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matt_and_cheez's Reviews (493)
For a turn-of-the-century work, the themes and actions of the characters were surprisingly progressive. Mansfield presents for the most part strong-willed women who have opinions against the status-quo of that era. What I also enjoyed were the dark turns the stories took, some of them leaving me unsettled and speculative, which I love from a story. That being said, I have a hard time really loving Victorian/Edwardian literature and normally turn away from the short story style. I find myself getting invested and then the story is sadly over. Although the length makes the stories digestible which is a nice reprieve from typical literature of that time.
If you are interested in Greek myth but find them confusing when reading translations, I highly recommend this book. It's an adaptation of the myths, so there are changes and the author's own spin, but the modern-style narrative really hooked me. The audiobook is extremely well-done and kept me immersed the whole time.
An aspect of Circe that I quite enjoyed was the depiction of the gods and titans. Miller really writes them in a way that shows their inhumanity and cruelty. She did a great job characterizing these beings as aloof, petty, jealous, and selfish above all else.
The myth of Circe normally depicts her as a villainous witch who turns men into pigs, creates apocalyptic monsters, and in a way holds Odysseus captive. This novel turns this depiction on its head and tells the story from Circe's perspective. In doing this Miller allows the reader to feel empathetic towards this truly tragic character. We are also made to ask ourselves "what does it mean to be mortal?"
An aspect of Circe that I quite enjoyed was the depiction of the gods and titans. Miller really writes them in a way that shows their inhumanity and cruelty. She did a great job characterizing these beings as aloof, petty, jealous, and selfish above all else.
The myth of Circe normally depicts her as a villainous witch who turns men into pigs, creates apocalyptic monsters, and in a way holds Odysseus captive. This novel turns this depiction on its head and tells the story from Circe's perspective. In doing this Miller allows the reader to feel empathetic towards this truly tragic character. We are also made to ask ourselves "what does it mean to be mortal?"
I'm still deciding if I truly like Faulker's work, but I do enjoy them enough to continue going through his novels. The Unvanquished follows the Satoris family at the end of the Civil War as they flee their home and get involved in a scheme to trick the Yankees to earn money. As usual, Faulkner presents a flawed family dynamic and cuts across stereotypes to write more complicated characters. His stream of consciousness style is a bit challenging to get through, but I find just going with the flow of it helps. The problem I have is I don't feel invested in any character in particular, so it's difficult for me to feel as immersed.
A rare novel that makes me rethink my bias against YA literature. Really a deep look into loneliness and grief, with a family mystery and organic-feeling romance at the center. The queer aspect of the novel also felt natural and not used as a superficial plot device. This novel brought me to tears at one point, bumping my rating up to 5.
When I read children's lit, I try to imagine how I would have felt about it when I was that age. I think I would have enjoyed A Wrinkle In Time back then, but wouldn't have loved it enough to continue the series. What I did enjoy were the whimsical, complex, and at times, scary worlds L'Engle created. The climax was a little contrived and too fast in my opinion, but a fun book overall.
This was a fun read- a woman's quest to hibernate the year away to escape her loneliness with the help of her woo-woo psychiatrist who gives her increasingly powerful drugs. The protagonist finds herself blacking out for days at a time with no memory of the antics she was up to. Sprinkled throughout her journey for sleep are memories of her distant parents who have passed away, as well as a friendship that unravels as the story progresses. The fate of this sub-plot was a little predictable and felt out of place to me, but didn't detract from the enjoyment I got from the story.
Again, another YA novel that makes me question my negative attitude towards that subset of books. Wilder Girls combines fantastical elements with a nature vs. human conflict which unveils the more sinister human vs. human one. Very timely given the current state of the world, as the girls are quarantined on an island after a terrible disease strikes the boarding school. It is dark, gruesome, tragic, and all around a great survival tale.
The more I reflected on this novel, the more I was tempted to downgrade my rating, which I did. This novel follows a group of children who stumble upon a dead body and that mystery still haunts them in present day, when they are in their 50s. We are thrown a few plot twists, and it is thrilling and short enough to finish in one day, but the inspiration from Stephen King's "It" was too glaringly obvious for me. Maybe that wasn't the author's true inspiration, but to me it was a bit much. Really a "meh" read.
Memoirs aren't my favorite genre to get into, but this one has been on my list for a while. This first-hand account of the effects of a diseased brain kept me engaged to finish in one or two sittings. Cahalan being a journalist really gave this account depth and covered all bases. Besides sharing her experience she also exposed yet again the sad state of our mental health care in this country, as well as the stigma still felt by many.