loveryoushouldvecomeovermp3's reviews
59 reviews

Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

i found the style of the book so interesting like it's just so creative and unique. i love the pages where it's just words that seem random but when you read them out loud it forms a pattern. feels like it drags on for a bit too long and when i read that cohen wrote this book in two weeks hopped up on amphetamines i was like yeah that tracks. love u tho mr cohen 

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

reflective slow-paced

3.75

one thing I've noticed a lot in books about women is how much the author needs to stress the womans attractiveness. even when it's a book written by a woman, for women. even when it's explicitly about the suffering of women, the author needs you to know that yes she is beautiful. maybe she doesn't notice it because shes so entrenched in her sadness but she is beautiful and she is attractive. her sadness comes from within not from her outsides. it's something I've noticed especially with modern female authors, those who are hailed by booktok as 'sad girl literature'. Which is why i appreciate that natsuko is never subjected to that. she describes her body multiple times but the gaze feels different, noticeably so. i also loved that this book has mainly female characters who have meaningful discussions, who hurt and help each other. but in general i felt the book was a bit meandering. it's a good book, for sure, ive annotated it to death, but sometimes it feels so lost in the narrative of 'womanhood is suffering'. like every page, every monologue continues to drive in that idea, it's very repetitive. midoriko's diary entries especially. all her entries revolve around periods and the female body. it felt like the author saw the entries as an easy way to drive in the point of the book. even with this i did that it had very good prose, and i do think it touched on some important topics. we definitely do need books about the lives of women and i did tear up multiple times. i just feel this book was almost there, just a little less monologues. a little more show dont tell. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

3.75

as i grow older, much older, i will experience many things, and i will hit rock bottom again and again. again and again i will suffer; again and again i will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won't let my spirit be destroyed. 

this book is so very definite in its message that is to keep living. there is nothing more important than the attempt, the choice you make every morning to live. 

The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl

reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

one thing i believe this book emphasizes is grayness. no one is truly good, and no one is truly bad. no one religion is truly honest nor is it truly dishonest. true happiness and enlightenment comes from looking outward just as much as it does looking inward. peace does not come to those who are looking for peace but to those who are looking at the entire world for what it is. 

Just Kids by Patti Smith

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

just kids is bleeding with love in every page. there's a deep affection that runs through it, a love undefinable and unending. reading this restores a hope in humanity, the artistic new york scene is filled with people who are kind, loving and imaginative. through all of patti and Robert's struggles, not only did they have each other but also this entire community that was brimming with so much love. even with all the grief, the book is a celebration. in fact, the grief itself is a celebration too, of Robert's life and his art. patti smith does not see death as an ending, but simply as something transformative. and i hope with all my heart that she is right. 

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

truly an important piece of literature. leaves your life fragmented into before giovanni's room and after giovanni's room.

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

2.75

the first two sections were incredibly frustrating and made me want to abandon the book altogether. it was like a mismatch of musings, an unedited first draft. it really picks up in the third section but the essays are still somewhat hit or miss. as much i love mary oliver's poetry, i can't honestly say this collection lives up to her. 

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

this book says what i think most of us forget and it's that science too, is all about love. it's not just the arts. to study something so intensely, to dedicate your life to it, to see your whole world in it, that's love. i also appreciate the exploration of love in a non romantic context; a platonic love, a motherly love, a child's love. truly a lovely read. 

A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.75