mili_starling's reviews
45 reviews

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Three Fires: A Novel by Denise Mina

3.0

Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, 川口 俊和

4.0

The Boat by Nam Le

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

Medusa [Illustrated Gift Edition] by Jessie Burton

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The Pear Field by Nana Ekvtimishvili

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Unnatural Causes: The Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist by Richard Shepherd

dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Understory by Saneh Sangsuk

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This compelling story is written in a way that reflects the old traditions of oral storytelling. There are very few paragraphs, making it hard to find any easy stopping points. The story is full of contrast with prose describing the jungle against the graphically harsh depictions of the reality of living so closely entwined with the natural world. The narrator, at 93 years old,  looks back on his struggle-filled relationship with the jungle, caught between being a ‘child of the jungle’ and adapting to a more modern agricultural lifestyle.