redheadreading's reviews
2147 reviews

My Fathers' Daughter by Hannah Azieb Pool

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Very slow paced and atmospheric! I really enjoyed the writing style - lots of gothic imagery, very metaphor-heavy and luscious. People who enjoy fast paced and plot driven books will probably find it deeply annoying because it's extremely slow paced, slow burn and, frankly, not that much actually happens! Personally I really enjoyed swimming in the prose, but I do admit it was slightly too long, particularly for our main character to realise some key information that feels quite obvious as a reader. I suspected we were drawing on some fairytales, initially I wondered if it was Bluebeard but it really ended up as more of a sapphic Sleeping Beauty mixed with Beauty and the Beast mixed with squelchy gothicness - I've had a really fun time. 

Cider Country: In Search of a Forgotten History by James Crowden, James Crowden
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

Audiobook narrator is soooo robotic

Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee

lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

Scrummy food descriptions and the mc Dylan is a real sweetie - his character has real drive and purpose which helps him feel very rounded. Theo was less compelling to me - his arc is a bit wishy washy and I don't find it very interesting to just solve all the book's problems with money. The whole fake dating set up doesn't really hold water either. There's no reason you couldn't just be dating!!
 As an aside, it's weird reading this as someone with multiple food allergies when a whole plot aspect revolves around someone being an asshole over their food not being allergy friendly and that being leveraged against Dylan's family. Sorry to say, not keen on how that aspect was handled! 

A Cheesemonger's Tour de France by Ned Palmer

informative medium-paced

4.25

The Modern Art Cookbook by Mary Ann Caws

lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

The mix of artworks, recipes from famous artists and general excerpts and poems about food makes for a fun read, although I don't think I'll make many of the actual recipes!

Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I liked that the timeframe of this is shorter than Noughts and Crosses so it's quite punchy and means I didn't feel like we skipped character development as we sometimes did in the first. Malorie Blackman does such a good job tackling all the political topics in a thought provoking way that's still very accessible for younger readers and that continues to be one of the strongest aspects of this series. Sometimes things are spelled out a little tooooo explicitly, I feel the points were made fine without spelling it out, and some plotpoints were a bit predictable, but I am reading this as an adult in fairness! It was interesting reading this as both perspective characters are not my fave, but I appreciate the story that Blackman is telling and I'm interested in what the next one has in store. 

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

A unique little read that I don't quite know what to make of! Reminded me a little of Treasure Island!!!! by Sara Lavine in the way you watch a girl become increasingly alienated from those around her with some darkly comic aspects. At its best, I really felt for Pizza Girl and the void of loss, trauma and fear she's living with, the way it utterfly freezes her and sends her spiraling into self destructive behaviour. Whilst the openness to the ending feels fitting, I do find myself not wholly satisfied but unable to put a finger on what exactly is missing...

Endless Night by Agatha Christie

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I knew this was one of Agatha's faves from her work so was interesting to finally read it! Somewhat atypical of her style with a slower unspooling of a love story that picks up with talk of a curse that may or may not be real... Occasionally chafed against the pace but it was fun trying to sort the clues from the red herrings and the last few chapters were brill.

The Joy of Snacks: A Celebration of One of Life's Greatest Pleasures, with Recipes by Laura Goodman

informative lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

Light, fun and frothy. Some of the snack discussions were interesting little drabbles (why do we love crunch? Why does coffee cake work?) but some felt a little too "in joke" from time to time (lots of lists of food memories which sometimes felt like when other people try to describe their dreams to you, a gazillion mentions of LA). I feel a great affinity with the joy and love for snacks expressed throughout though! Very dairy-heavy so not sure how many I'll realistically be able to make (just leave it off, I hear you cry, but surely that changes the flavour profile/balance too much??). Now I must go buy lots and lots of crisp flavours, farewell...!