lrb0135's reviews
87 reviews

Liars by Sarah Manguso

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I read this all in one 4-hour sitting, which says something about this book. It was validating to see a heterosexual relationship just like mine through a stark and unforgiving feminist lens. If you want something to seethe about, this book is it. On the flip side-- it's not very complex. Reading this on the heels of Olive Kitteridge, not to mention working through my own marital squabbles, I could see that only one side of the story was ever presented in the text, with no nuance or complexity. It was black and white--which is not usually the case for relationships and communication.

If you feel like feministically raging, this is the book for you.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

4+ stars because Strout is obviously a talented writer. I loved the vignette with the subtle, yet eye-opening denouement. I can't bring myself to give it a 5 because of my personal bias against short stories and prose. However Strout's style is compelling enough for me to continue following her career. Can't wait to dive into some of her longform prose.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Throughout the novel, my stomach was doing flips waiting for the other shoe to drop on Tess. I didn't know the specifics, but I knew it wasn't going to be good for her. I found myself pleased with her actions in the end.

Hardy's treatment of women based on Tess is a mixed bag-- the women in the novel who aren't Tess are all basket cases, or in Mrs. Clare's case, an extension of her husband. I understand the time in which Tess was written may have warranted it, but in the first act, the narrator tries so hard to get us to sympathize with Tess that I'm not sure who Hardy was trying to convince. Us or himself?

Much of the language surrounding Tess and her actions made it seem like Tess was a passive actor in her own life with very little agency or independent thought. The book is a progressive for its time, but I wouldn't go in expecting a flattering portrait of women. Even Hardy's narrator's progressivism is a specimen of its time.

With that, I'm stoked that Tess got hers in toward the end before she peaced out. Worth the read.

Outline by Rachel Cusk

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I had to stew on this for a while after I read the book. It's packed with a lot of important, but subtly revealed information, giving us a faint "outline" of a narrator.

Some passages were so excellent, I had to sit and digest them for a while before continuing reading-- the biggest being when the narrator/protagonist recalls her infant sons dropping things from their chair. Cusk really has a way of squeezing fresh juice out of a small moment.

Perhaps I'll find out why once I read them, which I plan to, but I don't see a reason why the whole Outline trilogy couldn't just be one book. Outline itself didn't end on a cliff hanger per se, but felt like an incomplete thought. Either way, I'm looking forward to finding out.

Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

2.75

I enjoyed this fresh, fun way of exploring themes of economic disparity and special-power-girlness. The "magic" system was way too complicated, and I found myself skimming a lot. I'm still not sure how the world building works, but I knew enough to at least understand and finish the book.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book through and through. It lived up to all the review-hype that I had seen before reading it. The only thing that kept it from being a 5 was that the flashback/subplots of the protagonist's childhood didn't always serve the main plot in any meaningful way--not that it shouldn't be there, but it could have been connected to the main story more meaningfully.

The Age of Innocence (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) by Edith Wharton

challenging emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I love the way Wharton writes the main characters as always having 2 conversations simultaneously. Some of the passages are just hilarious too. Going in blind, I felt that the ending threw me off a cliff, but after reflecting on it for a moment, I felt that the ending was the right one; my heart was truly warmed by it. Had me thinking a lot about tradition vs modernity in terms of personal affairs and the advantages/disadvantages of both.

Funny Story by Emily Henry

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

I've read all of Emily Henry's previous books. This one is one of the better ones. I devoured it in one day.

Trauma-driven plot is clearly Henry's MO, and she's sticking to it. But Funny Story doesn't lean as desperately into it as her other books. Additionally, spotlighting characters that aren't Nancy-Meyers-wealthy was a boon to the novel; it's harder to become engrossed in a romance novel set in the modern day when all the characters can afford beach houses or own cabins and acreage in the Midwest, so Daphne and Miles were a breath of fresh air in that regard.

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

medium-paced

2.75

Kudos to this book for being well organized, but I'm not sure it taught me anything that I didn't already know about cults. This was very survey-level overview of how cults work.

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

informative medium-paced

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

4.0

From a literary standpoint, The Lady of the Rivers was okay. The wheel of fortune through-line was clever, although we're beaten over the head with it. But I have to judge the book on its own merits-- the point is to recount history in an interesting way. I certainly had fun gobbling this book up and learning about post-medieval historical figures as book characters. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to do some light reading while also learning at the same time. I look forward to picking up another one of the author's books when I'm ready for another summer read.