jessicamusch's reviews
205 reviews

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Premise - insane 
Writing - dreamlike 
Middle - a bit slow
Ending - also insane 

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

I thought this was YA... 

Human Acts by Han Kang

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

After you died I couldn’t hold a funeral, so these eyes that once beheld you became a shrine.

Completely blown away and heartbroken by this book. 

Reading this in Korea in the wake of the martial law declaration, I can understand why my father in law is so unsettled by the prospect of martial law.

Told in a series of vignettes, Han Kang tells the story of the Gwangju Uprising from the perspective of a range of characters. Perhaps the most haunting of which is the story of a spirit trying to find its body, or an editor still facing censorship many years after. 

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

WAY too long. Would have given this 2 stars but I liked the ending and also Ruhn in this book. 

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Evocative yet kind of boring? Maybe I expected too much as I was really looking forward to this 

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

The documentary style writing in this is so refreshing and allows the characters to leap from the page

Queen of Roses by Briar Boleyn

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a great read - the pacing was good, so I was on the edge of my seat reading and constantly compelled to read another chapter! 

1 star off as the book goes a little too fast in the end - I think the climactic scenes could have been a bit longer to truly pay off. 

I will be reading the next one! 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

I put off reading this, but oh my I’m glad I did read it in the end. What a gorgeous tribute to grief interwoven with tales of growing up in two cultures. A deeply moving story about love, family and food. 

Some quotes I liked:

“she was both my first and second words: Umma, then Mom. I called to her in two languages. Even then I must have known that no one would ever love me as much as she would.”

On seaweed soup, eaten in Korea on birthdays to honour mothers: “It felt sacred now, imbued with new meaning. I drank the broth gratefully, chewing on bits of soft, slick seaweed, the taste conjuring the image of some ancient sea deity washed ashore, feasting naked among the sea foam. It soothed me, as if I were back in the womb, free floating.”

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

"I’m all through as a human being," she said. "All you're looking at is the lingering memory of what I used to be. The most important part of me, what used to be inside, died years ago, and I'm just functioning by rote memory."

I enjoyed this, as I have done all of Murakami's work. However, as this story has no clear supernatural elements, and is instead a book primarily about relationships, the depiction of the female characters is  particularly lacking. It is clear that the female characters are vehicles for the main character to reach his own realisations about life. In addition, the female characters are overly sexualised and clearly written from the male gaze, which tends to reveal the authors' hand while reading. 

However, I enjoyed the beautiful prose, the world building, and general storyline, and could relate to Watanabe's struggles to find his place in the world as a young person. 

Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Love that this is a duology - there are too many drawn out fantasy series these days. 

The magic system is so unique! Truly an original story.

I loved that the duology has a romance in each, which kept me interested for the whole duration.

I found it hard to keep track of characters towards the end though. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention well enough.