maiathemagical's reviews
29 reviews

Sunstone, Vol. 2 by Stjepan Šejić

4.0

My thoughts on vol. 2 of Sunstone are largely the same as the first volume, but it gets an extra half star for (in my opinion) having a slightly better plot overall.

Sunstone, Vol. 1 by Stjepan Šejić

3.5

Chronically online lesbians navigate sexuality and romance. Well-drawn and well-paced, only hampered by Sejic's sometimes unnatural dialogue.

For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed the explorations of the two very different individuals of Julian and Margery, and this book contained a substantial amount of really rather moving meditation on religion, loss, and love, especially from Julian

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

5.0

This is the best piece of fiction I have read in a very long time. Read this book. I don't need to tell you what it's about, or what it does well, and frankly I'm not even sure I could put it into words in a way that would do Zevin's writing justice - just trust me, and see for yourself.

Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

An interesting meditation on dying, on memory, on how we construct views of the world and of other people. The medium of film is used within the narrative to lead us towards the consideration of what's real and what's not, explicitly through the idea of re-cutting a film, of editing out things to produce a certain vignette of a person - in a sense that's what we're all doing, all the time, and Goodbye, Eri does a good job of highlighting that aspect of existing as a human being, with all the mental schema and post-event reprocessing that that includes. An ambiguous ending that serves to reinforce its core themes and gives the reader something to chew on tops off this short but thought-provoking journey through life and death.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

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

3.5

I don't know quite what to say about Normal People. I was, as many people were, disappointed by the ending - not in a huge "Oh, you've fucked it all up!" way, but more "Oh. Right then. I guess that's it". I felt as though Rooney could have written that last page rather differently, even if it were to come to the same conclusion, and the novel would have been better for it.

And yet, the raw emotive power of her writing -always but especially within the first and last fifty or so - totally captivated me. She had a way of making me feel exactly what Connell and Marianne were feeling, and her writing style - utilitarian yet descriptive when necessary, especially of internal states - was a huge contributor to that.

I think ultimately I am glad that I read Normal People (thanks Lily), and I would recommend it, despite its mediocre ending and a feeling that it dragged just a little towards the middle of the story. The feelings are just too good to pass up on.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

honestly I really like Alice in Wonderland but in this reading I lost momentum and got bored of it. Will probably try to come back soon.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

4.0

What an interesting, strange experience of a novel. Winterson blends her fantasy short stories into her semi-autobiographical main narrative in a lovely way. I found the way that she retold the same stories several times with different characters/settings much, much more well done than in The Stone Gods. I found Winterson's descriptions of life possible to relate to, despite having had quite significantly different experiences to her. I would recommend this book to almost anyone.

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

2.5

Carter has some interesting things to say, which she pursues through fairytale metaphor with all the finesse and subtlety of a blunderbuss. I suppose it's pretty much impossible to miss the themes she presents when they're being shoved down your throat this hard, but it does limit the enjoyment of reading. 
I also find her obsession with puberty and the number of stories about young women having sex with animals and old men pretty unpleasant, and not necessarily in a way that made me think particularly hard about anything beyond 'oh, that's really weird, Angela'. I quite enjoyed The Lady of the House of Love, and to an extent The Werewolf, but that was about it.
Would this book have been more poignant and prompted more thought if I'd read it 40 years ago? Maybe. But as it stands I actually found Carter's stories quite shallow beyond their shock value.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Not a perfect book, and its age certainly shows, especially to someone who is sort of on the edge of Christianity. Nonetheless, The Screwtape Letters contains many gems of spiritual and practical insight, and thinking of the emotional trials of life as personified by Wormwood and Screwtape has been a useful tool for me while reading this book.