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jiayuanc's reviews
274 reviews
Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
Beautiful, elegant prose but the sentimentality got very very tiring to read. It also frustrated me that the female characters only existed to be assaulted or be objects of male character affection. Every character seemed very much the same as every other and it was difficult to keep them all separate. The last straw was my last two reading sessions where in the second last session, I read about a wife who was to be stoned to death for her sexual crimes (lol???) but later brought to the brothel to be a prostitute as a "mercy". And in my last reading session, I read about a daughter who was raped by an infidel and her brother is forced by their father to kill her.
I was really done after this. And then don't get me started on the weird historic revisionism happening re the Armenian genocide? That Armenians sided with the Russians over "their fellow Ottomans" , implying they somehow deserved it? Really really weird.
It is so so unfortunate because I wanted to love this book and I remember reading the opening chapters and thinking wow what lovely prose! What wonderful memories it brings back of my 5 months living in Turkiye! I am really disappointed it has come to this. Maybe in another time I will try again to read this, but right now it is just not working for me anymore.
I was really done after this. And then don't get me started on the weird historic revisionism happening re the Armenian genocide? That Armenians sided with the Russians over "their fellow Ottomans" , implying they somehow deserved it? Really really weird.
It is so so unfortunate because I wanted to love this book and I remember reading the opening chapters and thinking wow what lovely prose! What wonderful memories it brings back of my 5 months living in Turkiye! I am really disappointed it has come to this. Maybe in another time I will try again to read this, but right now it is just not working for me anymore.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War
Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World by Leslie Kern
informative
3.0
Fine introduction to feminism in urban planning. Very broad, interspersed with the author's own reflections of being a white cis woman in Toronto and London.
The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney
dark
mysterious
3.0
I had missed DI McCormack and so I was so pleased to get to reunite with him and the team in this second book of the series. It does have a few ties to the first book but can be read independently. Looking forward to the next one!
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
Watchmen by Alan Moore
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
I can see that this was groundbreaking upon publication, but I am reading it for the first time now in the year 2024 and it is difficult to wrap my head around it. The beginning dragged, then I was hooked at Dr Manhattan's story. Then it started dragging again and I realised I did not care who was doing the murders. The last three chapters I ended up watching the motion comic, it was much easier to get through with someone reading it aloud to me. I'm glad I read this but I doubt I'll read it again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
The Quaker by Liam McIlvanney
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
I had a really fun time with this one; following along with the audiobook was a grand time, especially being able to hear the native accents from the wonderful narrator. I will definitely continue reading this series, DI McCormack is a great character.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Murder
Minor: Homophobia
Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Loved this. I love Dick Grayson as Batman, and I love the dark horror tone that this storyline took. The paranoia really takes a hold of you the reader just as it does to our protagonists. The open ending leaves enough room for us to keep wondering, and the well placed "page-turn scares" with the brilliant art are so memorable. This is one I will be rereading again and again.