sandrinepal's reviews
1234 reviews

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

 I confess! It was the cover art for me.

But really, the premise is alluring, too. Inheriting an evil empire from a distant relative (in practice, if not in the family tree sense)? I'm down for that. Hasn't happened yet, but now that I've read this, I feel better equipped to deal when it does. Communicating with genetically enhanced animals, including cats? Oh, I'm there all right.

The execution had moments of The Incredibles meets Percival Everett's Dr. No (highest possible praise, there). Now, this book does not have quite the surgically scalding effectiveness of Everett's prose, but the spoof of the villain trope is still well done. Scalzi mobilizes a style that owes a lot to scriptwriting: much witty banter and laugh-out-loud verbal jousts. I'm not saying it's not a fun read, I'm saying it feels a little familiar, a little packaged-for-your-enjoyment. And enjoy it I did, though I wouldn't say it's book club material. 

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

1.5

Oooookay, so. *knuckle-cracking* Upper-middle-class white dude goes on a voyage of self-discovery and returns aged all of... what, 32? to deliver his wisdom unto the world. Sign. Me. Up. (Please don't.) The tone was incredibly dogmatic and the research was shoddy at best. If you're going to supersede all of Western philosophy about a life well lived, you could at least put in the work to find out who's been down that exact friggin' path over the last couple of millenia. To be clear, I would have zero problem with the guy presenting his personal experience and the changes he's made as a result of it. What really rankles is the notion that it can all be whipped up into universalist advice. It's like: oh, existentialism, nihilism, ethics? here: I made it all simple and easily digested for you. Honestly, I think Philosophy for Dummies is a much more scholarly exercise than this book. I also firmly believe that it took off in large part thanks to its title (which is not unheard of in the self-help genre, I realize that). But I say, if you must have a book with the F-word in its title, read Go the Fuck to Sleep, as it is shorter, more pragmatic, and much more to the point.

Faut pas prendre les cons pour des gens #5 by Emmanuel Reuzé

dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

 Ah là là... ça s'essouffle ! Et pourtant, je suis ultra fan des 3 premiers (le 4e était déjà un tout petit poil moins bien). Mais là, le personnage récurrent de Marcel (fondateur de Marcel Mendicity) est beaucoup moins efficace, justement du fait de son retour au fil des pages. Ne boudons pas notre plaisir, il y a quand même des planches de génie, comme d'habitude, c'est juste que la totalité est un peu moins acérée qu'avant. Ou alors, la réalité est devenue tellement n'importe quoi que même Reuzé n'arrive plus à fournir. 

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I sort of need to read The Magic Mountain, y'all. First, it was Colm Tóibín's The Magician, now Olga Tokarczuk... Is the (literary) universe trying to tell me that Thomas Mann is relevant or something? Honestly, the blurb about a horror retelling was what really hooked me, but that's one thing on which the book didn't really deliver. I mean, without spoiling anything, horrific things do happen, but that's (very) far from the main drive of the novel. Now the unselfconscious woman-bashing throughout: that was a sight to behold, but the real final nail was the coda in the Author's Note at the end where she lists the (shockingly all male, what?!) authors from whom she lifted the sentiments expressed by the characters in the book. That was chef's-kiss savage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Medical trauma

The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J.W. Ocker

funny informative lighthearted slow-paced

2.5

So I would call this a slow read, but actually it's more of a repetitive read. I get the idea of trying to rep all 50 states, but man, some states just have very little to offer (In the way of cryptids, that is. I'm sure they're chock full of wonderful people.) So either you grit your teeth and smile tensely, or you turn it into a drinking game. For every cryptid that was sighted at night, take a shot. Every cryptid first sighted by teenagers, take a shot. Every cryptid that popped up between the '50s and '70s... you know what to do. You'll be smashed before you reach the South. I don't mean that there aren't any hidden gems in this book (looking at you, Fresno Nightcrawler, you absurd delight, you) but you have to dig kinda deep to find them.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This novella packs a nice little punch, though the blurbs had me hoping for rather more than what the twist ended up being. The first person pov is helpful in building up the suspense and ultimate horror, without a clunky final 'reveal'.

Julia by Sandra Newman

dark emotional inspiring 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

1. Who run the world? Girls. And women. Even if they have to plunge toilets, trade in black market goods, and do what it takes to get their kicks off-telescreen.
2. Winston Smith is cute, but a bit of a weenie, tbh. Change my mind.
3. Story drags on a bit in the last third or so. Otherwise, this would have been a contender for a 5.

Les vraies gens : Sociologie de trottoir by Guillaume Meurice

funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

Ça se lit vite et bien, comme du bon Meurice. Par contre, ça fait tout drôle de lire ces réflexions après avoir déjà fini "Dans l'oreille du cyclone". Guigui était tellement reconnaissant à France Inter de la liberté éditoriale qui était laissée à l'équipe... Ses commentaires sur les lignes qu'il se refuse à franchir avaient aussi une tout autre saveur avec le recul des évènements de cette année. Comme quoi, on n'est pas à l'abri de Roger au pouvoir.

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This was clearly a case of great expectations: I was so absolutely enamored with "Leave the World Behind" that I figured I was going to be completely bowled over by this. Welp. Not so much. I mean, it's a great story, it's well written, but it lacks the urgency, the darkness, and honestly the bite of LTWB. Nothing really gets upended in the course of the narrative; in fact, I read the climax as almost... moralizing? I don't know, maybe I missed something, but this was not the homerun I anticipated.

The Last Assassin: The Hunt for the Killers of Julius Caesar by Peter Stothard

challenging informative slow-paced

3.0

A+ for subject matter, C for execution, and F- for style. This is a VERY (emphasis not just mine) detailed account of the months that followed the assassination of Caesar. The usual suspects feature prominently (Brutus, Cicero, the new triumviri) but so do bit players in the plot and the subsequent civil war. It's especially enlightening to see family rivalries and old grudges come to the fore in service of Octavian's new thirst for revenge/legitimacy. Because ultimately, it's hard to countenance that the future Augustus did all this to honor the manes of his dearly departed "dad". He was a shrewd kid, with a need to assert his authority, and getting rid of (almost) everyone who was anyone on the political scene is one heck of a way to achieve that. The shifting pov didn't do much to illuminate the relationships between factions, let alone when allegiances turned on a dime, but mostly there were some turns of phrase that were very opaque and I found myself doing more than one double-take to make sense of some sentences.