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riften's reviews
287 reviews
The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The first dozen chapters were excellent. Liz starts as a vivacious narrator and I loved the cozy apocalyptic setting of the bookshop/post-office. The little oral histories sandwiches between chapters was a nice touch.
The book starts getting unclear, inconsistent, and lazy almost immediately after Maeve’s introduction. It never recovers, and I was completely divested by the ending (the worst part of the book, utterly devoid of tension due to unclear writing and cliched plot points.)
IMO apocalyptic fiction needs to be about people, and should stretch our understanding of the human condition. The characters were foggy, and it was hard to rationalise their actions, moods, motivations, or hear their dialogue in any organic way. I found myself thinking “she would NOT say that” every 5 mins about characters I didn’t even gaf about… just out of protectiveness for the art of storytelling. Even Liz became a frustrating narrator. She either has a stunning absence of curiosity for the events around her, the world at large, and her own character - or the author just deeply misjudged what makes compelling storytelling.
The book starts getting unclear, inconsistent, and lazy almost immediately after Maeve’s introduction. It never recovers, and I was completely divested by the ending (the worst part of the book, utterly devoid of tension due to unclear writing and cliched plot points.)
IMO apocalyptic fiction needs to be about people, and should stretch our understanding of the human condition. The characters were foggy, and it was hard to rationalise their actions, moods, motivations, or hear their dialogue in any organic way. I found myself thinking “she would NOT say that” every 5 mins about characters I didn’t even gaf about… just out of protectiveness for the art of storytelling. Even Liz became a frustrating narrator. She either has a stunning absence of curiosity for the events around her, the world at large, and her own character - or the author just deeply misjudged what makes compelling storytelling.
The Handmaid's Tale (Graphic Novel) by Margaret Atwood
4.0
A very good adaptation. Some difficult artistic decisions that were well executed. Just wish the epilogue included more of the lecture transcript, especially the professor’s joke. It’s such a striking end in the novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Violence
Among The Thugs by Bill Buford
1.0
My expectations for a gross and engrossing read were so brutally curb-stomped by this mess of a book. I even got my laptop out to write this review. It is actually that serious.
My issues with Among the Thugs are that it is horribly sloppy, and it has huge flaws in its analysis.
Let me run through my criticisms chronologically as I encountered them:
* obsessive fatphobia. I get this was written in the 90s but there's a new description of how disgusting fat people are every 2 pages.
* unchecked conservatism. Maybe this just bothers me cos I'm of the 'red under the bed' persuasion, but the disdain towards the general working class (not the hooligans) was uncalled for IMO. In general I think Buford's conservatism sabotages his attempts at sociopolitical analysis later. I also hated that Boy Scouts epigraph about people being violent because the state feeds them.
* lack of fact checking. I spotted a couple dubious references, the worst of which was calling my beloved St Ives a 'sleepy, suburban town 40 miles north of London.'
* immature prose. Consistently underwhelming, with portions that were unreadably cringey. I am specifically thinking of the two-page musing on the futile pursuit of subjectivity in journalism, as a preface to the author's confession he was drunk. It was really bad - my summary cannot convey.
* absence of setting. Manchester - London - Dusseldorf - The book is broken into chapters named after each new location, and yet there is little effort put into establishing these scenes and their individual identities. (The exception being the National Front disco). Buford is very good at establishing atmosphere through dialogue; it's this that carried the feeling of down-on-the-ground reporting, not setting.
* YOUR ANALYSIS IS SHIT MATE! Enough said.
* synthesising machine broke. Failed to make some really obvious links. Ie. Hillsborough is recounted in excruciating detail (purpose: hooligans gone too far / mark end of the culture) and only a couple pages later Buford introduces the Sun newspaper (purpose: snobbish indictment of working class's inferior reading habits). But no connection made between Hillsborough and the Sun?
What was good: the dialogue as mentioned; the glimpse into National Front discos was an insight I've never had before; the author's relationship with violence - at first seductively pulled in, then repulsed - was effective at threading an emotional arc through the book.
The most striking aspect of Among the Thugs, and what I will remember it for, is its unfiltered depiction of some of the most depraved and brutal forms of violence humans can do to each other. Even if it was personally too much for me to stomach at times, recording real violence is a morally neutral thing that books do, so I don't consider that a failing.
My issues with Among the Thugs are that it is horribly sloppy, and it has huge flaws in its analysis.
Let me run through my criticisms chronologically as I encountered them:
* obsessive fatphobia. I get this was written in the 90s but there's a new description of how disgusting fat people are every 2 pages.
* unchecked conservatism. Maybe this just bothers me cos I'm of the 'red under the bed' persuasion, but the disdain towards the general working class (not the hooligans) was uncalled for IMO. In general I think Buford's conservatism sabotages his attempts at sociopolitical analysis later. I also hated that Boy Scouts epigraph about people being violent because the state feeds them.
* lack of fact checking. I spotted a couple dubious references, the worst of which was calling my beloved St Ives a 'sleepy, suburban town 40 miles north of London.'
* immature prose. Consistently underwhelming, with portions that were unreadably cringey. I am specifically thinking of the two-page musing on the futile pursuit of subjectivity in journalism, as a preface to the author's confession he was drunk. It was really bad - my summary cannot convey.
* absence of setting. Manchester - London - Dusseldorf - The book is broken into chapters named after each new location, and yet there is little effort put into establishing these scenes and their individual identities. (The exception being the National Front disco). Buford is very good at establishing atmosphere through dialogue; it's this that carried the feeling of down-on-the-ground reporting, not setting.
* YOUR ANALYSIS IS SHIT MATE! Enough said.
* synthesising machine broke. Failed to make some really obvious links. Ie. Hillsborough is recounted in excruciating detail (purpose: hooligans gone too far / mark end of the culture) and only a couple pages later Buford introduces the Sun newspaper (purpose: snobbish indictment of working class's inferior reading habits). But no connection made between Hillsborough and the Sun?
What was good: the dialogue as mentioned; the glimpse into National Front discos was an insight I've never had before; the author's relationship with violence - at first seductively pulled in, then repulsed - was effective at threading an emotional arc through the book.
The most striking aspect of Among the Thugs, and what I will remember it for, is its unfiltered depiction of some of the most depraved and brutal forms of violence humans can do to each other. Even if it was personally too much for me to stomach at times, recording real violence is a morally neutral thing that books do, so I don't consider that a failing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Rape
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
funny
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Such a romp! Hope I get to read this with my kids someday. I was impressed by how diverse the characters are, especially for a children’s story from the 70s. Although it was disappointing how Chris’s disability is treated by the epilogue.
How to Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone by Alex Norris
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
Read this to find an extract about positive relationships for a Year 8 resource pack but it taught me more than I’d ever expected 🥲