orangeburrito's reviews
44 reviews

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

1.0

fuck you writer for creating a complex, interesting female character who's bisexual even though she ends up with the creepy male protagonist old enough to be her dad

The Plague by Stuart Gilbert, Albert Camus

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Illustrates yet another avenue of human suffering, in the form of disease, death and distancing.
The book itself is rife with crisp prose and gut-wrenching sentences. It ends on a melancholy note, contrasting the joy of those now free from the shackles of quarantine and loneliness of being torn away from loved ones, with the silent grief of survivors who return to an empty home forever barren of people held dear.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

First of all, Amy is based as fuck.  You go, girl.
Secondly, the husband is a pathetic loser and a misogynistic coward who is babied by every woman in his life, including his "cool girl" handmaiden sister.
Wish this had ended with Amy fleeing the country and enjoying life in the Mediterranean while her loser husband rots in jail, hated by everyone.
For the book itself, the prose is creative and snappy.  The author herself has the uncanny ability to write such awful characters, the book left me sick to my stomach multiple times.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Wrote a long-winded review for this incredible book but this site is absolute ass on mobile (don't even try typing anything).  Get it together, frontend devs this isn't rocket science.

Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin

challenging dark inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The linguist's version of The Handmaid's Tale.  A bleak but somewhat inspiring tale of what sisterhood means and the thousand small defiances of women in times of subjugation and oppression.  The aspect of a secret project to break their shackles that takes generations to come to fruition is beautiful and melancholic.

SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas

5.0

lmao based

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! (Light Novel) Vol. 1 by Kiki

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

Despite its shortcomings due to the male author (ridiculous female armor), the book manages to be a fast-paced dark fantasy novel with good translation and interesting characters.
As a warning, this series has a lot of body horror and/or gore due to  the main character's ability to regrow her limbs at will.  As it is a medieval setting there is (extremely negative) mention of r*pe.
Readers new to weebery in general may also want to hold off on this due to the weird and creepy Japanese tropes of siscon and implied lolicon (seriously, why??)

Roadside Picnic by Boris Strugatsky, Arkady Strugatsky

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Good world building and setting ruined by greasy lowlife misogynists who take center stage.

Dune by Frank Herbert

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This book would have been 800x better if the main character was a woman.
Minus two stars for "a man is the only one capable of being the chosen one" and overwhelmingly patriarchal society despite there being a secret shadow organization of magic nuns who control everything. 

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

challenging emotional informative sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

I am devastated and now deceased, do not refer to me