marianneiriss's reviews
181 reviews

Queer by William S. Burroughs

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

bizarre in every way but i kind of loved it all the same

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Excrement

Medea by Euripides

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Classism

Euripides: Hecuba by Euripides

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

euripides never misses. always here for a play about a scary lady in a horrible situation!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexism, Slavery, Grief, Murder, and War

Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh
Did not finish book.

I don’t generally read short stories but I thought I’d try these as everyone seems to love them, got about half way through and I still wasn’t enjoying it enough to continue reading despite the  slightly unnecessary amount of graphic stuff - would’ve carried on if the graphic descriptions had been relevant and/or the stories interesting but I found the style irritating overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee

informative slow-paced

3.0

interesting, especially the first half, but the second half dragged a bit. felt that the point could’ve been explained with less repetition/circularity in a lot of the chapters, but i did already know a lot about it so not sure if that’s why. probably better suited to someone who hasn’t read anything about gene technology before! still some interesting insights though, but as an austitic person i didn’t appreciate how the somewhat ableist and frankly very outdated way that author refers to autism in the chapters on using genetics to cure disorders.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean

funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

really interesting, learnt a lot of fun facts from it. a good light non-fiction read, quite amusing at times too

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical content, and War

Origin by Dan Brown

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Troy by Stephen Fry

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail