paperbacks_and_priyam's Reviews (377)


'i know someone who kisses the way
a flower opens, but more rapidly.'

faves: i know someone, walking to indian river, the first day, roses, leaves and blossoms along the way, cobb creek, that tall distance, this and that, the pond, late spring
dark emotional

longing, desire, shame, obsession, disgust, tragedy and the sheer mess of love and queerness and life. james baldwin just wrecks your heart.
"then, for the first time in my life, i was really aware of another person's body, of another person's smell. we had our arms around each other. it was like holding in my hand some rare, exhausted, nearly doomed bird which i had miraculously happened to find."
wuthering heights, price of salt and now giovanni's room completes my trilogy stories of love in their beauty and ugliness.
"If I could make you stay, I would,' he shouted. 'If I had to beat you, chain you, starve you-if I could make you stay, I would.' He turned back into the room; the wind blew his hair. He shook his finger at me, grotesquely playful. 'One day, perhaps, you will wish I had." 
dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

'not god: nature and its tendency to decay.'
gobbled up the bogs, rotting bodies, plants and people of this book. not the best horror ever but gothic lesbianism in a half rotten manor and bog bodies and ghost companions make up for everything. beautiful world building.
adventurous dark mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix

my introduction to tolkien and the lotr was a pleasing read. the dragons, the treasure, and the battles are fun but the creepy forests, feasts, singing and drinking with friends and having a nice breakfast is always better i get you bilbo baggins. loved the breaks in between adventures and the world those woods, the mountains, rivers, tunnels and even the giant spiders.
dark emotional reflective relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes


this book seeps you in. one of those stories where just few pages are enough to feel like you are living in that world, in that seemingly utopian world, a 'perfect' society created by the softest invasion. loved the world building. it's a good mix of alien invasion sci-fi and grief and identity and the end of a loving marriage. would have been a 5 star read if based on the first half which is so crazily lovely and sad and perfect. but the later chapters felt kind of rushed (?) not sure how to describe it but i would have loved to see more of trina's journey. nonetheless, a very unexpectedly comforting read with gorgeous prose. also the seep reminded me of annihilation and once again i love this subgenre of science fiction.
challenging dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i don't know what to feel about the epilogue... but oh wow dostoevsky we are really in this now. it was so many things at once and i could ramble on and on about many smaller arcs that i enjoyed even more. love books which go on many meandering ways and yet still hold the central story at its heart