jessicaxmaria's reviews
1007 reviews

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

1.25

This book had a very strong start. I was taken in by the lovely prose and the first chapter regarding an 18th century cigar factory worker in Cuba. However, each chapter devolves from there. I have some thoughts on the way this was probably scooped up, edited, and subsequently rolled out in 2021. For now, I'll say that this would have benefited from a massive edit on a structural and storytelling level. Garcia is a talented writer, very lyrical and poetic. However, the threads in this book are not cohesive. The words shoehorned and clunky come to mind when I think of the separate storylines that are tenuously tied. This could have worked as two novels, which would give the time and space to dive into the complex themes Garcia only brings to the surface here without expanding upon. 

Someone Like Us by Dinaw Mengestu

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I was hooked by its first line: "I learned of Samuel's death two days before Christmas while standing in the doorway of my mother's new home." And from there, I might have expected a plot-driven mystery unfolding. However, Mengestu does something different with his storytelling through the narrator, Mamush. There are many timelines, or memories, happening at once, and each thread seems at a bit of an angle from the truth, or just around the corner from it. How much should we believe? How much should the reader need to know to understand what Mamush is trying to say to us--to himself?

I think there's a key to this in one passage of the book, where Samuel advises Mamush: "You were born here. You think the important thing is to tell the truth, even if you don't know what that is. You should know this; it is important you listen. If you want to lie to someone, you don't answer them directly. Do you understand? You tell them something else. You give them a story that is sometimes true. Sometimes lies. ...If you tell me this many things, then I don't know what's true and what you have made up. I have to try and remember everything, but that will be impossible. You see. You understand what I'm telling you now?"

The ending is really something; I read it twice and teared up twice. I can envision myself reading this again at a later date; and even if I don't know exactly what is true and what is a lie, I feel for these characters and what they've been through and what awaits them.

The Chronology of Water: A Memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I knew it was going to be good, I just didn't know it was going to be this good. A revelation. more to come.

The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne

dark funny fast-paced

3.25

A dichotomous kind of memoir when I reflect -- the first half very much this old school, kinda non-malicious pervy reflection on his youth and family, and the second half a dark and soulful reflection on his sister's murder and the trial of her murderer. I'm not sure it works, but there were some incredible insights into his famous family and life; and the second half works as almost an homage to the writing his father became notable for.

Colored Television by Danzy Senna

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

Excellent!! More to come.

(This is a five thousand percent improvement on whatever Entitlement was trying to do with the same topics!)

Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura

reflective medium-paced

2.5

The book started strong, and the first person retrospective narration (on a topic clearly inspired by Junot Diaz) made me curious on how it would use the POV to compare feelings then vs now. To tell the story of a coming of age and reflect on it. However, it was not successful. There was little deep reflection and too many logical issues in the narration that took me out of the book. There's not much driving the story here, and it felt like our main character was withholding information from the reader but for no reason. I wanted to know more, but I'm not sure there was anything there there.

Ultimately disappointing, but I did enjoy the actor narrating the novel, Marisa Blake. I think she made me care and finish the book more than if I had been reading this on paper.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

adventurous emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Really enjoyed this novel's meditative qualities. I think it's a book that could have floundered for me at another time and place, but today it worked, and it had me ruminating about life and meaning and humanity and the earth like all of those good existential novels can do.

How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

A lovely and searing coming-of-age. I loved Daniel's voice trying to navigate his sexuality, his first love, and his first devastating grief. Lyrical and feeling!! Looking forward to more Ordorica writing.

Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

I love TJ Newman audiobooks for long car rides; they keep me riveted. This may have been the best to date given that Joe Morton was narrating it. I was completely mesmerized and I even cried at one point. 

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

A slow moving but mesmerizing tale that both made me laugh and made me mad, and in the end surprised me. 

-

 

One of my favorite ‘genres’ of song is one that starts soft and murmuring, and then crescendos into explosive sound mimicking catharsis, whether from sadness or joy or anger (think Lucy Dacus’ “Night Shift”). There are plenty of books that build to an explosive climax, but THE EMPUSIUM has a special rhythm in its lead up–a tip tap, sometimes a little slither here and there from a chorus of voices (and I don’t mean the men that blather their opinions throughout). It held me in its grasp, with a foreboding feeling I couldn’t quite pinpoint the source of until later. I mean yes, bodies were being found ripped to shreds in the forest, but there was something else. I love when I’m reading a book and wondering what the hell is going on!?

Some may not have the patience for the slow and meandering pacing, but Tokarczuk (and the translator Lloyd-Jones) demonstrate their mastery of the craft with seeming ease. The reader embarks on a journey to a health resort in 1913 with a Polish student named Wojnicz, who boards at an all-male guesthouse in the small mountain town known for its tuberculosis treatments. His arrival is marked by the body of a dead woman. Then he starts hearing things, from around the house, from the men, from the doctor, from the woods, etc. The author’s note at the end of the book is the proverbial cherry on top of this novel whose Guesthouse for Gentlemen boards continuously ask the question: “Women???”

A great winter read, in my opinion. Cold air and deep breaths will keep your mind clear for what’s at hand…maybe!