luhos's reviews
206 reviews

Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.5

Reservoir Bitches is a 13 story long short story collection that presents a cross section of womens’ lives in Mexico. Each story is told from the perspective of a different woman, many of whom appear in other stories - one, the heiress to a narco empire; another, her politician’s-daughter-best-friend.  While the women all have different backgrounds, one comes to realise the struggles of all types of women in Mexico. 

I loved reading this book - the voices in all of the stories shared this enthralling quality that I found so refreshing and unique. The tone and the setting of the stories, while sometimes quite sombre, really transport you. Reservoir Bitches felt like a warm summer sunset in a busy foreign city.

If you’re thinking about reading this, definitely check out the content warnings - femicide is a strong theme of many of these stories. For me, it was definitely worth it.

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

dark mysterious 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

5.0

I have to start this review by saying that this book was nothing short of spectacular. On the surface, The Empusium follows a group of young men who, suffering from consumption, have moved to a mountain town in Poland with the intention of recovery. As they go about their lives and their recovery, eating dinner, drinking liquor, walking in the mountains; the story of each of their lives is slowly revealed through the conversations they have. 

This book has so much nuance. The relationships of these men and the roles they play in their relationships; their opinions about the world, and particularly of women; their sickness, and treatment; and of course the ever-lingering horror. Dubbed A Health Resort Horror Story, the horror elements of this story are so insidious that you don’t pay them much attention until the end.

I don’t want to say too much, but what I will say is - read this book. After reading Drive Your Plow at the start of the month and now this, I’m cementing myself in Olga Tokarczuk fanboy territory. If Olga has no fans, then I am DEAD.

WHEN you read this, do yourself a favour, and make sure you read the author’s note for a jaw drop/mic drop moment. Olga’s mind 🤯

Thank you Text Publishing for sending me this ARC, I was so happy to be able to read it during women in translation month! The Empusium is out September 24.

Disoriental by Négar Djavadi

challenging emotional informative slow-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? Yes

3.5

A first-person narrative told by Kimiâ, who alternates between her present day, where she awaits insemination in a fertility clinic, and her family history (even before her birth), growing up in Iran. Disoriental is a family saga that tells of the violent history of Iran and her family's eventual escape into Paris.

This is billed as fiction, but it reads like a memoir; and due to the parallels between Kimiâ and Djevadi's lives, it must be somewhere in the realm of autofiction. This is well written, poetic and personal, albeit a slow, dense read. I enjoyed Kimiâ's story and, as usual, enjoyed learning more about the history of a country that I didn't know that much about.

Your Utopia: stories by Bora Chung

dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

i want to live inside bora chung’s mind

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

dark mysterious reflective slow-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

4.25

this was so, so good! brilliantly written and translated, with strong characterisation, a moody setting and a compelling story. i was thoroughly entertained throughout and was refreshed by the less-typical older woman protagonist. i really enjoyed this and i’m excited to read more of Tokarczuk’s work. 

Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

this was incredible. relatively short but it did so much. the characters were so intentional and showed a diversity of thoughts and feelings in women, especially surrounding motherhood. 

Grey Dog by Elliott Gish

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

It’s 1901 and Ada Byrd arrives as the teacher in a new town. She is haunted by events of her past and is eager to assimilate, however, strange occurrences keep her on edge as she begins to learn more about the true nature of the town and its inhabitants. 

This was an incredibly slow burn, a bit too slow for me, I think. It did seem to be heading in a particular direction but ultimately pivoted to something else entirely and I was pleasantly surprised by the true horror of how the story unfolded. Truly feminist historical horror.

Bad Habit by Alana S. Portero

dark emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

this was so sad and beautiful. bad habit is a coming of age story for a nameless narrator, a trans woman, as she finds her way and her place in the world growing up in madrid in the 90s. there are so many beautiful quotes in this book, if i was one to highlight then the whole book would have been done

Boulder by Eva Baltasar

dark 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

4.5

this was so introspective and so beautifully written. definitely the sort of book that is for me

Permafrost by Eva Baltasar

dark funny 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

3.75

told through a series of non-chronological vignettes, the protagonist muses on a lot of different times of her life, on sex, suicide, family, trauma. this was so sharp, dark, but also somehow funny? really enjoyed it.