saramdeuri's reviews
218 reviews

The Husky & His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (Novel) Vol. 4 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

5.0

love how miss meatbun can go from an eloquent, moving monologue about the intersection of love and desire and the dangers of falling into all-consuming lust and then follow it up near-immediately with "oh no, shizun fell on mo rans behemoth schlong! what now!" 

anyways said monologues were very impressive. I'm intrigued to see more !! I think I'll wait for the official English books to read the rest, because I'm enjoying this translation so much. genuinely a phenomenal job.

The Husky & His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (Novel) Vol. 3 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

4.0

I'm gonna need a while to recover from this

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

simply not compelling to me. the humour works better for me in visual media, I think

Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Such an excellent exploration of language/linguistics and feminism. The bits and pieces of invented documents and speeches etc at the beginning of each chapter really worked in bringing the world alive. You really get to feel for the women, especially Nazareth and Michaela.

they're a lesbian power couple to me...

I'll refrain from writing much here because I feel it's one of those books that works well with minimal knowledge.

The context surrounding the book is super interesting too, what with the author being an accomplished linguist and feminist too. I feel she really achieved what she set out for in this book. I doubt I'll read the rest of the series, because I enjoy the open ending of this one so much, but I'm interested in reading her more academic linguistics stuff.

The Husky & His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (Novel) Vol. 2 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

4.0

I'll be honest, I got a little tired of the Xia Sini stuff after about 10 chapters, but it was still a little fun after that too. Especially appreciated the discussion on how this affected him emotionally. Also loved finding out more about Taxian-Jun -

you mean to tell me he's been treating Wanning like a wife this whole time, complaining about how hard his day's been, falling asleep in his lap? man's in denial. he's been in denial so long. how long will you take to realise why the box opened for Wanning? too long, frankly

I'll keep reading on for sure, the timeline-muddling is a great tension-builder. I need to know why he was sent back really... and who that guy is... and what happens to Bugui... 

Dubcon: Fanfiction, Power, and Sexual Consent by Milena Popova

3.5

a fairly thorough look at how fanfiction communities approach issues of consent inside and outside fandom. I do feel that there is much more to say, though I understand that the author was tackling a few specific points. Still, I wish there was a little more discussion on eroticised non-consent. 

The author is incredibly respectful, for the topic that they're talking about, and the epilogue that highlights racism issues within fandom was also much needed. I definitely recommend this to anyone who is in fandom space and fandom studies. 

In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation by Mona Baker

3.0

pretty good collection of theories, if a bit too verbose at points. I appreciate the addition of extra resources and exercises added at each chapter, since the languages I speak aren't talked about in very much detail at all here. this is a great book for Arabic translators especially.

The Husky & His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (Novel) Vol. 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

4.0

sorry excuse me as I scream incoherently about this for the next three days. 

certainly not the best BL I've read but probably up there, depends how the next few volumes deliver! hilarious to see mo ran immediately revert back to 15yo boy thought patterns post-time travel. very intrigued by the lust v love dichotomy the author presents, with mo ran so confused about the weight of his emotions. also like to see a teacher/student dynamic where the teacher is entirely aware that morally speaking he's in the wrong (I do still ship it though. unfortunately. I would in fact argue that mo ran is more morally reprehensible than wanning, you'll know exactly why)

good translation work overall, flows smoothly.

Heaven Official's Blessing Manhua Vol. 1 by 墨香铜臭, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

4.0

very gorgeous art but I agree with other reviews - you're better off reading the book first to understand the bits and pieces that are left out, and also to avoid the annoyance that is fifty million brim-full speech boxes. much easier to read the books. hualian are SO beautiful in this though WOW brb buying merch

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong, Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

I loved seeing all the extra side characters get the fleshing out they deserved. big shout-out to Zhuzhi-lang for being the babiest of all babies. my sweet child... also adored the airplane extras, such a fun look into Qinghuas brain. I feel mxtx had a great handle on characterisation, even in her very first series.
I am, though, slightly traumatised from the wine scene. I don't think I've ever read a scene that made me imagine something so dirty that I had to look away from the book like a catholic nun. and I've been reading fanfiction for approaching ten years now