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libraryofavirgo's reviews
144 reviews
I think anyone would be intrigued by that cover, right? I had very little idea of what to expect of A Certain Hunger other than that it featured a female serial killer, a particular buzz phrase for me. So, I wasn’t completely prepared for what was to come!
It goes without saying that there is a lot of blood and violent imagery in the book. The way that Dorothy delights in it is horrific. In some parts, it felt like Dorothy was giving other women (female readers) advice on how to get the upper hand with men. I got chills when it felt like she was talking to me because it was almost as if she sensed something in common with herself. It’s a clever writing device and it definitely made the reading experience a lot creepier.
A Certain Hunger is a well-written, engaging story that will make you feel sick. It’s a short book but it took me a while to read because I kept having to work up the courage to sit with Dorothy again for a little while. If you like books that thoroughly unsettle, then A Certain Hunger is a must!
It goes without saying that there is a lot of blood and violent imagery in the book. The way that Dorothy delights in it is horrific. In some parts, it felt like Dorothy was giving other women (female readers) advice on how to get the upper hand with men. I got chills when it felt like she was talking to me because it was almost as if she sensed something in common with herself. It’s a clever writing device and it definitely made the reading experience a lot creepier.
A Certain Hunger is a well-written, engaging story that will make you feel sick. It’s a short book but it took me a while to read because I kept having to work up the courage to sit with Dorothy again for a little while. If you like books that thoroughly unsettle, then A Certain Hunger is a must!
Finally, the long-awaited sequel…I absolutely loved The Atlas Six, so naturally I had high expectations going into this book. I needed all of my burning questions answered, which didn’t really happen. However, this story starts bringing all the little pieces, all the hints, and foreshadowing together to make an amazing sequel.
If there is one thing Blake does incredibly well, it’s showing us the intricacies, the complication, and depth of the characters. While they did some questionable things in the first book they still remained, for the most part, somewhat good. There was a belief that their time in the society could help change the world for the better. But in this book, they start to question just what, or who, they are truly working for, and why the society picked them specifically.
There was a sinister undercurrent in this story, Blake seemed to take all of the underlying tension and drama from the first book and just tripled it. Was it because we never quite knew what was going to happen? Where the story was truly going? I'm not sure, but I do feel that having big reveals kept secret ensured I felt more engrossed in the story. There was a significant amount of “what did I just read” movements that propelled the story along at a faster pace. And oh my gosh, that ending! The ending was amazing and I desperately need to get my hands on the third book.
If there is one thing Blake does incredibly well, it’s showing us the intricacies, the complication, and depth of the characters. While they did some questionable things in the first book they still remained, for the most part, somewhat good. There was a belief that their time in the society could help change the world for the better. But in this book, they start to question just what, or who, they are truly working for, and why the society picked them specifically.
There was a sinister undercurrent in this story, Blake seemed to take all of the underlying tension and drama from the first book and just tripled it. Was it because we never quite knew what was going to happen? Where the story was truly going? I'm not sure, but I do feel that having big reveals kept secret ensured I felt more engrossed in the story. There was a significant amount of “what did I just read” movements that propelled the story along at a faster pace. And oh my gosh, that ending! The ending was amazing and I desperately need to get my hands on the third book.
This was a pretty good conclusion to the Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy. Though, personally, I would say nothing could top Kingdom of the Cursed and how reading that made me feel. That book was truly top-tier.
I loved the dynamics of the relationships throughout all the books, however, this one just hit different. It was nice seeing them finally blossom into something larger.
When it comes to the plot, there were some amazing plot points, we continued further into the mystery and finally started getting answers. With that, I feel like a big part of the story resolutions came really late in the book. It made the book seem as if it were dragging on, which unfortunately led to me skimming some of the longer parts.
Overall, this was an amazing end to Emelia’s story. This series ended up being more NA than YA, which is a huge plus for me. Though this wasn’t my favorite book in the trilogy, I still really enjoyed it.
I loved the dynamics of the relationships throughout all the books, however, this one just hit different. It was nice seeing them finally blossom into something larger.
When it comes to the plot, there were some amazing plot points, we continued further into the mystery and finally started getting answers. With that, I feel like a big part of the story resolutions came really late in the book. It made the book seem as if it were dragging on, which unfortunately led to me skimming some of the longer parts.
Overall, this was an amazing end to Emelia’s story. This series ended up being more NA than YA, which is a huge plus for me. Though this wasn’t my favorite book in the trilogy, I still really enjoyed it.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I already knew I was going to love this book going in, and I was not disappointed. I am a huge fan of Kuang’s writing, Babel being one of my all-time favorite novels.
Yellowface is a satirical commentary on the publishing industry, the tokenism of diverse individuals, plagiarism, and the public ‘allyship’ seen in many companies. Kuang did an amazing job at tackling these hard topics in such a short novel, without leaving the reader with that heavy feeling.
Despite this novel being posed as a critique, there is no teachable moment to be found here. The narrator of the story, is at best, heavily unreliable. She is not an evil genius, she is not a self-aware mastermind, but rather a particularly ordinary brand of terrible. Of course, the narrator is more than just a villain and shows true vulnerability, but Kuang makes sure this does not justify any of her decisions, creating a perfect mix of pity and condemnation.
This is a well-written and extremely engaging story that leaves plenty of topics for discussion and provides much to think about. This novel very clearly calls out our need to have a clear narrative to make sense of things, we need the good person and the bad person — but once again Kuang shows us that is not what this is about. We need to find a sense of right and wrong, even when there there is no 100% good person and 100% bad person to be found, because that is not how life is, we still need a moral compass to navigate it.
Yellowface is a satirical commentary on the publishing industry, the tokenism of diverse individuals, plagiarism, and the public ‘allyship’ seen in many companies. Kuang did an amazing job at tackling these hard topics in such a short novel, without leaving the reader with that heavy feeling.
Despite this novel being posed as a critique, there is no teachable moment to be found here. The narrator of the story, is at best, heavily unreliable. She is not an evil genius, she is not a self-aware mastermind, but rather a particularly ordinary brand of terrible. Of course, the narrator is more than just a villain and shows true vulnerability, but Kuang makes sure this does not justify any of her decisions, creating a perfect mix of pity and condemnation.
This is a well-written and extremely engaging story that leaves plenty of topics for discussion and provides much to think about. This novel very clearly calls out our need to have a clear narrative to make sense of things, we need the good person and the bad person — but once again Kuang shows us that is not what this is about. We need to find a sense of right and wrong, even when there there is no 100% good person and 100% bad person to be found, because that is not how life is, we still need a moral compass to navigate it.
adventurous
dark
tense
“Better get you gun ready, little devil. Hell has come to collect.”
Sometimes you just want a well written dark mafia romance, and wow does this deliver. This was another fantastic story; it’s dark, unique, intriguing, and I could not get enough of it! Talk about a book that meets and exceeds expectations. Talk about a book that hits all of the sweet spots. The writing is excellent as always and the characters were everything!
I read it twice, back to back… this was deep, dark, and one of the most fun rabbit holes I have ever been down. This is the true definition of a page turner, keeping me on the edge of my seat from cover to cover, unputdownable for even a moment. And the more twisted and unpredictable the story became, the more I found myself devouring each word.
This was such a ride. I’ve been obsessed with this story and characters since the beginning and even though I’m sad that it’s over, this book was the perfect conclusion for the Ace of Hearts series. I so desperately wish I could go on and on about this book, but alas, it is the second in the series, and I refuse to spoil anything.
This is hands down one of my favorite dark romance stories that I have read and I am so excited to see what Seven does next!
Sometimes you just want a well written dark mafia romance, and wow does this deliver. This was another fantastic story; it’s dark, unique, intriguing, and I could not get enough of it! Talk about a book that meets and exceeds expectations. Talk about a book that hits all of the sweet spots. The writing is excellent as always and the characters were everything!
I read it twice, back to back… this was deep, dark, and one of the most fun rabbit holes I have ever been down. This is the true definition of a page turner, keeping me on the edge of my seat from cover to cover, unputdownable for even a moment. And the more twisted and unpredictable the story became, the more I found myself devouring each word.
This was such a ride. I’ve been obsessed with this story and characters since the beginning and even though I’m sad that it’s over, this book was the perfect conclusion for the Ace of Hearts series. I so desperately wish I could go on and on about this book, but alas, it is the second in the series, and I refuse to spoil anything.
This is hands down one of my favorite dark romance stories that I have read and I am so excited to see what Seven does next!
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Diary Of A Void pulled me in with an interesting perspective on being a woman in Japanese society and it does not disappoint as we see how society still creates certain spaces for women. A slice of life book trapped in the slightly absurd. Emi Yagi creates a fascinating story of a woman who via faking a pregnancy gets out of doing the jobs in the office that have been handed to her, starting with the coffee cup cleaning in the meeting room. Interestingly these roles seem to be only given to women.
Like many contemporary books translated from Japanese, Emi Yagi’s Diary of a Void is also a quietly political novel. Diary of a Void addresses the systematic inequalities of Japan’s economy not just based on gender, but also on age, class, and race.
The characterization and thought process as the baby is ‘created’ is fascinating and intense, and incredibly well written as we see how the gaze shifts as she progresses through the pregnancy but also how she connects to people as she keeps up the lie. I expected so many things and they didn’t happen but I think that’s kinda why you stay gripped by this book until the very last page.
Like many contemporary books translated from Japanese, Emi Yagi’s Diary of a Void is also a quietly political novel. Diary of a Void addresses the systematic inequalities of Japan’s economy not just based on gender, but also on age, class, and race.
The characterization and thought process as the baby is ‘created’ is fascinating and intense, and incredibly well written as we see how the gaze shifts as she progresses through the pregnancy but also how she connects to people as she keeps up the lie. I expected so many things and they didn’t happen but I think that’s kinda why you stay gripped by this book until the very last page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Infertility, Sexual harassment