jenvini's reviews
68 reviews

Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh

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dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The elegance that's woven into this story is so impressive and chest-punching. The small acts tying everything together through the years; what humanity means in a post-apocalyptic world like this, and how that manifests differently for everyone. How "everything happens for a reason" means absolutely nothing and everything in equal measures. All of these things are checked off on a list in most end-of-the-world stories, but the clarity, tightness, and subtle smallness Mandel accomplishes here just really shines brighter here.

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

The writing is super clinical, and that matters here. It fits the narrative and works well for me. But it's a little too on the nose for me as a story, especially when thinking about the teenagers and the puppies and the dialogue there. There are complexities that are explored, but not enough to balance out the gratuitous shock value (and not just the whole, you know, killing humans for consumption. The other stuff, too). Marcos just wasn't enough of an anchor for me to let the gaps of the world around them stay empty. As soon as the turn of events began, Marcos became predictable, and I stopped caring. I see what the author is getting at, and she achieves parts of it, but I wish she let another group of editors have a go.

The Disappeared: Stories by Andrew Porter

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

There are a bunch of little pockets of brilliance that had me rereading paragraphs just to absorb the words better. The very last passage is also wonderful. But the dialogue between Finn and Lily made me want to dissolve sometimes, and the pacing really bogs down everything good the story has going for it until the last third.

Harbinger: Poems by Shelley Puhak

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0

Door to Door by Emma Walton Hamilton

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emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0

Magnolia, 木蘭 by Nina Mingya Powles

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0