nixiethepixie's reviews
290 reviews

Pisti, 80 rue de Belleville by Estelle Hoy

adventurous challenging funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

delectable, delicious and fun. one of those picked up at the exact right time, and an absolute delight to devour and revisit. 

Severance by Ling Ma

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

I enjoyed being in this world with Candace. Pandemic x with being a child of Chinese immigrants. The dual timelines took me some time to get into, but especially in the middle, both stories were strong. The moments touching on family and migration were moving and biting. What do we owe our family when they’ve given everything to us? We encounter a world unfolding amidst a pandemic, the New York dream falling apart. A gentle satire on our obsession with capitalism that asks us to reflect upon our relationship to work and routine. The end as lots of reviews I’ve seen was a bit random, but the journey getting there was exciting. 

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

i felt like my brain wasnt quite in the space to meet this story with generosity. but i was happy to have spent time flitting through its short fragments building a world. it felt somewhat haunting reading this in the context of the now, and i went into the book having listened to some of lockwood's talks available online. their mind and voice is exciting, and perhaps thats what drove me to continue on with this tale. 

Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones

adventurous challenging dark funny fast-paced

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

4.5

Always powerful, game-changing and shifting the narrative of what’s possible in contemporary theatre <3

The Burrow by Franz Kafka

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

A curious little short story - labrinythian, swirling into itself. Reminded me of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, and a spiral :)

Invisible Things: Documentations from a Devising Process by Synne Behrndt, David Harradine

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Creative process is so beautiful 😭😭😭 This was a beautiful and generous offering of documentation, archival and reflection of creative process. A devised process at that. Reassuring, inspiring and beautiful. 

All Fours by Miranda July

adventurous emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

5.0

A five star experience having Miranda July read in my ears for 10 hours! So much to hold onto, appreciate and ponder. I’m happy to have spent time with our narrator, as they encountered this time in their life, and their immense desires, fantasy and ways of moving through this reality. July has such strength in creating fascinating, robust and embodied characters - ones that feel deeply foreign yet incredibly close to things that perhaps exist within our own shadows. Things we are yet to meet. Here in celebration of our freak. There’s not many artists whom I’m so obsessed with their mythology that makes me obsessed with everything they create. But July is that for me.

Private Rites by Julia Armfield

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Listened as an audiobook. Was very excited for this after Our Wives Under the Sea - but felt myself quite perplexed by this book, and not necessarily in a good way. I was drawn to the concept and world building, Armfield creates some beautiful, watery and claustrophobic prose. But ultimately I found myself confused and bored by the sister relationships and their family dysfunction. I did enjoy the inherent queerness strung throughout the characters and story, but perhaps felt like overall the book was covering too many stories and perspectives that I wasn’t sure where to place my attention. 

I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Brilliant and incisive - perfectly paced vignettes for my TikTok infested mind. I found this to be quietly addictive, despite our narrator being so incredibly frustrating. But our freaky gal is just existing in the world the only way she knows how, and Patel surprises us with insightful moments and incisive reflections of the internet, whiteness and the systems we exist within. 

The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Le Guin 😭 Iconic queen thank you. Always inspiring and rejuvenating and a reminder of why we need storytelling, each other and possibility for the future. I also enjoyed the preface and intro from Donna Haraway in the Ignota edition. One to continue revisiting when in moments of creative doubt.