joymargot's reviews
95 reviews

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

5.0

Hands down one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. I went into it knowing nothing and that was absolutely the best way to enjoy it.

Beautiful, moving and surprisingly humorous in parts. The plot, the characters and the writing are all chef’s kiss and I would recommend this to anyone. But maybe check the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, and Cannibalism

The Mystery of Banshee Towers by Enid Blyton

3.0

A fun palate cleanser after a frustrating DNF! I was convinced I’d tried to read this as a child but had to stop as it was too scary, but I can’t really fathom how even my pansy ass found this remotely terrifying 😂

It’s very much of its time but this aside, I still had a good time.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fatphobia

How to Be Autistic by Rachel Morgan-Trimmer

4.0

I devoured this in an evening and it had me nodding along in agreement and laughing out loud!

There were a few things that didn’t sit well with me such as the use of the word “tribe” and saying “normal” instead of neurotypical/allistic. There’s also a couple of graphics with low contrast between the background and text, but all in all I think this is a great introduction to autism. It’s quite surface-level but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially for its intended audience. It’s incredibly visual and I loved the accompanying illustrations.

While it’s aimed at adults, I think this would be a really useful resource for teenagers too.

Thank you to Firebird for the ARC.

The Great When by Alan Moore
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.

Not my journey due to the frequent mentions of body fluids, casual racism and prose so purple it was somewhat unintelligible in parts.

Shame, as the premise sounded like just my cup of tea!

Thank you all the same to Bloomsbury for the ARC.

Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson, Laurence Jackson Hyman

5.0

The trouble with reading anything by Shirley Jackson is that everything else seems a bit shit by comparison. A slight exaggeration perhaps, but my tolerance for bad writing has definitely diminished recently. 

I didn’t realise it was a mix of short stories and non-fiction and was initially a little disappointed, but the Humour & Family and Craft of Writing sections were some of my favourites!

Not every short story was a triumph for me but there are some absolute corkers. I particularly enjoyed Paranoia and Mrs Spencer and the Oberons, which achieve Shirley’s classic balance of deliciously unsettling and unexpectedly humorous.

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

2.0

I so wanted to love this book! The cover art was impeccable and the premise was great but the writing and the plot were just…meh.

A lot of the characters felt very one-dimensional and it was often hard to follow who we were reading about. There were a couple of whacking great plot holes that made me think I’d missed a page or 10, but no. I personally could’ve done with a lot less romance and a lot more heist too!

Disappointing, but I’ve heard better things about Faizal’s other books so I won’t write her off just yet!

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

5.0

This was super fun and cosy although I perhaps didn’t enjoy it *quite* as much as Legends & Lattes. It was wonderful to spend more time with Viv and the supporting characters are every bit as charming as those in the first book.

My one gripe was that the pacing was a bit funky and the ending felt a little rushed. Oh, and L&L has given me false expectations of having recipes at the end of every book. I want to bake Maylee’s lassy buns!

Long may this series continue!

Marigold Mind Laundry by 윤정은, Jungeun Yun

4.0

A cosy, dream-like tale of self-reflection and found family. The story is a little meandering, there’s definitely some unanswered questions and it’s cheesy as hell, none of which are necessarily negatives in my humble opinion!

If you enjoyed The Kamogawa Food Detectives, you’ll love this and it’ll probably make you just as hungry!

Thank you to Doubleday for the ARC.

How to Be a Citizen: Learning to Rely Less on Rules and More on Each Other by C.L. Skach

3.0

This was an intriguing read and it was particularly interesting to hear arguments in favour of the abolishment of laws from a former writer of them, but it was in dire need of a sensitivity reader!

You would hope that an expert in law would know better than to use the phrase “committed suicide”. It doesn’t require a deep-dive into trans right to know that “transgendered” is offensive and grammatically incorrect. Finally, adding inverted commas around the phrase “ethnic food” to presumably use it ironically doesn’t make it ok 😬

Thank you to Bloomsbury for the ARC.

Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

3.0

I’m finally getting around to reading the rest of this series after reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold a while ago!

It was great to read a bit more backstory for Kazu and the woman in the dress, although the constant repetition of the rules is wearing very thin.

Much like the first one, it’s quick, it’s cosy, it’s heartwarming, but it’s not my favourite Japanese novel by a long shot.