ramonaleanna's reviews
104 reviews

A Day, a Dog by Gabrielle Vincent

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

this was precious

In the Presence of Absence by Mahmoud Darwish

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Absolutely beautiful prose, or poetry? A piece of work that is un-categorizable! 

It was dense, despite not being long, and something I ideally will pick up many more times. I re-read several passages and am sure I missed many references and instances of wordplay, not to mention it’s a translated text. This is a read that 100% requires mulling over. I was not aware of self-elegy as a genre in Arabic literature but it’s something I am excited to explore more.

Amora by Natalia Borges Polesso

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

emotional funny mysterious sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Severance by Ling Ma

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

I like the plot, themes and writing-style but something about this fell flat for me at the end.

The Trinity of Fundamentals by Wisam Rafeedie

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

Sweetlust: Stories by Asja Bakić

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

3.0

Afsaneh: Short Stories by Iranian Women by Kaveh Basmenji

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

My absolute favorite in this collection of shorts was The Shemiran Bus.

Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5