Take a photo of a barcode or cover
kritikanarula's reviews
631 reviews
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
It’s a 3.5 star read for me.
All the positive points of the book relate to the themes really close to my heart. A life with disability gets changed in many little ways we haven’t talked about yet. So for the book to explore that was an exciting, endearing prospect. But at this length (barely 100 pages) it felt that the plot was just getting executed without ever having been set up. The first thirty pages or so were on track to achieve that - humanising the protagonist and other characters, but the shift towards the trigger in the Second Scene was too abrupt and harsh.
I loved the twists and turns of the protagonist’s mind as well as the turning points within the plot. (The end felt very fitting!) I can see how the themes played well and the book was long-listed for the International Booker Prize.
The story withholds certain details and yet goes overboard with some others (some conversations felt too crass to be real, for instance, and some descriptions too explicit)
But I am learning the inclination that Japanese literature has for simple, straightforward sentences over prose is not my cup of tea.
Hunchback was extremely powerful in parts of- when they take jabs on the privilege in accessing superior care, the publishing industry’s duplicity, and the vanity of readers…all of those are points I would have loved to see explored in detail.
3.5
All the positive points of the book relate to the themes really close to my heart. A life with disability gets changed in many little ways we haven’t talked about yet. So for the book to explore that was an exciting, endearing prospect. But at this length (barely 100 pages) it felt that the plot was just getting executed without ever having been set up. The first thirty pages or so were on track to achieve that - humanising the protagonist and other characters, but the shift towards the trigger in the Second Scene was too abrupt and harsh.
I loved the twists and turns of the protagonist’s mind as well as the turning points within the plot. (The end felt very fitting!) I can see how the themes played well and the book was long-listed for the International Booker Prize.
The story withholds certain details and yet goes overboard with some others (some conversations felt too crass to be real, for instance, and some descriptions too explicit)
But I am learning the inclination that Japanese literature has for simple, straightforward sentences over prose is not my cup of tea.
Hunchback was extremely powerful in parts of- when they take jabs on the privilege in accessing superior care, the publishing industry’s duplicity, and the vanity of readers…all of those are points I would have loved to see explored in detail.
Green Dot by Madeleine Gray
4.75
Honestly? I will devour any story with an unhinged woman as the protagonist. And Hera is as delusional as they come.
I enjoyed the writing style SO SO MUCH! And I laughed out loud SO MANY times I have lost count. Its a specific brand of humor that I subscribe to, so the jokes and zingers really landed for me…
Its one of those books that I will find excuses to re-read, and dialogues I will inject into my parlance.
I enjoyed the writing style SO SO MUCH! And I laughed out loud SO MANY times I have lost count. Its a specific brand of humor that I subscribe to, so the jokes and zingers really landed for me…
Its one of those books that I will find excuses to re-read, and dialogues I will inject into my parlance.
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
4.0
This is my first Anne Tyler book! I came across people raving about her writing in a writing workshop last year, and I knew I had to pull it up on my TBR. Then NetGalley and the publisher kindly offered an ARC, and I am so glad things fell into place. Because all the rumors are true! Anne's writing really is heartwarming, and everything I had been told about her stories and writing style stood up.
I read this novella (?) in a day. It was laced with humour, meditative in parts, and still intriguing enough to keep you turning the pages. It's the story of a divorced couple who find themselves in close quarters in preparation for their daughter's wedding. That's the simple premise. Around it are caricaturish characters, tug-at-your-heartstring moments, and the companionable familiarity of shared history. I absolutely loved seeing a mother who wasn't all "sorted" but rather a socially inept mess.
This novel is in the same space for me as Claire Keegan's writing. Brilliant observations of the minutiae, a breezy storyline, and super realistic characters.
Favourite Quotes:
That’s something you forget when you’ve been on your own awhile: those married-couple conversations that continue intermittently for weeks, sometimes, branching out and doubling back and looping into earlier strands like a piece of crochet work.
Anger feels so much better than sadness. Cleaner, somehow, and more definite. But then when the anger fades, the sadness comes right back again the same as ever.
But children veer out from their parents like so many explorers in the wilderness, I’ve learned. They’re not mere duplicates of them.
I read this novella (?) in a day. It was laced with humour, meditative in parts, and still intriguing enough to keep you turning the pages. It's the story of a divorced couple who find themselves in close quarters in preparation for their daughter's wedding. That's the simple premise. Around it are caricaturish characters, tug-at-your-heartstring moments, and the companionable familiarity of shared history. I absolutely loved seeing a mother who wasn't all "sorted" but rather a socially inept mess.
This novel is in the same space for me as Claire Keegan's writing. Brilliant observations of the minutiae, a breezy storyline, and super realistic characters.
Favourite Quotes:
That’s something you forget when you’ve been on your own awhile: those married-couple conversations that continue intermittently for weeks, sometimes, branching out and doubling back and looping into earlier strands like a piece of crochet work.
Anger feels so much better than sadness. Cleaner, somehow, and more definite. But then when the anger fades, the sadness comes right back again the same as ever.
But children veer out from their parents like so many explorers in the wilderness, I’ve learned. They’re not mere duplicates of them.
Liars by Sarah Manguso
4.25
Hey so your husband is a piece of shit.
If Paris Paloma's song Labour was a book, it'd be Liars.
The book is this set of lyrics come to life in a story that makes you feel so, so much rage.
"All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid
Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant
Just an appendage, live to attend him
So that he never lifts a finger
24/7 baby machine
So he can live out his picket-fence dreams
It's not an act of love if you make her
You make me do too much labour"
This is the story (told from the perspective of the woman, entirely) of how a woman with a promising career can burn out at the altar of unfulfilled potential because she lacks a support system, but worse, it is about how women — intelligent, smart, capable, independent — can be reduced to wives and mothers and nothing else, how their reductive identities get normalised...until one day she doesn't recognise herself anymore. Hetero marriages are such a sham, my god.
If Paris Paloma's song Labour was a book, it'd be Liars.
The book is this set of lyrics come to life in a story that makes you feel so, so much rage.
"All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid
Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant
Just an appendage, live to attend him
So that he never lifts a finger
24/7 baby machine
So he can live out his picket-fence dreams
It's not an act of love if you make her
You make me do too much labour"
This is the story (told from the perspective of the woman, entirely) of how a woman with a promising career can burn out at the altar of unfulfilled potential because she lacks a support system, but worse, it is about how women — intelligent, smart, capable, independent — can be reduced to wives and mothers and nothing else, how their reductive identities get normalised...until one day she doesn't recognise herself anymore. Hetero marriages are such a sham, my god.
We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
5.0
I cannot predict the future, but this book is landing on my top 10 books of the year.
We Could Be Rats hurt me so much and so deeply, in all the best ways that a book can. I kept going back to the dialogues and monologues that made me stop in my tracks. I hated all the moments where it felt like Emily Austin saw right through me, her reader. Hated it so much I loved it.
It made me sob, so naturally, HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
We Could Be Rats hurt me so much and so deeply, in all the best ways that a book can. I kept going back to the dialogues and monologues that made me stop in my tracks. I hated all the moments where it felt like Emily Austin saw right through me, her reader. Hated it so much I loved it.
It made me sob, so naturally, HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
I Got This!: I Have Bounce Back Superpowers by Julia Cook
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
4.25
I love the idea of introducing kids to matters of overcoming obstacles - through the rebranding of resilience as “Bounce Back superpowers” its such a lovely and befitting metaphor.
The illustrations and arc of the story together also pack a punch - the plot progresses, makes an educational point for the kids, moves on to the next.
The illustrations and arc of the story together also pack a punch - the plot progresses, makes an educational point for the kids, moves on to the next.
Taylor Swift by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara
fast-paced
Spawning an army of ferocious Swifites...and I say that with utmost glee!
If there's a Taylor Swift book out there, I am reading it. Simple as that.
I loved this book because it simplified the chronology of Taylor's life and let it shine and spotlight the progress.
I know sharing about the events that weren't too positive would have complicated the prose, but I think I would have loved to see that too!
But overall, great book to keep for your child's bedside and the illustrations were so great and realistic. as a Swiftie who is online a lot, I was pleased to be able to identify the photographs.
If there's a Taylor Swift book out there, I am reading it. Simple as that.
I loved this book because it simplified the chronology of Taylor's life and let it shine and spotlight the progress.
I know sharing about the events that weren't too positive would have complicated the prose, but I think I would have loved to see that too!
But overall, great book to keep for your child's bedside and the illustrations were so great and realistic. as a Swiftie who is online a lot, I was pleased to be able to identify the photographs.