mkm95's reviews
7 reviews

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.75

I would first like to say, whoever read this and their first thought was "funny"... I want to study you for science. Don't get me wrong, there are some funny situations and things, but that is one of the last words I would use for this novel. Maybe I relate too much to Eleanor to view it lightheartedly, but her issues with self love, socialization, abandonment, etc., man they scooped out my soft bits and put them in a bit of an emotional blender. I love this book, for the most part, but please don't go in expecting it to not deal with some heavy heavy trauma and the emotional repercussions that come with that. Ultimately I fell in love with the characters and loved the strong vein of friendship that went through the core of the personal journey in this novel. I personally disliked the very final twist, hence the 4.75 instead of a full 5, but I found myself caring so much for Eleanor and her new friends. I was weary of the upcoming movie as I was untrusting of Reese Witherspoon's interpretation based on her blurb about the humor, but it will be directed by the director of Fleabag and Enola Homes so I actually have a lot of faith and excitement now! Definitely read in preparation for the movie if you think it's up your alley.

Content Warnings

Girls Save the World in This One by Ash Parsons

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adventurous lighthearted

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

3.0

I think in high school I probably would have given this a 3.5 or even a 4 so it's probably more that I'm not the target audience as a 26 year old, but I have read and loved a lot of YA as an adult so it's hard to say. I found the humor to be trying very hard to be witty teen humor like Easy A or Clueless but it fell short for me. The characters were okay, but not very complex if that's what you want. I admittedly went into this thinking it had the lgbtqia+ tag on my library app so I was pretty disappointed by how hetero it is lol, I really thought June was going to realize she's in love with Imani, but that's my own fault. I also think that the diversity was nice to see, but the author was a little odd about it. She only seemed to highlight non-white, particularly black, characters' skin/hair/etc. and it felt a little weird that she didn't do the same for other characters, a little bit like "hey wow look at how diverse I made this" without any real substance, particularly considering the author is white herself as well as the main character. The feminism is also very girlboss branded and feminist lite, again very juvenile. I honestly think this is more of a book for middle school girls than high school or older. It's not heavy despite it's "horror" focus and while there is death its not graphic. I think a 13/14 year old would probably love this, especially if they're involved in any zombie fandoms like the walking dead etc.

Content Warnings

Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely love this book. It made me feel and think so many different things, I certainly cried a lot through this novel. The exploration of motherhood, womanhood, familial relationships, and many other topics is haunting and painful and beautiful. The changes in narration and point of view are enlightening and frustrating and fascinating in equal turns. One of my favorite novels.

Content Warnings

One Left by Kim Soom

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

It is a hard book to stomach but important for understanding the levels of unimaginable cruelty the "comfort women" were subjected to in this time. The author weaves the true accounts of real survivors into the life of the protagonist. Truly heed the content warnings, I read this for a university course without the warnings and was not prepared for the graphic details of the content.

Content Warnings