leduyhxxng's reviews
39 reviews

Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Simply superb. In the words of Shawn Mendes, "Amazing." Onto the next book!
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

As delightful as the first book. Third one, let's go!
How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

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

4.0

The story of murder is obscenely uplifting... until it's not—it was a mistake for me to go through the ending sober (if you're underaged, wait until you can legally booze up because it's mind-bogglingly insane). The read was so good; I can listen to Grace trashing the patriarchy and working out murder plots any day.

While I hoped to see her face some tough challenges while carrying out the plans, there wasn't much or any that feels important anyway, to the detriment of character development. And it became a little toilsome after a good seven chapters or so. There are many strong instances of wonderful writing, yet the storytelling aspect could need some trimmings here and there, such as mentions of irrelevant passers-by (which feature a lot but barely contribute to the story nor the main character).

Overall, it was such a ride. Wickedly funny. And fucking maddening (fuck the patriarchy). I hope there will be a sequel.
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

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adventurous funny hopeful informative lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I AM CRYING—THIS IS SO FANTASTICALLY BEAUTIFUL. PURE DELIGHT AND HUMOUR IN BOOK FORM. I WILL HARASS LITERALLY EVERY PERSON I MEET TO READ THIS BOOK.
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Luster by Raven Leilani

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

2.0

Verbose and needlessly detailed—There are many instances of prose in Luster that can easily be trimmed, and which would enhance its overall pacing as well as the reading experience. Whilst the ambiguous atmosphere feels intentional in how it's written in clips of prose that often shift focus, this changing landscape never had a chance to fully settle because of the excruciatingly detailed writing. Two chapters in, and it became a chore to see comprehensive descriptions of random radio shows or video games that have no ramifications on the story whatsoever when as a reader, I want to learn more about our main character, Edie, and her relationship with the wife, Rebecca, and daughter, Akila. Apparently, I don't like reading about unlikable characters, especially when they come bundled with obtuse writing.
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The Dead of Summer by Camilla Way

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

3.0

i support women's rights but more importantly, i support women's wrongs. good premise for a story. nice plot twist. could do with more characterisation for the first-person character, as well as other side characters too. a couple more rounds of editing to tie up some loose details could improve the pacing. but overall, it's a nice read. it leaves you in this specific state of mind like you're stuck in mid-day heat but still feel cold knowing you're shit-fucked lonely.
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My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

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

4.0

as i kept standing over this novel, i lingered over a question: how deep can a person be in their denial? because Vanessa, in denial of her own experience, denies other survivors of theirs, and i hate her guts for doing such a thing, even though i know how destructive and terrible her abuse is. in agonising over Vanessa, i keep returning to myself for something, but nothing has come up yet for now (which i hope is a good sign).

in terms of storytelling, Kate Elizabeth Russell did it beautifully. the writing, however, needs a couple more rounds of editing, because i can see some details (i.e. the characters' movements) that could've been left out and it'd improve the pacing of the novel so much.
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Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

in Deaf Republic, there is a certain feeling that builds in silence; this feeling'd build and build, and suddenly engulf your entire mind, and you'd find yourself in tears before you register what had happened. i'm not so sure what i'm feeling about the poems, so i'll only leave it at i'll read it again. 
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Cockblock by C.V. Hunt

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

um, what is this? i must say, i did not expect this book to be smut, like not at all. and the story can only be described as petty and vengeful, in addition to an uncalled-for amount of language that is awkwardly fleshly in totally nonerotic places. but for what it's worth it is entertaining because of exactly that. though it failed to deliver suspense, an important component that could add substantially to the reading experience, Cockblock did have some really good pacing. the way the plot unravels feels so natural yet unexpected and audacious. for sure, this is a fun read; i don't hate it. 
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Ice by Anna Kavan

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

5.0

my feelings of this novel are irrelevant for the time being. i need to read a bit more and deeper into literature of this kind, and then give it a reread before im confident ive arrived at something even remotely thoughtful. so far, this book has wrecked my narrow definition of literature and reality and my life goals and probably more that, as a noob, id failed to recognise. i thought im a plot hoe (lol see what i did there), but this plotless showpiece has truly finished me (to think that i finished it would be a wild accusation, who even am i?!). so theres that.

a few notes for further venture into this reality-bending literature genre: slipstream (non-genre)
Science fiction writers whose work qualified as slipstream include J. G. Ballard, John Sladek, Thomas M. Disch, some of Philip K. Dick. Other writers, who were outside the science fiction genre but whose work could conceivably fit into the wider definition allowed by slipstream include Angela Carter, Paul Auster, Haruki Murakami, Jorge Luis Borges, and William S. Burroughs. Another notable inclusion was, of course, Anna Kavan.

In literature, since slipstream stands above genres of fiction, many examples of magical realism can certainly be recognised as slipstream, one notable mention being Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Some television drama would qualify: The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter, and a BBC series called Life on Mars. In cinema, recent slipstream films include Christopher Nolan's Memento, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Impacto and Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich.

— Compiled from Christopher Priest's introduction to Anna Kavan's novel Ice

 
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