luise96's reviews
277 reviews

Alexander von Humboldt und die Erfindung der Natur by Andrea Wulf

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informative medium-paced

4.5

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber

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informative

4.0

Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood by Lucy Jones

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informative

4.0

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

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

4.0

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Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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emotional inspiring reflective 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

3.5

It’s a cute little book like all of the books in this series. However I felt like the writing was a bit clunky at times, maybe something to do with the translation. I think the first book was full of whimsy, which is lacking a bit in the later instalments. Still a nice, short read if you are up to cry and then will a bit happy at the end of each story. 
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Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I met the author at a reading and she was just so lovely. It was interesting to hear some of her thoughts behind the characters and the plot and how she worked. 
I think you can really feel how much the author has grown in her craft since Cleopatra and Frankenstein. The characters felt real and well-rounded and some of the lines were heartbreakingly sad. 
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The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

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

2.5

The book started off a bit slow, then got better and then after like 2/3 it got way worse again. In the beginning I thought this could be an interesting exploration of how humans can combat a common enemy (ever heard of the climate crisis?), but then I felt like that aspect was kind of dropped to explain technical jargon and wild sci-fi ideas (yeah I know this is a sci-fi book).  
The whole book is written sooo slow and I feel like people are just explaining stuff to each other as exposure to show how smart the author is.  I had much higher hopes from the wallfacer project. I’m seriously doubting whether the author ever had a longer conversation with a real-life woman, or if he simply doesn‘t care about women. I couldn’t care less for any of the characters and I honestly forgot all the time about half of them. This felt like a very different book to the first book. 
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The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay

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adventurous reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I have to say this is probably my least favourite book of the series. However I have to acknowledge that it was probably also the hardest because we already kind of know the outcome of many story lines because of ATLA. I am not sure if giving this burden to a new author was the best choice, but really who am I to judge. The pacing was quite slow. Reading from the POV of Sozin kind of reminded me of A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, where we can see the groundwork of a dictator to come. I LOVED seeing Gyatso, while at the same time I was sad every time I thought about his death. I’m still anticipating a possible second book about Roku‘s life. 
I was already seeing Malaya as a future companion or even love interest of Gyatso (what are the rules here for monks btw?). But it was quite clear what would happen as soon as she met Sozin, so the tension was gone for me.
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The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

At first I thought it was just snippets of people‘s stories connected to Gilead in some way (as a bit of a fanservice to fans of the show). I didn’t mind that it was not directly linked to the characters of the first book. After some time a clearer story evolved, which I really liked and felt kind of invested in. The narrators did a beautiful job and the author again did a beautiful job in elaborating on this world. 
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Donnerstags im Café unter den Kirschbäumen by Michiko Aoyama

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lighthearted 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? Yes

2.5

I don‘t know what happened. The first book of the Autor was so sweet and whimsical, this book however felt cliché and cringe at times. I felt like it’s just a bunch of stories trying to find deep meaning where there is none. I am willing to accept that this was about me, maybe I read it too quickly or in the wrong mood but I was very disappointed. Maybe it was just a clunky translation. I mainly finished it, because it was a present and I didn’t want to let the gift giver down.