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marianneiriss's reviews
181 reviews
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A quick and light (despite the premise of the book - main character’s sister keeps killing boyfriends, she keeps having to clean up the mess…) read, enjoyable but I did expect a bit more in terms of plot development and characterisation. I loved the idea of this book, but it fell a bit flat for me - I would have liked just a bit more substance in general to the whole book. There are some great characters set up at the start, but the opportunities to develop their complexity are missed. However, I did love the flashbacks to the main character’s childhood, and the subplot that this brought to the book - this did add another layer which I enjoyed. Overall a very solid 3/5 stars - enjoyable but probably won’t reread.
Undoctored: The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients by Adam Kay
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I sat down and read Undoctored over the course of one day. Having read This Is Going To Hurt and Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas, I was expecting another round of hilarious, albeit at times distasteful, anecdotes about life on the labour ward.
However, the further into Undoctored that I read, the more I realised that my expectations had been exceeded. This is definitely my favourite of Adam Kay's books so far - whilst I found the other two amusing, and as a medical student reading them is rather a rite of passage, there are only so many jokes about objects found in orifices that can be made before you start to expect the punchline. In contrast, Undoctored is much less about the patients, and much more about the doctor, something which made this a much more hard-hitting read than the light-hearted comedy I had expected.
In a series of flashbacks to medical school, life as a junior doctor, and excerpts from his life immediately after leaving medicine, Kay explores the culture of silence around mental health struggles and burnout, the normalisation of emotionally distancing oneself from patients, loved ones, and even your own emotions, and the issues surrounding medical recruitment and training. Alongside this, there are raw discussions about how Kay's own recovery from the toll medicine took on him, even after he left to become a writer. Discussing important and deeply personal subjects such as eating disorders and sexual assault in males and coming out as gay later in life, I though these chapters were particularly well-written: whilst by no means amusing in the same way as his previous books, Undoctored is a fantastic book which reveals the human behind both the stethoscope and the mic on stage.
However, the further into Undoctored that I read, the more I realised that my expectations had been exceeded. This is definitely my favourite of Adam Kay's books so far - whilst I found the other two amusing, and as a medical student reading them is rather a rite of passage, there are only so many jokes about objects found in orifices that can be made before you start to expect the punchline. In contrast, Undoctored is much less about the patients, and much more about the doctor, something which made this a much more hard-hitting read than the light-hearted comedy I had expected.
In a series of flashbacks to medical school, life as a junior doctor, and excerpts from his life immediately after leaving medicine, Kay explores the culture of silence around mental health struggles and burnout, the normalisation of emotionally distancing oneself from patients, loved ones, and even your own emotions, and the issues surrounding medical recruitment and training. Alongside this, there are raw discussions about how Kay's own recovery from the toll medicine took on him, even after he left to become a writer. Discussing important and deeply personal subjects such as eating disorders and sexual assault in males and coming out as gay later in life, I though these chapters were particularly well-written: whilst by no means amusing in the same way as his previous books, Undoctored is a fantastic book which reveals the human behind both the stethoscope and the mic on stage.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
If We Were Villains had been recommended to me by approximately every other person I've met over the past year, so I finally succumbed to peer pressure and read it. I will be honest and say that I didn't have high hopes for it - I've read several other "read this if you enjoyed The Secret History" recommendations and been disappointed (the expectation of another underwhelming read was partially why it took me so long to get around to reading IWWV when everyone was raving about it last year!)
Having read it in two days, I can now say I was wrong to expect so little (as shown by my 5 star rating), and although I will stand by my original opinion that IWWV is not The Secret History version 2.0, M. L. Rio never claimed it was! It's not really fair to use a cult classic as a yardstick to measure all other books set in a similar world against: IWWV is a clever and well-written book in its own right.
Looking back a decade to his time as a student of the drama college of a prestigious liberal arts school, the narrator recalls his memories and the differing versions of events which his friends told at the time of a traumatic - and eventually criminal- event. Drawing from a range of plays and sonnets, M.L. Rio has stitched together a drama within a drama, with the characters of Shakespeare merging into the lives of the play's actors. As might be expected given that the play being performed at the time is Julius Caesar, a tragedy results. With unreliable alibis, lots of drink, drugs, and fuzzy memories, the threat of a prison sentence hanging over them, the narrator portrays his friendship group at the time they were about to unravel with devastating results.
Having read it in two days, I can now say I was wrong to expect so little (as shown by my 5 star rating), and although I will stand by my original opinion that IWWV is not The Secret History version 2.0, M. L. Rio never claimed it was! It's not really fair to use a cult classic as a yardstick to measure all other books set in a similar world against: IWWV is a clever and well-written book in its own right.
Looking back a decade to his time as a student of the drama college of a prestigious liberal arts school, the narrator recalls his memories and the differing versions of events which his friends told at the time of a traumatic - and eventually criminal- event. Drawing from a range of plays and sonnets, M.L. Rio has stitched together a drama within a drama, with the characters of Shakespeare merging into the lives of the play's actors. As might be expected given that the play being performed at the time is Julius Caesar, a tragedy results. With unreliable alibis, lots of drink, drugs, and fuzzy memories, the threat of a prison sentence hanging over them, the narrator portrays his friendship group at the time they were about to unravel with devastating results.
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Me? Reading spy fiction? What a shock!
I didn't realise this was satire until I started reading it, so that was a bit of a surprise for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless once I had adjusted my expectations. I thought the characterisation and descriptions of Havana were fantastic, but I felt that the plot was a little lacking - hence the three stars. Enjoyed, but probably won't reread!
I didn't realise this was satire until I started reading it, so that was a bit of a surprise for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless once I had adjusted my expectations. I thought the characterisation and descriptions of Havana were fantastic, but I felt that the plot was a little lacking - hence the three stars. Enjoyed, but probably won't reread!
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0