literaryjunarin's reviews
455 reviews

Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is basically fan fiction of Dracula and Jane Eyre.  The main character is Lucy, Dracula's first English victim and Bertha, Mr Rochester's wife in the attic. The whole plot is actually about these two women preventing Dracula from being resurrected (?) whilst running away from Mr Rochester. Oh, and Lucy and Bertha are immortals. Obviously, because Lucy was turned into a vampire and Bertha was turned immortal by Mr Rochester.

It started really slow. So slow that I almost dropped it due to Lucy's repeatedly listening to other humans' heartbeats and fantasizing about drinking their blood. She was like "I can make him do whatever I want and consume him in mouthfuls. But I won't. I'm not like Dracula." Okay girl, I know, I know you're a good vampire.

It got faster halfway through and that's when I started enjoying it. I loved it when the story has a lot of escaping and running and stabbing vampires and werewolves tearing through clothing and houses burning, you know what I mean.

The ending was exhilarating.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 “To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is a bad dream.” 

Very quick plot line: Esther Greenwood is a brilliant and talented woman who is slowly descending into madness.

I didn't like Esther much, to be honest. She kind of insults people in her musings and can't help but see that she's racist too. She's also very self-important, like "I got straight As in physics maybe I should take chemistry for credit" or something. She's annoying, really. 

The story also did not grip me as I expected. I started reading her poetry collection "Ariel" when I started this novel and damn, her poems felt like a punch in the gut. But this novel, I think, is aggressively average. I know I'm average too, don't hate me but I had read better books about depression.

However, I can't deny that the depiction of depression was very real, but something about the way Plath wrote about it made the experience feel flat for me. It didn't give me the feels or the intensity I expected from this book. I was just like, okay she felt that, okay that happened. Or maybe I just had high expectations. Gosh, I regret it, this book was expensive HAHA.

I guess I'll leave now and go back to her poetry.

Cat Person and Other Stories by Kristen Roupenian

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

"All I've ever wanted is to be loved. Well, to be worshiped. To be desired, madly and painfully, to the exclusion of all else. Is that so wrong?"

Grotesque. Obscene. Brutal. Kinky. Violent. Gross. Magic. Supernatural. Immersive. Graphic. Repulsive. Uncomfortable.

I hope that sums up this collection.

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Complex characters. Carefully written.  Loved the dynamic friendship between a boy who feels nothing and a boy who feels too much. 

I wanted to see more of Dora though. 
Don't be mad at me but I cringed at the miracle cure "falling in love". M a g I c.

I teared up a bit at the end though even though it was too neat for my taste.

Just by Looking at Him by Ryan O'Connell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.

Okay the sex scene on this part is not for me (rim job?). 

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 “No longer was my world one of brave heroes; I was learning all too swiftly the women's pain that throbbed unspoken through the tales of their feats.” 

A story about a princess of Crete, Ariadne, who betrayed her father, helped a hero to kill her Minotaur brother and escaped with the hero, leaving her younger sister behind.

I had heard about Ariadne before but only knew her part in the labyrinth. My introduction to Greek mythology is Percy Jackson so I only knew bits and pieces, not that I'm complaining. Having said that, I was excited to read this book.

I liked the beautiful, flowery writing. I underlined a heck lot of quotes. It was absolutely transporting, I felt like I can smell the blood when Ariadne is talking about the minotaur, feel the wind when she was on the ship to Naxos, and hear her cries when her heart was utterly broken.

However, I thought the book is going for an empowering women theme and being free from the domesticated wife they're destined for. I did not see that. Although given that this is a retelling, the author can't change the plot, yeah I know that. But I'll still complain HAHA. Ariadne is too gentle for me unlike her sister Phaedra, who is braver, more clever and more passionate. If those traits will give her a brighter future, you should read the book to find out.

Comparing this to other greek mythology retellings, I liked Circe more, mainly because of Circe's character. But in terms of writing style, I think both are amazing.

The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I read this because I like the plot. It was in the year 1931, on Mars. That's enough to get me interested. On top of that, the main character is a 14-year-old girl, Belle, who sets off to the wastelands to seek revenge. What's not to love?

However, oh my gods, Belle is so annoying! Her only personality is being a perpetually enraged girl and her favorite sentence is "Get off me!". Like, little lady, they're stopping you from getting shot by robots or whatever they are but you want the adults to get off you because you wanted to look at the robots?! She's insufferable I hate her.

But surprisingly, I finished the book even though I'm pissed most of the time. This is more than 10 hrs in audio so I guess that's saying something about how engaging this is.

Pretend I'm Dead by Jen Beagin

dark funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A story of Mona, a 23 yeard old woman who cleans houses for a living.

This is my 2nd Jen Beagin's book and I can see she has a thing for main characters who are morbidly funny, quirky, self-deprecating and strange.
 
This book has no actual plot and mainly focuses on the different points in Mona's life
- when she fell in love with a drug addict
- when she tried to form friendship with her neighbors who give off cult vibes
- when she got a new client who seemed like a pervert and ostensibly into incest
- when she had another client who apparently is a psychic that can see past lives and read minds

Even though the story itself seems like it's all over the place, it also examines themes of loneliness and belonging. It also touches on serious topics such as drug addiction, sexual abuse, incest, and depression.

I totally recommend. 

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Things We Don't Talk About by Anthony G. Martinez

3.0