liisp_cvr2cvr's reviews
990 reviews

101 Eesti arhitektuuriteost by Karin Hallas-Murula

informative

5.0

 Kui ülikooli aines poleks arhitektuuri teemat, poleks ise seda raamatut kätte võtnud, ja no, saab öelda, et oleksin paljust ilma jäänud. Arhitektuur ei ole selline asi, mille üle ma isiklikult mõtisklen ja kahjuks ei ole minu silmades ja peas ka seda kunstilist poolt ja loomingu talenti nii palju, et oskaks isegi tänavapildis seda tähele panna. Kahjuks. Raamat oli tõestri huvitav ja tuleb tõdeda, et mööda külgi maha ei jooksnud. Murula kirjutab tähtsama iga ehitise kohta ja nii mõnelgi korral on veidi sellist "tongue in cheek" kommentaari, mis oli väga teretulnud. 

Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Michael R. Fletcher is a puppet master controlling all of the delusional and various states of minds in Beyond Redemption and making it into one of the worst and best dark fantasies out there. It’s no small feat to contain something as unpredictable, vague and sprawling like various mental states manifesting in magical powers. This book tickles the brain. No, not tickles. Scratches. There’s some pretty nasty imagery in this.

What’s the book about? To really condense it down, it all sort of boils down to one boy. A boy that a king plans to make into a god. And by make, I mean… well, the boy has to ascend and to ascend he has to… You can guess. But, before we get to the boy, there are other characters and happenings that… just… Okay. Read the damn blurb! There is also the theme of life, afterlife and redemption. Musings about how our actions in life might affect our Afterlife. Musings, and then swiftly setting those musings aside to live in the moment, baby!

Anyway, for me? Beauuuutiful! Beyond Redemption has the perfect balance of epic, grim and otherworldly with the human condition and near philosophical ponderings of the deviants. Ye gods, there’s nearly nothing better than a tainted soul wondering about redemption. Bahahaha…

We have Konig – who has Doppels, and is slowly falling victim to his delusions. The Doppels are damned intriguing and this whole Konig storyline just went exploding brain sort of what the hell just happened. We have Morgen, the child to become god who hates nothing else more than being dirty. A fellow germ freak, I could feel his despair at times. I am intrigued about Morgen’s storyline… There’s something of a psyhological case study potentially unravelling. His innocence and sin-free soul at the hands of selfish egotistical people… Which wins out? And is Morgen to blame for his actions or are those who molded him? Mmmmwah, chef’s kiss. We have Bedeckt (an older mercenary type), Wichtig (The Greatest Swordsman in the World) and Kleptic (ruthless, ruthless woman. Damn!) – those three travel together and I very much enjoyed the trio’s dynamics as well as the… well… dysfunctional symbiosis. There is Gehirn who basically is fire. There is the Slaver, Erbrechen – I know not how I always managed to be eating when I read the Slaver chapters. Nausea-inducing shit, that.

Gods, this book, in another universe, could have been a complete mess. Mixing all of these delusions, mental states and so many characters with their shadiness and immorality and their backstabbing ways. And it wasn’t a mess. Why? I think it boils down to a very simple thing. The characters never lost sight of their goals. Whatever their goal was, they stuck to it – some lost due to it, some won. The goal may have been slightly amended, polished, tuned, but it was always there, and it makes a hell of a difference to “hells, let’s just go and see what happens on the journey and here, reader, multiple funky threads with multiple funky things and fuck it, we’ll see where this leads.” The journeys can be great too, adventurous, but when they lack the purpose, a purpose so strong that the characters kill for it, it’s all just fine. Not great, not strongly convincing, it’s just fine. Here’s where Beyond Redemption has its strength – it does not waver and lose sight. Whatever horribleness befell, the goals of the characters didn’t waiver. Onwards, only onwards! The odds are there to be beaten!

As bonkers as this book is with all of the characters, one worse than the other, Fletcher does one thing really well. He makes them all very painfully human. They all want something because they’re so petty in their human-like need and egotism. Something that is so small and simple and yet something so foundational, like love. Or, peaceful few years before they die. Fletcher breaks down the very human thoughts, weaknesses, ambitions, wants and needs, and slathers them across the pages wrapped in delusions and horrible deeds.

What further polishes the shine of the brilliance of this story is that everything just seems to go a full circle. The characters, their own storylines and the main storyline – it just all winds its way to a conclusion. As a reader who enjoys grim and dark fantasy, I felt sated by this story. It delivered surprises as much as it delivered gentle realizations. Redemption, though? Nah, we’re way beyond that, I’m afraid. 

Inimese lahkumine: Raamat surma- ja kalmistukultuurist by Marju Kõivupuu

informative reflective

5.0

Uued jalutuskäigud Eesti kalmistutel by Voldemar Kuslap

reflective

5.0

Saint the Terrifying by Joshua Mohr

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 

“I had no love for forty dollar rolls of hand-stitched toilet paper, but since getting clean, I had a Whole Foods in me, too. A part of me wanted a relaxed life, but that impulse couldn’t win a fight with the punk rockers and Vikings in me.”

Guys… When I was 20% into Saint the Terrifying, I went and added other books by Mohr to my TBR list. 40% through the book I promised to buy a physical copy for myself. 100% through I was crying with happiness because I realized this is going to be a trilogy. Hell yeah!!!

Good grief, everything about this book hit the sweet spot with me. The writing style, the thematic, the… I don’t know. You read about punks like this and you’ll come away thinking, you know what? I don’t need to fit in! And it’s glorious! I felt envy during a certain scene in this book. There’s a scene when someone (not Saint) trashes a car. Goes full on whammy on a vehicle. While the owner is like “Dude, man, my car!”, Saint and co are just laughing. Laughing at the fact that it’s just a damn car and who cares. No care for materialistic things. I felt envy at that in my heart. Imagine being so… free? feral?… something? that you just don’t care about a car being demolished by bricks.

 

“We all live in the moral mud. We all feed on the empty calories of rationalizations.”

As you may have gathered from the blurb, our main character is Saint. But before he is Saint, we don’t really know his name, at least I don’t think it is uttered in any shape or form. So, the beauty of it all is, we, the reader, get to be there when he earns his new name. And the whole scenario is rather sweet. Who and why calls him Saint. Anyway, Saint gets pulled into “a day” by Got Jokes who says that his band’s gear got stolen, and Got Jokes has a lead – Jesse. So, Saint goes “marching in” (sorrynotsorry) to Jesse’s – it’s not unhinged at all, as he explains, it’s totally hinged – and ends up doing something completely opposite because Jesse is literally at the edge of the abyss, and then Jesse eats Saint’s eye! That’s right. Saint has a fake eye. And Jesse eats it. How and why? Oh, do go on, get the book already and find out yourself! So… we get more leads about who stole the band gear and basically Saint vows to get the gear back. Who and how gets in his way? Again, you’ll have to read for yourself.

During the mad day that leads to all sorts of many other things, we learn about Saint’s childhood. About his mom and his Norwegian dad. And it’s all enough to break your god damn heart! But, Saint has Vikings whispering in his blood and he will do good, he will fight to find joy… He may think he want the Whole Foods life, and his… his… I don’t know what to call them, his “mind trips” give him glimpses of the Whole Foods experience with Green Day Billy. Green Day. Saint hates Green Day.

Anyway!

You know, this is a book of opposites. Saint is any bit as much a saint as he is terrifying. There is as much brutality in the story as there are melt-your-heart, I’m-crying-so-hard-I-can’t-see moments. It’s so harshly black and white as much as it is chaotic and I freaking loved it so much. Even though the whole book is pretty much one big trigger warning sticker, there is simply something about the stark contrast of someone so full of Viking plundering and punk actually showing empathy and love where it counts the most. A magnificent character. A magnificent character with empathy, lovehearts and kindness in his eyes.

All of this, the epic and terrifying character of Saint and the chaos around him and in him, is delivered with a very neat skill of setting beautiful and fitting words one after the other. God damn it, Mohr has some sharp style, and enviable creativity, because some of this stuff is bonkers. It’s so bonkers and so entertaining and so disgusting and so beautiful, all at once!

 

 “I played guitar and she growled, alive in this drywall tundra, this snow globe, this sleep and sleaze, this squall, this fuss, this tempest, this bomb cyclone, this ice storm, this out-of-tune Valhalla.”

So, anyway… as I said, I loved this book. In fact, Saint the Terrifying is my Book of 2024. It has been a LONG time since I enjoyed reading quite so much. I don’t think it was so much the plot… but the characters in all their rawness and life’s tragedies and the persevering through it all. And the writing. It just mm-mm-mmm… And, it’s not even fantasy! *throws hands up in air in disbelief! I would be willing to give up fantasy forever if every general fiction book managed to kick up a storm in me quite so. I don’t even know how to explain its magic to you. Not really. But it’s something. Something powerful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent

Minor: Drug use

Facing Down the Furies: Suicide, the Ancient Greeks, and Me by Edith Hall

dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

As far as challenging subject matter goes, Facing Down the Furies takes top spot among  nonfiction. 

I love how author Edith approached the topic of suicide, through the prism of Greek tragedies and her personal experiences. In the end, this book is a celebration of life, celebration of life after death. 

My biggest take away?
For thousands of years, the human condition has largely remained the same. We are driven by largely the same emotions that go hand in hand with close relationships within academia, profession, romantic and family ties. 

If reader does not feel triggered by suicide and mental health topics, I would most certainly recommend this title. 

The Anatomy of Fear by Krystle Matar, Ryan Howse, Tim Hardie, Zamil Akhtar, Bjørn Larssen, L.L. MacRae, Lee C. Conley, Trudie Skies, H.L. Tinsley, Sean Crow, B.A. Bellec, Jacob Sannox

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.5

Favorite stories were: Liver (Jacob Sannox), Neck (HL Tinsley) and Skin (Zamil Akhtar). Also very much liked: Blood (Trudie Skies) and Hand by Bjorn Larssen.
Others were enjoyable, a few I DNFd where the story simply didn't grab me from the start. 

The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston

adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

 I mean, let's face it, if there is a kingdom and a king-ling and a Lord Regent, you can be damn sure there are some funky artifacts hidden somewhere that some grubby hands want to get their mitts on. This is essentially the story - a band of ambitious ingrates ambushing a castle. What could be better than a contained stand-off? Oh, the betrayals and painful lessons and terrible injuries and unbearable losses. Johnston doesn't beat around the bush, he dials the tension up high from page one in this tale that is as fantasy as fantasy gets. A few druids and all. A sect and a vault that have very cool names. 

Is it a story that will attempt to bring something unique to the table? Well, no. The focus of the story is on the stand-off, and more so even on Briar, our powerhouse of a female character, the commander of the Shields. Frankly, The Last Shield felt less of an action flick, although, yes, there is a good romp through the tunnels and within the walls. It felt more like a look at Briar's character and what she's like when she has been delivered a blow, and how she behaves and what she feels when faced with adversity. And in that sense, The Last Shield is an ode to her, she's tough as nails and loyal to boot. She's like a rusty railroad nail that you will never be able to pry out. 

I absolutely loved her relationship to Lord Regent. It's clear off the page, from the very first interaction in between them, that these two are just head over heels for each other. But these two - they're so bound to their duty that you ain't ever seen two characters more steadfast than Briar and Alaric. Plus, they're older in age than your just out of teenage years characters and thus infinitely a lot more enjoyable to read about. 

So, political and religious intrigue it may have, but the whole story stands on its two feet because of the absolute stubbornness of Briar the Shield. Her unshakable resolve and bravery. There is no such thing as unfavorable odds when you know the fighting grounds like the back of your hand. 

So, for hard-ass fantasy fans. Will you get fighting action? Yes. Will you receive cunning and grit? Absolutely. Any weird lulls in the story? Nope, none. Mystical and otherworldly stuff? Some, yes. Is there a love story? Also, yes, but not in an annoying, eye-rolling way. I think Johnston does it well in The Last Shield. No sneaky shenanigans, no blabbery pining over raw, open, weeping wound in the heart. Simply the acknowledgement of love, right there, a strong undercurrent. A fresh breath of air in that sense. 

Thus, with strong characters and a thrilling, twist-delivering stand-off within castle walls, the action is non-stop. In fact, I will go so far as to say that the storytelling is so strong in this one that I would have loved a tad more dialogue, because the dialogue I did get was full of sass and energy, and I enjoyed it a lot. 

Did The Last Shield knock the breath out of me with its absolute awesomeness? Well, no. It was okay, solid. But, I do think Johnston is one I will keep my eye on from now on. As I said, the dialogue in The Last Shield got me most excited, it showed a level of skill that could deliver some greatness. You know, like some people are really good at choosing appropriate gifs for every occasion? Yeah, Johnston did that dialogue really well and I most certainly want me some more of that! 

Tallinna tume by Katrin Pauts

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Väga head lood. Harva leian eesti autori, kelle kirjaviis mulle nii sobib. Super. Selle kogumiku lugesin ühe jutiga läbi.

Interior Design for Demons by Rebecca F. Kenney

dark

4.0