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miffybooks's reviews
36 reviews
The Fifth Woman by Nona Caspers
2.0
Okay, I just finished this book this morning and I think the highest praise I can give this book is that it didn't suck NEARLY as much as I thought it would based off of the first few chapters. The speaker has this really consistent observational tone which is so annoying sometimes because you sort of get bombarded with lots of sentences like "The room was warm." or "I felt sad." where all she's doing is describing things as literally as possible. It gets really grating and despite the short length of each chapter, there's a lot of times where I feel like I'm just fighting to get to the next part.
This tone really works in the super surreal scenes and the scenes where there is a really captivating central object. Like, hearing her describe a snowstorm flooding her apartment in the most mundane and casual way is really genuinely engaging in a way that a lot of the other scenes aren't. Also the chapter with the gun, or her meeting her dead childhood friends were also really big standouts!
My biggest issue with this book is that with almost every line being direct description, the overall metaphor of a lot of the chapters gets really vague by the end of the section. Grief is such an abstract concept that its meaning gets lost by almost exclusively describing it through really literal language. There are definitely exceptions to this, like in the titular chapter or in my personal favorite, "The Letter." Maybe I'm just stupid but there were so many chapters were I was like what is the point of this! I could sort of get hints of where she's going but lots of these ideas felt really incomplete.
This book definitely grew on me as I got deeper in, and it was short enough that I felt like I could give it my full attention, but a lot of this felt like rough drafts that didn't quite say enough. It had some legitimately beautiful moments but I just didn't think it was all too great.
This tone really works in the super surreal scenes and the scenes where there is a really captivating central object. Like, hearing her describe a snowstorm flooding her apartment in the most mundane and casual way is really genuinely engaging in a way that a lot of the other scenes aren't. Also the chapter with the gun, or her meeting her dead childhood friends were also really big standouts!
My biggest issue with this book is that with almost every line being direct description, the overall metaphor of a lot of the chapters gets really vague by the end of the section. Grief is such an abstract concept that its meaning gets lost by almost exclusively describing it through really literal language. There are definitely exceptions to this, like in the titular chapter or in my personal favorite, "The Letter." Maybe I'm just stupid but there were so many chapters were I was like what is the point of this! I could sort of get hints of where she's going but lots of these ideas felt really incomplete.
This book definitely grew on me as I got deeper in, and it was short enough that I felt like I could give it my full attention, but a lot of this felt like rough drafts that didn't quite say enough. It had some legitimately beautiful moments but I just didn't think it was all too great.
The Dinner by Herman Koch
4.0
This book really doesnt seem miffybooks bunny profile pic core but phew I loved it
What a twisted fucking book oh my god! I am so blown away by how Herman Koch develops Paul's character. It starts with him coming off as just a grumpy, upper-class complainer and through the course of the book you slowly realize he's more and more unhinged. The progression of his character is so subtle! There are so many times where I was like "how could he think that! that doesn't make sense at all!" but by the end of the book, everything Paul does, as well as the effect he has on his family, makes perfect sense.
This book is incredible at building suspense. Just like with Paul's character, the events and details in the story start incredibly mundane, but there's constant, ever so slight escalation after every page. Every time I sat down to read this I found it so hard to put down which is a feeling I wish I felt more with books. By the end, I felt chills in the best way possible, like discomfort had slowly crept up on me and I only realized the feeling once I closed the book.
Other than a few moments where the organization got confusing, I didn't have many complaints with this. I thought the characters were super well constructed, even if all of them were incredibly (and intentionally!) unlikeable. I thought this was great! And hopefully not a foreshadowing of what the people of Amsterdam are like...
What a twisted fucking book oh my god! I am so blown away by how Herman Koch develops Paul's character. It starts with him coming off as just a grumpy, upper-class complainer and through the course of the book you slowly realize he's more and more unhinged. The progression of his character is so subtle! There are so many times where I was like "how could he think that! that doesn't make sense at all!" but by the end of the book, everything Paul does, as well as the effect he has on his family, makes perfect sense.
This book is incredible at building suspense. Just like with Paul's character, the events and details in the story start incredibly mundane, but there's constant, ever so slight escalation after every page. Every time I sat down to read this I found it so hard to put down which is a feeling I wish I felt more with books. By the end, I felt chills in the best way possible, like discomfort had slowly crept up on me and I only realized the feeling once I closed the book.
Other than a few moments where the organization got confusing, I didn't have many complaints with this. I thought the characters were super well constructed, even if all of them were incredibly (and intentionally!) unlikeable. I thought this was great! And hopefully not a foreshadowing of what the people of Amsterdam are like...
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
4.0
this one was so fun! i needed smth light after spending so much time on Lila n this totally scratched that itch for me. the first half of the book is the real highlight, Patricia's introduction in particular is so adorable. the second half of the book carries the rlly casual humor from the beginning but also tries to integrate more philosophical questions which sometimes work really well but other times they feel a little underdeveloped. the plot in general gets kind of disorganized near the end but it never gets to like an unreadable level yk like its fine
but ya! i read this one so quickly i loved the two main characters and never really knew what was gonna happen next. there was a great amount of stakes the whole time n clever twists so the book never really lost momentum. would recommend! also some ppl think this is a YA novel? bcs the characters are kids for half of it but its most def not so j letting u know ok bye!
but ya! i read this one so quickly i loved the two main characters and never really knew what was gonna happen next. there was a great amount of stakes the whole time n clever twists so the book never really lost momentum. would recommend! also some ppl think this is a YA novel? bcs the characters are kids for half of it but its most def not so j letting u know ok bye!
The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida
3.0
read this in basically one sitting on the plane! its a really easy read n goes by fast because its a super straightforward plot n has a lot of humor so that part was cool! i dont rlly have much to say other than this book was just a rlly pleasant way to pass time so i would recommend yay
Wild Milk by Sabrina Orah Mark
5.0
oh my god!! every so often i find pieces of art that makes me feel so happy in ways that i find impossible to articulate. this book belongs in that very small list of special art. every story is written with such nonsencial, absurd images that are delivered with such an assured tone that its so easy to just go along with it all, even when it makes no real sense. theres such a love for the simple way words sound in a sentence together that brings out the humor and poignancy in this book. recently, ive been thinking a lot about art that unapologetically wont explain itself and i think theres a lot of power in the author choosing to hold meaning just for themselves
sure there are a few misses, and one story that felt a little triggering for me (youll know the one) but im still giving thsi 5 stars. beautiful beautiful book, benny should read this.
sure there are a few misses, and one story that felt a little triggering for me (youll know the one) but im still giving thsi 5 stars. beautiful beautiful book, benny should read this.
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
5.0
finally finished it!! was very fun to annotate almost every page and im really excited to send it to meo. there are definitely a few points throughout that lose me a little, but overall it has probably the most precise writing and richest first-person voice that ive ever read. i cannot even begin to imagine being able to write like marilynne robinson.
i think i actually prefer lila more, but both books are just astoundingly well written. cannot recommend both books enough!
i think i actually prefer lila more, but both books are just astoundingly well written. cannot recommend both books enough!