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porgyreads's reviews
124 reviews
Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
Though the premise intrigued me, the magic system is interesting and it is well written I am simply not in the mood. Audio could not even help me
The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
4.0
Read this series to get out of my reading slump during the run up to a play so pls pls rating is coming from my teenaged brain
Requires an extensive amount of suspension of disbelief but I can’t say i wasn’t entertained.
Go! Neil Josten, go! (To therapy)
Requires an extensive amount of suspension of disbelief but I can’t say i wasn’t entertained.
Go! Neil Josten, go! (To therapy)
Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Browne
5.0
Perfect material for dissertation research but also incredibly engaging. Should be compulsory reading for everyone esp those in the tech spaces!!!!
A Devil Comes to Town by Paolo Maurensig
4.5
Father Cornelius exhibiting Kendrick-level hating >>>>
On a real, I didn’t know if this would pay off until the final monologue of the devil. I think it will be the sort of story that will bury into my flesh like a tick. So job well done.
Some quotes to revisit:
“Consequently, the ideal place is a literary society, not only because literature is the last locus of knowledge that still attributes him a certain credibility, but also because it is the place where vainglory, fueled by envy, grows immoderately, where even the most banal thoughts—as long as they are printed in type—are accepted as absolute truth.”
“If at the beginning of creation there was the word, is it not possible that life and the universe were created for the sole purpose of being able to write about them?”
“Each time we pick up a pen we are preparing to perform a ritual for which two candles should always be lit: one white and one black. Unlike painting and sculpture, which remain anchored to a material subject, and to music, which in contrast transcends matter altogether, literature can dominate both spheres: the concrete and the abstract, the terrestrial and the otherworldly. Moreover, it propagates and multiplies with infinite variations in readers’ minds.”
“And if the author chose to remain anonymous, can he still claim the rights to what he wrote?“
On a real, I didn’t know if this would pay off until the final monologue of the devil. I think it will be the sort of story that will bury into my flesh like a tick. So job well done.
Some quotes to revisit:
“Consequently, the ideal place is a literary society, not only because literature is the last locus of knowledge that still attributes him a certain credibility, but also because it is the place where vainglory, fueled by envy, grows immoderately, where even the most banal thoughts—as long as they are printed in type—are accepted as absolute truth.”
“If at the beginning of creation there was the word, is it not possible that life and the universe were created for the sole purpose of being able to write about them?”
“Each time we pick up a pen we are preparing to perform a ritual for which two candles should always be lit: one white and one black. Unlike painting and sculpture, which remain anchored to a material subject, and to music, which in contrast transcends matter altogether, literature can dominate both spheres: the concrete and the abstract, the terrestrial and the otherworldly. Moreover, it propagates and multiplies with infinite variations in readers’ minds.”
“And if the author chose to remain anonymous, can he still claim the rights to what he wrote?“
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
3.75
I thought I was prepared for this book going in but I was not prepared at all.
I inhaled flowers in the attic in a matter of hours staying up late to finish it because I had to know how it ended/how they escaped but fear god did it cost me more than just sleep and my eyesight. Despite sleeping on it, I still can’t tell of V.C. Andrews deserves more or less credit than she’s been given for this as a debut.
Were some of the language choices (see Golly gosh x 1000) silly and suburban? yes, was there a good deal of hyperbole from the prophetic dreams to the downward slope of the final few chapters reveals? sure. But I cant say i wasn’t repulsed and enthralled in equal measure throughout.
The romantic description used as Cathy details all of her siblings especially Chris ramps up as we get more and more of their time in the attic and it is horrific to read but horror is also the point. I said “oh dear” aloud about 100 times in the first half because I knew what was on its way. The story and the stylistic choices cast this shuddering net over you and you cannot get out of it.
Was it melodramatic? Of course, but Cathy also explicitly refers to the events she’s lived out as of off a “soap opera.” V.C. Andrews understands the world being crafted hinges on drama because it was written and marketed as a thriller.
I was so easily hooked by the first lines of the book: the metaphor of the paper flowers and the hatred and vitriol from Cathy (before we even know who she is) pointed at mother we don’t understand and never come to, is so compelling and miss andrews manages to keep this the entire way through (even if events veer towards campy at times.)
I was also rattled by everything that happens to the childrenafter the tarring. I had tears in my eyes and couldn’t read at points. The empathy you feel for them in this ridiculous and harrowing circumstance is so so palpable and yet, never excusing. The twins suffer from lack in one way and Chris and Cathy in another, both are heartbreaking.
I cant decide if it’s hit me more as an adult because I understand the full scope or if I would’ve been just as affected (if not more) had I read it as a teenager as many did when it was released.
Again, I don’t know if I reading too much into it, or not enough or just right, but I would love to read any critique written on the dollangangers. They’re presented immediately as this picturesque modern American family, aryan in looks, talented and charming and then they suffer a series of misfortunes that are so intimately intertwined with the concept of original sin it made my skin tingle. The way the nuclear family to blown to hell in this is so clever. The threads woven regarding generational traumas are so interesting, especially how the grandmother has recreated the same prison of the doll house she experienced for her daughter and her daughters children. The cycle of abuse has no end and you watch Cathy struggle against the history of her parents and grandparents in despair, not wanting to make the same mistakes but making them anyway. V.C.Andrew’s depiction of fate is equivalent to that of a Greek tragedy, it is another prison from which you wonder and hope the children will find a way to escape.
Is there something inherently evil and wrong about the dollanganger blood? Arguably yes, but it seems that multiple generations of dollangangers find themselves victims to extreme circumstance, religious fanaticism and violence. Which shapes which is hard to say… incest isn’t the only taboo, neglect of the mother, patricide, and filicide are also just as raw and grating.
Though evil as it’s presented in the grandmother serves its purpose it’s the mother and her neglect that truly causes discomfort. The questions of how long is too long, and what sort of reward is worthy of the time the children spend in the attic fascinated me.
Ultimately the story is almost a fable and I read it as a critique on capitalism and greed. Andrews presents us with two repeated sins: incest and moral sacrifice for capital gain. Both societal and then juxtaposes the two in how the characters are treated for indulging in either.
Would it have landed better had she only prodded us to consider the two rather than slapping us over the head with it? Again, sure. But I don’t think the lack of subtly in flowers in the attic completely detracts from the point.
Other plus points: There are some passages on suffering that are so universal and the inner monologue of Cathy gaining her agency is hard won but necessary.
Even more interesting to me is whether her intended audience was children or adults? It’s categorised as YA but it was also banned because of its content. And intended audience, marketed audience and the audience that grows off of word of mouth can all be very different.
The story in itself allows for confrontation of many horrors of adolescence, lack of privacy, confinement, sexuality, one’s place in society, the model familial home and the consequences of fracture of that, death, grief, the halo effect I could go on. It is not always perfectly written and very indicative of gender roles of it’s time period but it challenges the audience at whatever age.
Have to give her props because these characters will likely never leave me, I am desperate to understand how they manage in the outside world and whether the ghost of the attic can ever truly be shoved from their minds after escape.
I inhaled flowers in the attic in a matter of hours staying up late to finish it because I had to know how it ended/how they escaped but fear god did it cost me more than just sleep and my eyesight. Despite sleeping on it, I still can’t tell of V.C. Andrews deserves more or less credit than she’s been given for this as a debut.
Were some of the language choices (see Golly gosh x 1000) silly and suburban? yes, was there a good deal of hyperbole from the prophetic dreams to the downward slope of the final few chapters reveals? sure. But I cant say i wasn’t repulsed and enthralled in equal measure throughout.
The romantic description used as Cathy details all of her siblings especially Chris ramps up as we get more and more of their time in the attic and it is horrific to read but horror is also the point. I said “oh dear” aloud about 100 times in the first half because I knew what was on its way. The story and the stylistic choices cast this shuddering net over you and you cannot get out of it.
Was it melodramatic? Of course, but Cathy also explicitly refers to the events she’s lived out as of off a “soap opera.” V.C. Andrews understands the world being crafted hinges on drama because it was written and marketed as a thriller.
I was so easily hooked by the first lines of the book: the metaphor of the paper flowers and the hatred and vitriol from Cathy (before we even know who she is) pointed at mother we don’t understand and never come to, is so compelling and miss andrews manages to keep this the entire way through (even if events veer towards campy at times.)
I was also rattled by everything that happens to the children
I cant decide if it’s hit me more as an adult because I understand the full scope or if I would’ve been just as affected (if not more) had I read it as a teenager as many did when it was released.
Again, I don’t know if I reading too much into it, or not enough or just right, but I would love to read any critique written on the dollangangers. They’re presented immediately as this picturesque modern American family, aryan in looks, talented and charming and then they suffer a series of misfortunes that are so intimately intertwined with the concept of original sin it made my skin tingle. The way the nuclear family to blown to hell in this is so clever. The threads woven regarding generational traumas are so interesting,
Is there something inherently evil and wrong about the dollanganger blood?
Though evil as it’s presented in the grandmother serves its purpose it’s the mother and her neglect that truly causes discomfort. The questions of how long is too long, and what sort of reward is worthy of the time the children spend in the attic fascinated me.
Ultimately the story is almost a fable and I read it as a critique on capitalism and greed. Andrews presents us with two repeated sins: incest and moral sacrifice for capital gain. Both societal and then juxtaposes the two in how the characters are treated for indulging in either.
Would it have landed better had she only prodded us to consider the two rather than slapping us over the head with it? Again, sure. But I don’t think the lack of subtly in flowers in the attic completely detracts from the point.
Other plus points: There are some passages on suffering that are so universal and the inner monologue of Cathy gaining her agency is hard won but necessary.
Even more interesting to me is whether her intended audience was children or adults? It’s categorised as YA but it was also banned because of its content. And intended audience, marketed audience and the audience that grows off of word of mouth can all be very different.
The story in itself allows for confrontation of many horrors of adolescence, lack of privacy, confinement, sexuality, one’s place in society, the model familial home and the consequences of fracture of that, death, grief, the halo effect I could go on. It is not always perfectly written and very indicative of gender roles of it’s time period but it challenges the audience at whatever age.
Have to give her props because these characters will likely never leave me, I am desperate to understand how they manage in the outside world and whether the ghost of the attic can ever truly be shoved from their minds after escape.
Penance by Eliza Clark
5.0
Eliza Clark you have the mind of a mastermind!
Penance is a clever interrogation of the ethics of true crime, harnessing the tantalising nature of murderous, an unreliable narrator, and precise decisions regarding form.
These characters are my age and it was all too real to see points at which my experience overlapped with each of the girls, including Girl D who was the epitome of my worst nightmare: wrong place wrong person wrong time.
Eliza Clark perfectly renders the world of the internet, the interior worlds and social world of teenage girls, and the industry that profits when a pocket of hell opens.
The boldest and best choice I think Clark makes does not rest in her choice of form (still great and meta) or the depiction of crow-on-sea (that I had to google just to make sure it wasn’t real because it felt so real) but the choice to give us such minimal information regarding the psyche of Dolly - from Dolly herself - who is arguably the most intriguing.
Her actions are never excused but there’s a level of understanding that is created by these snippets and anecdotes of her life through the way the others see and interact with her. We never fully inhabit her psyche, the closest we come to this is through short tumblr comparative tumblr posts and her terrible fan fiction.
It does the opposite of what most true crime podcasts would do giving her the least amount of attention or attempt to get into her head because this is where the ability to harness some sort of fanbase comes about. McKnight works as a perfect foil for Dolly in this sense. The mention of how fans were sucked into this mirror world of school shooters via a clip of the shooter on trial? We never get that moment. Dolly never gets that moment in this.
Her chaos continues to be unexplained and unjustified. Her empathy is projected onto a heathen than she fictionalises to an astounding degree and we are never fully given the chance to do the same. The urge is always there to know more but Clarke doesn’t surrender, she holds remarkably firm, marking the bounds of the points she intends to make.
The theme of girlhood as hell is really interestingly explored through Dolly, Violet and Angelic. It’s never spoken but you get the sense that they are willing to invite evil into their world, invoke it, and thrust it upon the world because they’re incapable of handing the very real evil that has not been invited in their lives - it warps them slowly and then very quickly. Much like the argument of play that our fictional author Carnelli makes.
Also I will be thinking about those little polly pockets and frogs, and the sims basement for ages, dear god.
Penance is a clever interrogation of the ethics of true crime, harnessing the tantalising nature of murderous, an unreliable narrator, and precise decisions regarding form.
These characters are my age and it was all too real to see points at which my experience overlapped with each of the girls, including Girl D who was the epitome of my worst nightmare: wrong place wrong person wrong time.
Eliza Clark perfectly renders the world of the internet, the interior worlds and social world of teenage girls, and the industry that profits when a pocket of hell opens.
The boldest and best choice I think Clark makes does not rest in her choice of form (still great and meta) or the depiction of crow-on-sea (that I had to google just to make sure it wasn’t real because it felt so real) but the choice to give us such minimal information regarding the psyche of Dolly - from Dolly herself - who is arguably the most intriguing.
It does the opposite of what most true crime podcasts would do giving her the least amount of attention or attempt to get into her head because this is where the ability to harness some sort of fanbase comes about. McKnight works as a perfect foil for Dolly in this sense. The mention of how fans were sucked into this mirror world of school shooters via a clip of the shooter on trial? We never get that moment. Dolly never gets that moment in this.
Her chaos continues to be unexplained and unjustified. Her empathy is projected onto a heathen than she fictionalises to an astounding degree and we are never fully given the chance to do the same. The urge is always there to know more but Clarke doesn’t surrender, she holds remarkably firm, marking the bounds of the points she intends to make.
The theme of girlhood as hell is really interestingly explored through Dolly, Violet and Angelic. It’s never spoken but you get the sense that they are willing to invite evil into their world, invoke it, and thrust it upon the world because they’re incapable of handing the very real evil that has not been invited in their lives - it warps them slowly and then very quickly. Much like the argument of play that our fictional author Carnelli makes.
Also I will be thinking about those little polly pockets and frogs, and the sims basement for ages, dear god.
Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
5.0
Annie John is so unabashed in its depiction of mother daughter relationships. Squirm inducing realism! The novel captures feelings I’d forgotten so vividly that it felt like a smack in the face.
No one ever leads with how queer this book is and for that 🤨 I’m looking at you all funny.
No one ever leads with how queer this book is and for that 🤨 I’m looking at you all funny.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Political fantasy at its finest! New favourite fictional sociopath to add to the collection. I jest - but this is a hard book to describe. If that’s not your vibe I think it’ll be easy to have eyes that glaze over at the sheer amount of detail given to setting up the political landscape.
The slow poison of empire and all the complicity of that is thrust on the reader through baru even with the detached third person narrative which is a feat in itself. Such a well-crafted story.
I wish I hadn’t taken a long pause in the middle because that re-entry time dulled the effect of some of the middle of the book. But that last chapter? Continues to resonate like a blow to the head.
Also love the inclusion of a somatic trauma based injury she will now have to contend with above all else… she has suffered in the footsteps of Christ and we are only one book down of a trilogy.
(4.75 initial rating but bumped up as months have passed and I keep thinking about it. )
5.0
Political fantasy at its finest! New favourite fictional sociopath to add to the collection. I jest - but this is a hard book to describe. If that’s not your vibe I think it’ll be easy to have eyes that glaze over at the sheer amount of detail given to setting up the political landscape.
The slow poison of empire and all the complicity of that is thrust on the reader through baru even with the detached third person narrative which is a feat in itself. Such a well-crafted story.
I wish I hadn’t taken a long pause in the middle because that re-entry time dulled the effect of some of the middle of the book. But that last chapter? Continues to resonate like a blow to the head.
(4.75 initial rating but bumped up as months have passed and I keep thinking about it. )
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
3.5
I think it was well paced and written but also it did not move me and my spirit didn’t take to the way korede spoke about/described herself her sister and her mum.
Likely it’s commentary on men and the internet might’ve impacted me more if I had read it when it came out - now it just felt slightly nostalgic and dated to a specific time period.
Likely it’s commentary on men and the internet might’ve impacted me more if I had read it when it came out - now it just felt slightly nostalgic and dated to a specific time period.