mili_starling's reviews
49 reviews

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. 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional 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

5.0

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James

4.0

The Keys to Kindness by Claudia Hammond

3.0

Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

challenging dark emotional informative relaxing sad 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

4.25

What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

A cozy and enjoyable series of 5 short stories all about finding a new direction when life doesn’t go to plan. 

Love the closeness of the local community and the opportunities they gave each other.