plxtoprojector's reviews
21 reviews

Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future by Gloria Dickie

3.0

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

4.0

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

medium-paced

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

4.0

The pop culture references were terrible. Aside from that, this book was insane and beautiful- the way her narration progressively becomes more and more self-centered and cold really shows just how unreliable her point of view is. As I worked through the book it went from "oh she's a little strange" to "she should get some help" to "what the Fuck." Loved the characterization and exploration of gender and sexuality, especially the application of toxic "masculine" traits to a woman, who's then able to use her power to manipulate men. Photography as her medium also really adds to the power discrepancy between her and her models for reasons I don't fully know how to articulate because it's very late while I write this. 
Really disliked the way her eating disorder was approached. If you're not going to delve into something as complex as an ED beyond stereotypical, surface level definitions, don't write it at all. I think a lot of the insufferable writing choices are just that- insufferable, but they also are very appropriate for the protagonist.
I have so many thoughts I don't know how to explain- will definitely read again and annotate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual assault and Eating disorder

Cousins by Aurora Venturini

medium-paced

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

3.0

hey what the fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gore, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion, Sexual violence, Body horror, Death, and Excrement

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

4.0

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

• 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

4.5

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• 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

5.0

Beijing Sprawl by Zechen Xu

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? Yes

4.5

beautiful in an intensely depressing and hopeless way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Minor: Emotional abuse, Ableism, Animal death, and Trafficking

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Drug use, and Stalking

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke

slow-paced

2.5

Felt like it went on forever. Interesting, but the pacing took away from the content. I was looking forward to reading this, as someone who is chronically ill and was struggling with misdiagnosis and living in that grey area with no explanation, but her experiences were not as relatable to the majority of disabled people as she portrayed them- I resonated with her sickness, but her failure to directly acknowledge the immense amounts of privilege she had when going through this made her narrative feel disconnected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Death of parent and Eating disorder