natashak1's reviews
251 reviews

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Withered Hill by David Barnett

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Honestly I really struggled with the start of this and it felt quite male-gaze-y. But (and this is very much me giving the author the benefit of the doubt) I felt that the style of writing evolved a bit through the book and the male-gaze-y stuff could have been an intentional thing given the character context at the start of the book. 
Other than that, I did feel the style didn't have any particular personality behind it, but I did very much enjoy the folk horror side of the story and the plot felt very coherent. Definitely not bad, just not great either. 

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

More philosophy than fiction, or maybe not quite either. Sort of poetry in prose maybe. 200 pages of reflection on humanity written beautifully. Not something you'd expect to be a huge commercial success but definitely worth reading if you have the patience for something without any real plot. I loved it, anyway.

The Dead Sea Poems by Simon Armitage

5.0

Somehow haven't read this collection yet and it is my favourite by far. Five eleven ninety nine is just brilliant but there are a lot of poems in there I'll be revisiting. 
Definitely a style that feels less refined? Or maybe is more obvious in its influences? But I actually quite liked some of the less Armitage-y bits

Mother Naked by Glen James Brown

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Adored Ironopolis and though this was very different it was also still utterly compelling and brilliant in its own way. Also felt like there was clear maturing of the style and the inclusion of some more political/social themes in a way I felt was balanced just right with the story.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

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

4.0

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

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

4.0

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

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

3.0

Outline by Rachel Cusk

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

4.0

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

So glad I read the bone clocks before this, because I'd have been so disappointed if I'd read that second. This was just so incredibly well crafted, and somehow manages to be a sort of philosophy-lite without ever feeling like it's trying to teach you something. Also many points where I caught onto some aspect of the story and almost fell out of my seat which is always a bonus.