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loiscc's Reviews (313)
(4.5 ⭐) Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is an epic life-story set in 1911 Yeongdo, Korea, spanning four generations and several decades, during imperial rule, wartime Japan in Osaka into the modern era. Pachinko is a timeless jewel of a book! It is a story about family virtue, honour, deceit and the decisions we make that shape our futures. It paints a vivid picture of the plight of Koreans living in Japan during colonial times and many years later into more recent years as they faced the unrelenting bias of their former oppressors. I felt like this book had all a timeless charm of Gone With The Wind but with its own oriental essence that resounds in a deeply meaningful way.
Frying Plantain is an enticing taste of Caribbean flavour that intuitively describes the differences that separate one's cultural backgrounds.
The main character, Kara Davis is a teenage girl of Jamaican descent who was born and grew up in Canada. Her childhood and adolescent experiences, which is characterised by the constant reconciling of two very different cultures offers a resonating narrative many first generation individuals will know all too well.
The most enjoyable moments for me were all the vibrant references to Caribbean food, making this book aptly named and equally as tantalising.
Frying Plantain is lively and comedic but also cognizant of strained family ties and friendships, in a way that I savoured until the very end.
The main character, Kara Davis is a teenage girl of Jamaican descent who was born and grew up in Canada. Her childhood and adolescent experiences, which is characterised by the constant reconciling of two very different cultures offers a resonating narrative many first generation individuals will know all too well.
The most enjoyable moments for me were all the vibrant references to Caribbean food, making this book aptly named and equally as tantalising.
Frying Plantain is lively and comedic but also cognizant of strained family ties and friendships, in a way that I savoured until the very end.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 1
Satoru Yamaguchi, Nami Hidaka, Shirley Yeung
I loved the novel premise in this manga and the perfectly executed comedy that had me thoroughly entertained. The first volume of My Next Life As A Villainess is a high-energy, imaginative story. It is sure to leave you with a pleasant aftertaste.
My Next Life As A Villainess follows the story of a fifteen year old high school student who suffers a terrible accident and subsequently reincarnates into a villain character from her favourite Otome video game, Fortune Lover.
Katarina Claes is the daughter of a distinguished Duke but as the villainess who's aim in the game is to antagonise the heroine, all her storylines end in destruction. We follow a young Katarina, throughout the first volume who is on a mission to change her disastrous fate!
My Next Life As A Villainess follows the story of a fifteen year old high school student who suffers a terrible accident and subsequently reincarnates into a villain character from her favourite Otome video game, Fortune Lover.
Katarina Claes is the daughter of a distinguished Duke but as the villainess who's aim in the game is to antagonise the heroine, all her storylines end in destruction. We follow a young Katarina, throughout the first volume who is on a mission to change her disastrous fate!
June Sarpong delivers a strongly-worded and thorough study into both the social and economic benefits to be had when governments, large corporations and even everyday individuals diversify with groups of individuals typically sidelined for their 'otherness' and why we should focus on all the attributes we share in common rather than all the things that differentiate us. Sarpong analyses all aspects of otherness in all its forms with a fine tooth comb and argues against common misconceptions, it is altogether an all-inclusive, comprehensive study that opened my eyes in more ways than one.
Run is a refreshingly sweet story about a moving friendship, akin to sisterhood between two seventeen year old girls who decide to run away from home.
Agnes was born blind and is therefore used to people fussing over her and questioning her capabilities. Bo on the other hand is a renowned delinquent who comes from a broken home and she's attracted to girls. The two forge an unlikely friendship, quickly becoming the talk of their small town, Mursey. They are drawn together by their shared lack of judgement of the other person but also because of their burning need for escape.
Run has a fast-paced, straight-talking quality that complemented the fugitive-like sojourn undertaken by the girls. It is penetrating story about friendship and deciding for ourselves what paths we will take and which will pave the course of our histories.
Agnes was born blind and is therefore used to people fussing over her and questioning her capabilities. Bo on the other hand is a renowned delinquent who comes from a broken home and she's attracted to girls. The two forge an unlikely friendship, quickly becoming the talk of their small town, Mursey. They are drawn together by their shared lack of judgement of the other person but also because of their burning need for escape.
Run has a fast-paced, straight-talking quality that complemented the fugitive-like sojourn undertaken by the girls. It is penetrating story about friendship and deciding for ourselves what paths we will take and which will pave the course of our histories.
Ascension was daring and visionary but ultimately an underwhelming waste of very unique potential.
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Alana Quick is a talented sky surgeon from the city Heliodor on the planet Orpim. She lives with her Aunt Lai in a poverty-stricken neighbourhood known to many as the "fringe." They make their living as engineers, fixing damaged starships in need of repairs. The jobs don't pay well but eventually they hope to one day earn enough to pay for the treatment needed to cure Alana's chronic pain disorder.
After a chance encounter with a mysterious crew who is after Alana's sister and desperate to pursue the adventure of the Big Quiet, Alana stows away on the crew's ship where she encounters a lot more than she bargained for.
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Despite the many moments of perfection in this book, in terms of the writing style and the diversity of representation, Ascension was a huge let-down.
I was excited to read a science-fiction novel and this book did give me a lot of action and world building that made me suspend my disbelief. I also loved the idea of interplanetary habitation and travel and I appreciated the wide range of diversity, in that the book features disability, queer, black and polyamourous representation.
But there were too many issues to redeem this book in my eyes, including the diction in some places as well as the pretentious verbosity. In parts, it read like fanfaction novel to me and it wasted a lot of time on wordy, superfluous internalising which could've been used to develop bits of the story that were sorely lacking for want. This book needed a lot more simplicity and a lot less of the emotional verbiage. (Not including the references to Alana's illness)
This book offered so much inventive, unique potential and speaks to a much wider audience of marginalised perspectives, unlike many books that we see in most mainstream publishing, so I really wanted to get behind this book and promote it but unfortunately, it ended up being very disappointing.
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Alana Quick is a talented sky surgeon from the city Heliodor on the planet Orpim. She lives with her Aunt Lai in a poverty-stricken neighbourhood known to many as the "fringe." They make their living as engineers, fixing damaged starships in need of repairs. The jobs don't pay well but eventually they hope to one day earn enough to pay for the treatment needed to cure Alana's chronic pain disorder.
After a chance encounter with a mysterious crew who is after Alana's sister and desperate to pursue the adventure of the Big Quiet, Alana stows away on the crew's ship where she encounters a lot more than she bargained for.
----
Despite the many moments of perfection in this book, in terms of the writing style and the diversity of representation, Ascension was a huge let-down.
I was excited to read a science-fiction novel and this book did give me a lot of action and world building that made me suspend my disbelief. I also loved the idea of interplanetary habitation and travel and I appreciated the wide range of diversity, in that the book features disability, queer, black and polyamourous representation.
But there were too many issues to redeem this book in my eyes, including the diction in some places as well as the pretentious verbosity. In parts, it read like fanfaction novel to me and it wasted a lot of time on wordy, superfluous internalising which could've been used to develop bits of the story that were sorely lacking for want. This book needed a lot more simplicity and a lot less of the emotional verbiage. (Not including the references to Alana's illness)
This book offered so much inventive, unique potential and speaks to a much wider audience of marginalised perspectives, unlike many books that we see in most mainstream publishing, so I really wanted to get behind this book and promote it but unfortunately, it ended up being very disappointing.
I thought this book was superbly written. It was provocative, poetic and gritty. It captured every detail of the setting with such vivid imagery, I cannot fault this book and I also thought the lack of chronology in terms of the way the story was told was engineered exceptionally. No wonder why this book won the Booker prize!
Brianna Jackson is a 16-year-old aspiring rapper. She longs to follow in the footsteps of her father by pursuing her clear talent for rapping. But her mournful childhood experiences and impoverished background makes it seem like her dreams will never come to fruition. Still she is determined to make it on the come up. Especially when the threat of homelessness looms large, rapping become something she must achieve at all costs.
The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Bahni Turpin who gave the story a sense of gritty realism. However the story itself is written in a way that is as outspoken as it is lyrical and punchy.
It mindfully portrays the desperate nature of living in near-poverty and coping with drug addiction. It also highlights the deeply harmful effects of racial profiling. On The Come Up is both fun and contemplative.
The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Bahni Turpin who gave the story a sense of gritty realism. However the story itself is written in a way that is as outspoken as it is lyrical and punchy.
It mindfully portrays the desperate nature of living in near-poverty and coping with drug addiction. It also highlights the deeply harmful effects of racial profiling. On The Come Up is both fun and contemplative.
