart out with the most beautiful yet somehow casual dialogues on the nature of human love, the beauty of space, the fear of being a descendant of violence and the essence of family (found family of course). The plot does move too, for clarification, and it is exceptional how Chambers manages to incorporate such nonchalant philosophical matter into a tale whilst also making the concepts of space travel and black holes - which are highly relevant to the plot - easy to understand.
Certainly a new favourite read. Can totally understand how one might get obsessed over this series and i am seriously tempted to ignore my ginormous summer tbr to buy the sequels.
This soft sci-fi tale is nothing exceptional in terms of narrative (not so enticing i know) but it is the kind of character-driven novel that will have you wrench your own heart out with the most beautiful yet somehow casual dialogues on the nature of human love, the beauty of space, the fear of being a descendant of violence and the essence of family (found family of course). The plot does move too, for clarification, and it is exceptional how Chambers manages to incorporate such nonchalant philosophical matter into a tale whilst also making the concepts of space travel and black holes - which are highly relevant to the plot - easy to understand.
Certainly a new favourite read. Can totally understand how one might get obsessed over this series and i am seriously tempted to ignore my ginormous summer tbr to buy the sequels.
Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran
4.0
Far more political than I anticipated but certainly a great read that keeps you thinking even when away from the book for that very same reason. Monarchical machinations, sapphic love and ideas on duty all make for a fairly well-rounded plot and the two leading ladies are of course carriers for sentiment and strength. Whilst I wouldn’t give this book 5 stars I would absolutely recommend it!
Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver
4.0
Eloquent in a truly distinct manner, Oliver goes about the work fishing, catching and filleting our relationships with ourselves and nature all at once but in an alarmingly subtle yet harmonious way. To put it in plainer words: this book is a beautiful book that examines the human heart as it is attached to the natural world (particularly animal kingdoms) and, whilst the beauty definitely stems - for me - from Oliver’s poetic spirit in describing any detail, the narrative does switch to a more teacher-like tone midway before swooning back to being sweetly anecdotal. The few chapters that feel like lectures, describing the lives and theories of Oliver’s favourite transcendentalists, are nonetheless informative and still very well written. They did however make the book much more challenging than the quick nature-loving summer read i longed for.
Bonus note: do not go in expecting the adoration for nature to be of the pasture-focussed, ‘cottage core’ variety. The book opens on a gorgeous description of wading in a stream amongst ferns but the deep love Oliver expresses is actually more based in appreciating the balanced dark and light of nature. This book certainly offers that seen darkness in descriptions of savage appetites, carnivorous moments, insect births and - naturally - death.
Bonus note: do not go in expecting the adoration for nature to be of the pasture-focussed, ‘cottage core’ variety. The book opens on a gorgeous description of wading in a stream amongst ferns but the deep love Oliver expresses is actually more based in appreciating the balanced dark and light of nature. This book certainly offers that seen darkness in descriptions of savage appetites, carnivorous moments, insect births and - naturally - death.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
4.0
“Time and memory, like lovers in a fable”
The writing is exceptional - ironically it is at its best in my opinion near the final five/six chapters where every paragraph was star studded with quotable deliberations on time, love, life and the fickle nature of all things human. I did find some of Henry’s earlier chapters exceedingly cheesy (hence the 4 not 5 stars) but I will grant the likelihood that Henry is himself a cheesy, self-spiralling man so naturally his internal narrative would follow suit. From pgs 400 to 500 I did struggle a bit as there was too much take [time to read, literary lulls, etc] & not enough give but the final chapters certainly made up for it and the book as a whole was worth the read without a doubt. Schwab is eloquent and well-spoken as well as human and there is something intensely likeable about how she writes human moments like wonder and casual love.
The writing is exceptional - ironically it is at its best in my opinion near the final five/six chapters where every paragraph was star studded with quotable deliberations on time, love, life and the fickle nature of all things human. I did find some of Henry’s earlier chapters exceedingly cheesy (hence the 4 not 5 stars) but I will grant the likelihood that Henry is himself a cheesy, self-spiralling man so naturally his internal narrative would follow suit. From pgs 400 to 500 I did struggle a bit as there was too much take [time to read, literary lulls, etc] & not enough give but the final chapters certainly made up for it and the book as a whole was worth the read without a doubt. Schwab is eloquent and well-spoken as well as human and there is something intensely likeable about how she writes human moments like wonder and casual love.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3.0
I’ll admit this book was phenomenally written. I’ll also state that some of the lessons mentioned in it are vital and were revelatory (at least for me, as someone outside of ecology). It was also, as stated by all cover info, an excellent meshing of biological, ecological, anthropological & human sciences with indigenous folklore and methodology - these brought insight and warmth to my mind and heart.
So why the mid-level review for something so great? It could’ve easily been 150/200 pgs shorter - even whilst keeping the poetic prose and second emphasises on key ideas. Ideas of reciprocity can only be explained, examined and emphasised upon so many times before you feel you are having the worlds most literary case of deja vu. I gave up on the last 40 pgs & skim read to the end, filling in the blanks as i go judging from prior reading.
So why the mid-level review for something so great? It could’ve easily been 150/200 pgs shorter - even whilst keeping the poetic prose and second emphasises on key ideas. Ideas of reciprocity can only be explained, examined and emphasised upon so many times before you feel you are having the worlds most literary case of deja vu. I gave up on the last 40 pgs & skim read to the end, filling in the blanks as i go judging from prior reading.
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