luhos's reviews
220 reviews

On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

this was sooooo good. philosophical, existential. on the calculation of volume I takes a familiar trope - one character waking to the same day over and over, stuck in a loop - but places it under a unique lens. i loved the subtlety of this, how it looks at love, relationships, and existence. i can’t wait to read the others.

Eurotrash by Christian Kracht

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

kind of meandering at times but also funny, absurd. it felt like a wes anderson movie. and the ending… kinda took me out. 

Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami

adventurous reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

speculative fiction set in a future where humans are almost extinct. it exists somewhere between a novel and short stories, which was an interesting format to read. it’s also got this subtlety to it- it feels kind of cosy, at times? 

at first when i started reading this i was kind of like “what’s going on?” but you start to piece it together as more is revealed to you, bit by bit. 

many aspects of society are stripped away by the survivors, and it’s done intentionally to really sort of highlight some of the key features of humanity. it also weaves these ideas of evolution and genetic isolation in, which i thought was done quite well. 

overall i really enjoyed this and i think it would benefit from a second read some time. 

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

"And yet, for whatever reason, they never seemed to find what they were looking for."

Perfection is about Tom and Anna, who are from an unnamed European country, but have moved to Berlin as young, working adults, full of hope and idealism about their lives and their journey. However, as time goes on, Tom and Anna succumb to a very specific and particular brand of millennial ennui. They want for their lives to have meaning, but nothing around them is giving quite enough. They're torn between wanting to do good, to be good, and to have good things. As the nihilism creeps into them, so too does it to the city. 

I'm basically the same age as Tom and Anna, and while my life is very different, at the core of it, their experience is a somewhat universal one. This book is short and quick, but has left quite an impression on me; it gives hope, but simultaneously takes it away.

"Back in the day, looking at images like those and knowing how frustrated and unhappy they had been when they took them made them feel ashamed, deficient, as if the reality presented in the photos should somehow be capable of triumphing over how they really felt, and that their inability to enjoy such a desirable life revealed a flaw in their character. They had outgrown this insecurity. Now those images just seemed like a con."

Into a Star by Puk Qvortrup

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.5

beautiful, sad, realistic, hopeful. this is autofiction done right.

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

this was just mildly interesting from start to finish 

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

it was certainly illuminating to hear the story of the origins of the US opioid epidemic, laid out so matter-of-factly. this is well researched and well presented, and 100% horrifying. after a bit of a slow start, lingering on the original rich sackler and his personal affairs, this really got going into how one family made their incredibly vast fortune on the suffering of others. every sentence in this book was more shocking than the one before it, yet somehow i am left completely unsurprised by everything i read. it really just highlights how systemic the immorality of capitalism is in the united states - rich people first, everyone else later.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

adventurous inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

this was so much fun. the premise of Project Hail Mary is so creative and it was really interesting to read all of the problems and solutions from a scientific perspective in this sort of “what if” scenario. the only thing about it that irked me was that the protagonist’s tone of thinking, as well as dialogue between anyone, could be kinda cringe. 

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

Dinan is just so good at writing and exploring messy characters and relationships. It’s a mix of many things, including the trans experience of Max, the MC, and the queer experience in general, what it’s like for queer people in the face of traditional, cishet experiences like marriage, children. It’s nice to read something where it isn’t so straightforward, and not everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow, because that’s how life is. A very personal (to me) opinion is that I wish this were longer and spent a bit more time developing some of the characterisation, as it felt a little smack-you-in-the-face-with-it, forgoing nuance in favour of brevity. 

Something I continue to love about Dinan’s writing is that she says something wonderful and profound in one sentence and the next is quite a funny spit-your-drink-out one-liner; it catches you by surprise and makes for a fun reading experience.

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0