rnbhargava's reviews
404 reviews

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

It’s kind of like a secondary coming of age book, coming into “full adulthood”. There are definitely unsavoury aspects to the protagonist and those around him. He and the supporting characters are coming into their own. It’s ultimately a quite positive book. A big pro to this book is attention to detail on the period depicted. It’s like a contemporary that’s become now a relatively recent social history period piece.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is a quote good book that in a slightly satirical manner, really gets to the heart of dissatisfaction that a lot of men have. The violence to make them feel alive. The radicalization to make them feel like they’re doing something and are part of something bigger than themselves. It’s frightening yet so many of the supporting characters are quite incompetent. The infamous twist with the protagonist arguably works even better in the book given that even if you know it’s coming from having seen the film, there’s intrigue in seeing the character figure it out for himself. I don’t know if I would reread “Fight Club” but I’m glad I’ve read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

This book is quite violent and characters give into their worst urges, mind all the triggers

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Another quite well done thriller from Lucy Foley that I couldn’t put down once it got going. This one does start off a bit slow but once the intrigues and reveals start showing themselves it’s off to the races

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Suicide, Mental illness and Sex Trafficking, Biphobia/Homophobia as well.

Tales From The Cafe (Indigo Exclusive Edition) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I like that the dilemmas of each person focused on in the chapters of this instalment are a bit more complicated. Some of the resolutions are just a bit too tidy or slightly underwhelming. Nonetheless, most of the storytelling in each is fairly tight, complete with the overlaps that I appreciated greatly in the first book. “Tales from the Cafe” is quite worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

There’s a knife stabbing and slight suicidal ideation in this book.

It by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book’s reputation as one of the best of King’s works is very much so apparent. The minor faults toward the end are also apparent. Nonetheless, loved my time with this book. It’s downright briskly paced for a book that’s over 1000 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

All the known triggers for this book are valid in some manner or the other, these include racism, sexism, homophobia and all sorts of violence

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is about the psychology of a woman who’s worked at a convenience store inside a Metro/Subway station for much too long. It leaves quite an impression given it’s only 163 pages, not counting the short afterword essay by the author. You see the character struggle with things and expectations from childhood to adulthood. It’s fascinating and also kind of tragic. Well worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

This short book is largely about a character that feels perpetually maladjusted and has used long term part-time work in a convenience store as a coping mechanism. It’s fascinating and tragic. Well worth a read.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This is rightfully considered a modern classic. However, it’s intentionally slow paced, almost monotonous. That said, I mostly quite admire it. The protagonist, Stevens the Butler, is reconciling his past and whether he fully engaged with life, friendships and potential loves, and whether his employer is a good person given who he associated with during war time and whether those he sympathized with were worthy of admiration. The idea of what’s appropriate while working as a Butler. Miss Kenton is quite the character that highlights that grey line between close friendship and romantic love for Stevens. Stephens’ fixation and recollections of her form the core of the plot. There are some comedic bits as well. A lot of this book is about what was said or left unsaid. Though I’m giving this a 3.5, honestly I will probably think about this book for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Classism

A lot of the content about the plot of this book is about what’s unsaid and the biases of Stevens the Butler. It’s told through recollections. It’s possible I’ve missed some triggers so be aware.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I quite liked The Atlas Six. The characters are mostly just the right level of “everyone believes themselves the smartest in the room but are they really,” for me. The character backstories and their behaviors, both in the Atlas Six and those overseeing them and/or friends/associates of theirs are all quite well executed. The personality contrasts between the characters and the way their abilities interact with each other creates so much intrigue throughout the plot. That said, at least one character gets the short straw in characterization. Also, the plot for this first book in a series of three doesn’t truly conclude itself. It worked well for me but I can see why some would really dislike these characters and dislike how this book concludes. I’m definitely continuing into book 2. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Much of the intrigue and conflict of this book is about idealogical differences, theoretically and in practice. There is questions about the morality of their abilities. There’s questions about what access to/denial of access to knowledge means. Is it right or not for a privileged few to have access to certain types of knowledge over others. Things are not always binaries too. If this doesn’t sound appealing, no harm in skipping this.

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This was a really well done contemporary, perhaps domestic, thriller set during a wedding. The protagonist is quite relatable. The other characters are mostly varying degrees of suspicious which is appropriate. The wealth and class differences are well illustrated. Frank, Tammy and young Abigail being contrasted with the Gardners who seem frivolous and purposely unaware largely due to their extreme wealth. The twists and turns are executed well. I was gripped throughout. The concluding chapters are a bit underwhelming due to actually being denouement but without being segmented out like most of the other plot sections are throughout the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

This book has many triggering aspects. Be mindful of them.

The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Deluxe Edition III by Nagabe

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

There’s so much tension and we also finally start to get some meaningful answers about what’s going on in this world in this volume. Obviously, not the final hardcover volume so we’re still left with not everything resolved and a cliffhanger but this was really good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

There is a lot of potential for other triggers that also appear on the list provided but don’t quite reach there. Nonetheless, this is a very intense series with quite graphically dark and violent art at times.