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lenareadsstuff's Reviews (89)
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you're looking for a story about teenage angst, trans joy, nonbinary self-discovery, and acceptance, this is definitely the right book for you. Felix is a very inspiring main character and I enjoyed reading this book a whole lot – even though the sort of love triangle felt a bit messy to me, and some plot points were less plausible than others. But overall, I'm really happy that this book exists.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not gonna lie, I didn't really get into the book until like 1/3 of it but when we got to see more of Nora's past and learned more about her ex Wes too, I was hooked. This book really surprised me because, at its core, it's a story about abuse and surviving but it also doesn't glorify the violence or pain characters experience/inflict on others. I'm very curious how the story will continue in the sequel.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This book gave me a lot of nuanced insight into the political situation in the West Bank/Greater Jerusalem but also into the lives of the people living there (Palestinians and also Isrealis) and it does that in great depth and with humanity. While it was absolutely tough and heartbreaking to read, I think it's also a very important and necessary book.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
I'm a bit torn because while some poems were really beautiful (American Legend really stood out to me), other poems felt rather inaccessible to me. Maybe that's because they're very personal and specific, or maybe I just have to take some time, reread them, and mull them over some more. Either way, I'm still a big fan of Vuong's writing style – it's endlessly fascinating to me how he creates meaning with his language.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's the first book I've read by Shirley Jackson and I really enjoyed her witty and eerie writing style. Even though nowadays the concept of a haunted house has become a well-known cliché within the horror genre, I liked its take on it and how it depicted Hill House as a living entity with its own agenda. I think the horror (or rather, terror) in this book is more vague than explicit which was really interesting to read in combination with its unreliable narration.
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was a very cute read. I'm really glad the main characters had some depth to them, otherwise it would've been a very shallow love story. The premise has been done before, so nothing new here, but I'm always happy to read about characters who are unabashedly queer and struggle with everything but their queerness.
I'd also like to add that the two authors being married to each other and basically co-writing a book about their own love story is the cutest thing ever.
I'd also like to add that the two authors being married to each other and basically co-writing a book about their own love story is the cutest thing ever.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
All this time I told myself we were born from war – but I was wrong, Ma. We were born from beauty. Let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence – but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil us.
What an incredible novel. Vuong's beautiful, poetic and yet very poignant writing style was so enchanting. I think it only speaks to his talent how he was able to capture so much beauty and heartbreak in letters that tell the stories of war, grief, love, motherhood, and otherness. It's very hard for me to believe that this was not entirely autobiographical because everything was so full of life and fleshed out. I'll be thinking about this book for a while.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having now read every novel by Oseman, I'm really surprised to say that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would (especially since it's thematically very close to Radio Silence and I loved that one).
The story explores fandom spaces in a very interesting way and the characters felt very real to me. However, I couldn't personally connect to the story as much. I think that's because the important parts of the main plot hinges on chance encounters and coincidences, and the ending (meaning the last two chapters) sort of rushed over the conclusion and its aftermath. I'm not sure I'd necessarily recommend this book to people who haven't read other novels of Oseman before but I did have fun reading it.
The story explores fandom spaces in a very interesting way and the characters felt very real to me. However, I couldn't personally connect to the story as much. I think that's because the important parts of the main plot hinges on chance encounters and coincidences, and the ending (meaning the last two chapters) sort of rushed over the conclusion and its aftermath. I'm not sure I'd necessarily recommend this book to people who haven't read other novels of Oseman before but I did have fun reading it.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Evil besides . . . had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay. And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome. This, too, was myself. It seemed natural and human.
As so many others, I of course knew the "twist" beforehands. However, that didn't make the story any less interesting or captivating to me. I really liked Stevenson's writing style; though the story became monologue-heavy towards the end (which was still super captivating), the descriptions of events let the reader come to their own conclusion/judgement. The quote above, arguably one of my favorite passages, is from the last chapter which was also my favorite part of the book.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book from beginning to end. I think it's a wonderful depiction of friendship, (queer)platonic love, the pressure of expectations, and isolation. I loved how the aspect of fandom/escapism was weaved into it and I absolutely adored the characters. I've read books by Alice Oseman before but this is definitely my new favorite novel of them.