pran's reviews
228 reviews

Possession by A.S. Byatt
Did not finish book. Stopped at 29%.

This is a very pretentious book. I do not think it necessarily appeals to everyone who enjoyed studying english literature and Romantic/Victorian literature or poetry. There's actual Victorian literature and then there's this meagre attempt at it. The fact this was nominated/won the Booker prize says more about the biases of the prize than the book itself. 

The Doloriad by Missouri Williams

5.0

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

3.0

Death at Intervals by José Saramago

3.5

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

dark informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

My Thoughts Exactly by Lily Allen

reflective fast-paced

3.0

Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki

dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but I really enjoyed it. The writing style felt much more blunt than what I usually read, but there were some really beautiful sentences in there, and they often caught me by surprise, which made them all the more punchy. I loved the ideas Suzuki played with in the stories, and the ambivalence she feels towards the developments in technology in her stories. So much of what she wrote was prescient, in an almost scary way. I am excited to read around this book, as I know there has been some interesting criticism and theory around it. The influences of Suzuki's own life on her stories were really interesting to read and I have never seen the sexual/romantic relationships between men and women explored in quite the same way in any other speculative fiction I've read. Interesting to compare and contrast the ideas in Octavia Butler or Margaret Atwood's work with this, and the differences between the American second-wave feminist sci-fi and this Japanese work.
I'm also looking forward to reading her other book Hit Parade of Tears.

If you are interested, there is a very good article about Terminal Boredom on LitHub.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V

adventurous hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

lighthearted 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? No

3.0

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

dark fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Violence