readwithev's reviews
183 reviews

Where We Come from by Oscar Cásares

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I wish I could give this book 10 stars. Each character is rich in their development, their emotional conflict and family turmoil. There are 3 main characters: Nina, her godson Orlando (12 yrs old) and a young boy named Daniel (13-15 yrs). We also have some interesting italicized paragraphs from a few side characters. These short paragraphs add to the main characters’ history or provide additional context to the story’s themes of familial love, sacrifice, desperation, or anxiety. I love the unique voices Cásares uses for each character. I enjoyed seeing Orlando develop from naive and sad to more empathetic, hopeful, and curious about others. I think Beto (Nina’s brother) was an interesting point of conflict. His half-hearted devotion to his mother, prejudice against immigrants (even though he’s also one), and desire to control others’ decisions. He also looked down on people he thought were “too educated.” An indication of his self-consciousness.
The book is primarily character driven and centers on family sacrifice, separation, devotion, the danger of secrets, and having hope in the midst of great sadness.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Death of parent, and Deportation

Circe by Madeline Miller

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

The writing style is rich and poetic without feeling weighed down with adjectives. Ogawa also expresses emotions clearly with great similes. She focuses on characters rather than plot. The Memory Police aren’t the primary focus of the book.  “what makes our memories important? How do they shape us? Can we keep living without certain memories?” These are the questions Ogawa’s characters ask themselves.
The ending fell a bit flat for me so that’s why the book only gets 3.75 stars. I wish there was more conclusion with what and who exactly the memory police are and what happens to the survivors on the island. Even if the main female character doesn’t remember these details or if they’re told to us (the reader) through a flashback or second means, i would have liked these details.

We never find how how the memory police were created, who’s the main source of authority, why they choose specific objects to disappear, etc. The main female character doesn’t try to stop the memory police and one tries to form a military resistance against them. However, she and others do form safe houses and a boating-escape attempt is mentioned. These lack of violent resistance against the Memory Police was most interesting to me. As if the loss of items (and therefor themselves) created a docile population. We also never learn the main female character’s name, the old man’s name or R’s full name. Its as if the memory of names has been erased from the characters’ minds too. I  love that the main female character’s novel about the typist is a frame or allegory for what’s happening in her life.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure by Hoa Nguyen

emotional sad

3.75

In This Economy?: How Money & Markets Really Work by Kyla Scanlon

informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

This book is a great beginner’s intro to economics with easy to understand graphics, historical examples, references, and illustrations. Scanlon focuses on the humanity of economics, the emotional decisions that can drive our purchasing power, as well as policy. I would have liked more info on the following topics: insurance, retirement savings and the future, public and private equity, how corporations avoid taxes and other loopholes. Her writing style has a casual Gen Z tone that is empathetic, critical, and curious. She has a healthy dose of skepticism without being condescending or cynical either.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Pros:

• Multiple characters (male & female with varying ages)
• Following Sunja and her family across 3 generations 
• 3rd person omniscient POV
• foreshadowing
• I liked that Solomon’s romances did not work out but he learned from them
• Noa’s college romance epiphany
• I liked Solomon’s decision to leave big banking and choose his family

Cons:

• Slow pacing
• Hansu doesn’t seem that dangerous. His yakuza ties are heavily implied but we only witness him beat a woman once. (I’m not saying that’s a serious offense, just that it’s not gang level to me).
• when of Sunja’s affair with Hansu is to Noa, I expected Mozasu to find out too, but he never does. I thought that was disappointing. It would be been more interesting if Mozasu eventually found out and confronted Sunja too.
• Yoseb dies “off screen

Overall, this book is a 4. I liked a lot of elements. It’s a slow build family drama with lots of side characters too. 

Cult X by Fuminori Nakamura

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

⚠️ this book is very graphic and has many disturbing topics⚠️ 
 Pros:

• Multiple POVs with different genders and ages
• Unreliable narrators
• Unique and distinct voices
• Flashbacks
• A few characters have long monologues that may seem confusing but ultimately convey alot about their psyche, religious beliefs, etc.

Cons:

• ⚠️graphic and triggering
• Due to the abusive behavior some of the male characters, women are occasionally described in derogatory and belittling ways
• Lots of characters, sometimes difficult to remember all of them.

In order to truly appreciate and understand this book, I recommend Googling Japan’s work culture, their suicide rates, college entrance exam process, etc. This way you can understand why the characters in this book are experiencing alienation and frustration with their society.

Personally, I really liked this book. It is definitely not going to be for everyone. It has a lot of scenes with physical, sexual, and emotional abuse against women and children. Typical of cult leaders, terrorists and religious extremism, Sawatari (the leader of Cult X) lacks real empathy and compassion; instead, he enjoys manipulating others to feel powerful and only serves himself. He preys on weak, hopeless people to brainwash them and disposes of them without remorse. I was happy to see Narazaki grow a backbone by the end of the book. He slowly overcame his weakness for manipulation and uncontrollable lust for women. Tachibana learns to live without Takahara and takes responsibility for her role in Cult X. Even Meneno starts realizing her obsession and jealousy is childish and confesses to Tachibana.

It’s definitely a dense book and the long monologues about religion, metaphysics, and neuroscience are daunting but I liked them. It helped me understand what all theses characters are looking for - they’re searching for meaning in a world so overcome by war, technology, starvation, apathy, etc. i mean who isn’t?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pedophilia, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War

there are a few very graphic torture, rape, murder, and orgy sex scenes in the book that will be disturbing to many readers.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

adventurous fast-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

3.75

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

It was cute to revisit a children’s classic that i haven’t read since elementary school.

I actually love the history of the witch, her cruelness, and her selfishness. I also liked the creation of Narnia and Aslan however, it’s very biblical ie creating Narnia in seven hours, calling Polly and Digory “son of Adam and daughter of Ev” and giving all the talking animals names. i wish CS Lewis had gone into more detail about Uncle Andrew and his great aunt from whom he inherited the magic box  from. How did she get it?

overall i enjoyed it and plan to reread the series. 

Mystery Cults in the Ancient World by Hugh Bowden

informative slow-paced

2.75

The book is interesting, however due to the lack of archeological evidence, texts, tablets, artwork, etc. most of the “information” about mystery cults is speculative. Bowden acknowledges this and offers a few interpretations for how & why cults formed, etc.

It was fairly dry reading and I would not recommend it unless you were very passionate about Greco-Roman religion and philosophy. I also suggest having a relatively good knowledge of Greco-Roman history before reading this.