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mejisilliterate's reviews
61 reviews
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
Overall: got more interesting towards the end. Love interests were boring af, she should’ve gotten with nehemia.
Also, note I made while reading:
Ok I refrain from commenting on sjm’s consistent borrowing of Irish culture in all of her books because I can’t be bothered to write a whole paragraph about something that’s generally just whatever. But, genuinely, she took Samhain, renamed it probably because she didn’t know how to pronounce it, and put it in this book. What??? It’s especially ridiculous and just the eensiest bit offensive to make it a holiday in the *colonizer* country….like consider the real life history a little bit and maybe don’t? Do? That?
At the end of the day I really don’t care that much, I’m just miffed that fantasy authors sometimes just swing and miss with real-life heritage and cultural influences.
Also, note I made while reading:
Ok I refrain from commenting on sjm’s consistent borrowing of Irish culture in all of her books because I can’t be bothered to write a whole paragraph about something that’s generally just whatever. But, genuinely, she took Samhain, renamed it probably because she didn’t know how to pronounce it, and put it in this book. What??? It’s especially ridiculous and just the eensiest bit offensive to make it a holiday in the *colonizer* country….like consider the real life history a little bit and maybe don’t? Do? That?
At the end of the day I really don’t care that much, I’m just miffed that fantasy authors sometimes just swing and miss with real-life heritage and cultural influences.
Penance by Eliza Clark
2.0
Clap if you care - Wendy Williams
So I actually didn’t finish this book but who cares I got a good amount into it so I’m putting this on here and reviewing.
Probably would have been more interesting if, ironically, I liked true crime. But I hate it. So the novel was really doing nothing except vindicating me — except first I had to read 200+ pages about a horrific crime in the perspective of the very genre I hate. Lovely!
Also I don’t give a shit about tumblr sorry. Now if we were to get into 2010’s YouTube, particularly the British YouTuber gang…..now we’re talking.
So I actually didn’t finish this book but who cares I got a good amount into it so I’m putting this on here and reviewing.
Probably would have been more interesting if, ironically, I liked true crime. But I hate it. So the novel was really doing nothing except vindicating me — except first I had to read 200+ pages about a horrific crime in the perspective of the very genre I hate. Lovely!
Also I don’t give a shit about tumblr sorry. Now if we were to get into 2010’s YouTube, particularly the British YouTuber gang…..now we’re talking.
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
3.75
this was really damn heart-warming.
The revelations about ‘other-centred’ and the web of people in your life really resonated with me. It felt fresh, so universal, and yet so deeply personal to the author.
I love when romance books become so much more than romance books. They have such a unique perspective on love; not just romantic love, but platonic, familial, sexual, etc, love. In English we have just one word for love, and it gets so muddied down. Same with romance books: call something a ‘romance’ and suddenly it becomes one-dimensional, unworthy of critical thought. This book simply cannot be conflated with those romance books that are written for smut and toxic relationships. This book offers up meaningful insights and comments on life. This book is proud to call itself a love story, and it triumphantly displays all those little, ignored forms of love that ultimately are what make us human.
This book had its flaws. But I’m happy to read through flaws when there is something beautiful being told.
(Also, gotta mention it sorry, this book had INCREDIBLE tension. Like, I’m not gonna get into specifics of what was going with me physiologically when reading but……just know……it was cray)
The revelations about ‘other-centred’ and the web of people in your life really resonated with me. It felt fresh, so universal, and yet so deeply personal to the author.
I love when romance books become so much more than romance books. They have such a unique perspective on love; not just romantic love, but platonic, familial, sexual, etc, love. In English we have just one word for love, and it gets so muddied down. Same with romance books: call something a ‘romance’ and suddenly it becomes one-dimensional, unworthy of critical thought. This book simply cannot be conflated with those romance books that are written for smut and toxic relationships. This book offers up meaningful insights and comments on life. This book is proud to call itself a love story, and it triumphantly displays all those little, ignored forms of love that ultimately are what make us human.
This book had its flaws. But I’m happy to read through flaws when there is something beautiful being told.
(Also, gotta mention it sorry, this book had INCREDIBLE tension. Like, I’m not gonna get into specifics of what was going with me physiologically when reading but……just know……it was cray)
Persuasion by Jane Austen
5.0
Deeply moving. Melancholy, but the comedy Austen has is still there. Beautiful depictions of nature which are little seen in her other works. And the love is hardy and tried, which ultimately makes it ever more true.
The White Album by Joan Didion
2.0
Well the good news is I’m not as pretentious as I thought I was; sorry to all the cool people out there who love Joan didion but what the hell this was so boring.
I think this books target demographic is: people who like to read about someone discussing the most dull niches possible (ie a whole section on the la water system, yippee!), people who are from la in the 70s and know who Jim Morrison is and why him and his no underwear is so interesting, sadists, people who like such an apathetic tone it goes past even comedy, people who know what Episcopalian means, and people who know the intricacies of Manson-era Californian culture. Have I left anyone out?
Joan Didion is the original namedropper, change my mind.
Someone get me some high fantasy fairy shit I need to cleanse my palate.
I think this books target demographic is: people who like to read about someone discussing the most dull niches possible (ie a whole section on the la water system, yippee!), people who are from la in the 70s and know who Jim Morrison is and why him and his no underwear is so interesting, sadists, people who like such an apathetic tone it goes past even comedy, people who know what Episcopalian means, and people who know the intricacies of Manson-era Californian culture. Have I left anyone out?
Joan Didion is the original namedropper, change my mind.
Someone get me some high fantasy fairy shit I need to cleanse my palate.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
5.0
A fucking long book where I got 400 pages in and didn’t even realize.
This book along with the glass castle and tons of YouTube documentaries about the hill people of Appalachia have recently captured me like nothing else. The absolutely stunning scenery of Appalachia as a backdrop to the generational social issues is just so beautiful and saddening.
This book along with the glass castle and tons of YouTube documentaries about the hill people of Appalachia have recently captured me like nothing else. The absolutely stunning scenery of Appalachia as a backdrop to the generational social issues is just so beautiful and saddening.
Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou
Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.
Suffered from a lot of the same problems as Legendborn. Better pacing though. I’m just gonna stop trying to read YA books from now on, because these books arent even bad, they just aren’t targeted towards me.
After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz
3.75
“A poet is someone who stands on the door sill and sees the room before her as a sea whose waves she might dive through. Lina took her breath in and then strode into the crowd, the shoals of jutting shoulders, the swelling of conversations and the sweep of skirts all around her; finally arriving at Sibilla, she exhaled, triumphant. At the rush of breath on the back of her neck, Sibilla turned, and there was Lina with her eyes molten. A poet is someone who swims inexplicably away from shore, only to arrive at an island of her own invention.” (29)
The prose of this book is delicious and stunning. The extended metaphors became a guide post and touchstone for me amidst the complex narratives of the novel. I generally don’t fixate on fully understanding the page when I read books such as these. I more look at the tone and intention of the author, which I found was a great way to read this, as trying to catalogue the entire cast of characters and all events would be frustrating and confusing.
I want to say that I found the book to have no real direction for at least the middle hundred pages, and that I wish some parts were shorter to increase my pleasure, but I also realize that asking a book about the lives of women to cut out some parts of the lives of women is stupid.
So I’m not sure what to rate it, all in all. But I believe Schwartz’s experimentalism was, for the most part, successful. The episodes weaved together to create a Greek tapestry, on par with Arachne (wink).
The prose of this book is delicious and stunning. The extended metaphors became a guide post and touchstone for me amidst the complex narratives of the novel. I generally don’t fixate on fully understanding the page when I read books such as these. I more look at the tone and intention of the author, which I found was a great way to read this, as trying to catalogue the entire cast of characters and all events would be frustrating and confusing.
I want to say that I found the book to have no real direction for at least the middle hundred pages, and that I wish some parts were shorter to increase my pleasure, but I also realize that asking a book about the lives of women to cut out some parts of the lives of women is stupid.
So I’m not sure what to rate it, all in all. But I believe Schwartz’s experimentalism was, for the most part, successful. The episodes weaved together to create a Greek tapestry, on par with Arachne (wink).
Wildfire by Hannah Grace
You cannot name a male character Kris and expect me to not imagine Kris Jenner the whole time