mishjordn's reviews
31 reviews

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Maybe the translation of the book got lost on me, but it was just okay. I did not feel the characters had made that much of an impact to “change” each other in the end. Definitely reads as YA.

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

dark lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

witty and colorful writing, def wasn’t a style i’ve read before. I didn’t find the book “laugh out loud” funny, but I saw it as the main character way of hiding behind her trauma and felt that it suited the book. All the weird characters and descriptions of the town and how it fit back into the main plot was really satisfying to read. This book having a different perspective on how we identify with and process trauma is enlightening.  Overall this was a fun read, while also made me introspective.

First Love by Ivan Turgenev

dark inspiring medium-paced

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

3.5

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

beautiful prose; heartbreaking immigrant story felt overshadowed the body horror. Book did shock me but not as much as I’d like to be.

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

heartbreaking

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

refreshing to see a self-destructive protagonist. she was so alarmingly relatable which is scary. I feel that this book could have been shorter but the last page was a perfect ending

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

dark inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.0

It was a short read, but a slow one. It felt like the moral of the story was kind of religious. Enjoyed the message, but I don’t know if I would read again

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

i couldn’t get past the format of the book, found it a little pretentious. also for such a difficult topic, i didn’t find much heart in this. even as an asian american, it felt like this book wasn’t meant for me to read. i didn’t like it very much for how much i read, but maybe it wasn’t for me anyway.

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Ma’s stories felt like prose without becoming pretentious. I felt that she was able to describe feelings that I could never put words to as an immigrant and as an asian woman. There were several times I felt confused with the stories, but the feelings they emoted compensated for it. My favorite stories were Yeti Lovemaking, G, and Peking Duck as they resonated with me the most. I love Ma’s writing and I’m excited to explore more of her work.