kajasversion's reviews
170 reviews

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

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emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

Now that i have finished it, looking back on it, it doesn’t seem like a stand out story, but it just resonated and spoke to a deep part of me and i genuinely love it so dearly. I can’t wait to read it again. 
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Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

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challenging dark hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

It truly is an good book, but still, with all the metaphors and discussions of emotions, i felt like it was lacking more depth. I can’t quite articulate what, but something was missing from the book to make it truly an amazing one. I would probably come back to it cuz the writting is exquisite. 
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Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

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

3.25

I absolutely adored the writing, I think it was truly phenomenal especially the vivid descriptions and the metaphors. However the story itself was… weird? Like I don’t get how a 14 yo bully can think the way it was presented in this book, and also I felt  a lot of the time that I was being pushed an agenda or a way of thinking from almost every character. And the bullying scenes really did not have to be so graphic, especially considering how many there were. It was actually traumatising just reading about it since you spend the majority of the book reading about how they are being abused and not actually spending half as much time on developing them as a person and exploring how they are feeling. Idk it just felt flat for me and it had great potential at the beginning, however I was greatly disappointed. 

TW: attempted rape
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Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It was really beautifully written and it felt like every word was meticulously chosen, the plot and characters however was where the book lost me a bit. I’m still confused as to what actually happened to Lea, and you could argue that it’s not the point of the book but it kinda becomes one once the author basically spends the whole book building it up. The love story was beautiful and truly sad but for some reason i just couldn’t connect with the characters. The sci-fi/fantasy element seemed very unnecessary and kind of far fetched especially since it’s supposed to be set in our world but there was no predisposition that would explain how something like this can even happen. It was a very fun experience and no matter how much i criticise the book, i still loved reading it and it was genuinely a pleasant experience, i just feel like some things could improve it drastically. 
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

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slow-paced

2.75

I genuinely don’t know what to write. I read this whole book and i have no idea why the war started,  how does it unravel, who is in charge, how the time travel? works. It’s all so confusing because nothing is established ag the beginning and throughout the book we only get a couple of glimpses into the world but thats it. I liked idea of the love story itself but it was executed so poorly it was just sad. The characters were not fleshed out in the slightest, i know barely anything about them. I genuinely don’t know what i would tell a person if they asked me what the book was about, that’s how undeveloped everything is. And it’s such a shame cuz the writing is amazing, the author truly has a way with words. But from all the hype i heard, this was a big disappointment. 
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

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

3.5

I think the book is good, and the summer vibes were radiating, ignoring all the sadness. But i was bothered by the main love story. I read the author’s note and i can see how the book is very personal, but i just didn’t necessarily feel like it was realistic regarding the timeline and the fact he left and didn’t speak to her for 10 years. They also just knew each other for less than a day, and personally after all of that i would not have let him in again. The whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way, idk I wasn’t a huge fan. The book is still good, i really loved the subplot with her mom and Peter and their love through their whole lives.
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book is amazing, it’s an honest and painful look into her life. It’s an actual reflection of long long it takes to unlearn all the harmful patterns we learned as kids, especially from parents who we often see as perfect when they are far from it. I think the way it was written was masterfully done. She wrote with a childlike naïveté when she wrote about her childhood, and the voice matured as she did, throughout her life and throughout the realisations she went through. 
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You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

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

2.5

This was so painfully slow, i could barely get through it. And i was listening to the audiobook which i usually never pause, this one however was a constant battle if it’s even worth finishing. I just found it really boring and contradicting to itself. That was especially evident at the end when Sam leaves the final voicemail and he says the complete opposite of what he’s been telling fmc this whole time. It’s painfully obvious that the author just wanted to give the final “emotional” blow but it just didn’t work. I was also bothered how everyone had something to say about the way fmc was grieving, like her boyfriend just died let her be. 
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The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

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

3.5

It’s cliché and you know who she’s gonna end up with from the start but i really enjoyed it nonetheless. It’s lighthearted and funny and everything a romance novel needs to be. 
The Vegetarian by Han Kang

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

4.5

I don’t even have words that would describe this book and how i feel about it. I’ve been pondering it for a couple of hours now and i can’t figure it out. It’s so shocking and dark and dealing with such problems that after I finished reading I was left with a tight feeling in my chest in the best way possible. I definitely would recommend it tho i cannot tell you exactly why you just have to be there to experience it. 
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