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selenajournal's reviews
1141 reviews
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.5
The green water, the grey-white daylight, coarse sand, vast and silent cliffs, all complete and perfect in themselves. In nature, he thinks, there is no such thing as ugliness. -pg 199
Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The Fury by Alex Michaelides
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.5
The roof of the world is open.
Let us count stars and live in their luminous gaze.
Which is to say, these stars' deep past, which is to say, our future, bright as Polaris. -pg 10
Charisma does not originate inside the person called "charismatic." It comes from the need of others to believe that special people exist. -pg 17
This cold, dry white wine sent me dreaming about a world where all my clothes were white3 and I slept on white sheets and would never be traded for a dowry or violated by rough and unworthy men or forced to drink anything less than the finest French wines of the smallest and oldest and most esteemed appellations, and in a way I could say that I was living that life, right here at this gas station. At least in spirit I was. -pg 22
Currently, he said, we are headed toward extinction in a shiny, driverless car, and the question is: How do we exit this car? -pg 25
And then he leaned in like billions before him have done, action upon a desire to kiss some woman. In such a scene between new lovers, a moment repeated everywhere all the time with no originality to it - none - Lucien surely felt that something singular and novel was taking place. -pg 47
Something happens and people think, This was meant to be. The random nature of luck and of incident is too disturbing to acknowledge. I'm not the first to know this. It's in the Bible. Ecclesiastes declares that life has no meaning, that evil will be rewarded, and goodness punished. He says that even the most honorable man can be left in town to die in the street, while the greediest fool gets a eulogy and a proper burial. But either people skip that part of the Old Testament, or they never read the Bible at all, and instead they follow their instinct to mythify a sequence of random events and the stream of strangers they encounter in life: Good things happen to them or people they like and they think, "justice." Bad things happen to people they don't like and once again they think, "justice." -pg 48
I'm aware that iconic beauty involves some deviation from universal standards, and I don't have that kind of beauty. I wouldn't want it. My banal and conventional looks have served me well. People think I look familiar. Have I met you? they ask. But I'm merely what white women are meant to look like. Symmetrical face, small straight nose, regular features, brown eyes, brown hair, clear skin: these are not identifying descriptors. -pg 61
A high-speed train was approaching from the opposite direction. As it whooshed past our own, the effect of wind between the two trains stopped my heart.
I know perfectly well that each train has its own track. I know they won't collide. -pg 72
We'd been together only a few months, and he knew nothing about me. He was in a couple with a woman who didn't exist. But still, we, they, that couple, she and he, they had their way of doing things. -pg 88
Its temporary nature was unknown to him, but no friendship, no contract of sympathy or trust with other people, comes with a guarantee of permanence. -pg 106
It is hard to explain, he said. You would have to have lived as I live, done what I have done, learned what I have learned, in order to hear what I hear. You would need a different consciousness, he said. -pg 114
MY biker and these tramps, as people who organize their life around some subculture or other: People can sometimes pretend so thoroughly that they forget they are pretending. At which point, it could even be said that they are no longer pretending. -pg 144
It is natural to attempt to reinforce identity, given how fragile people are underneath these identities they present to the world as "themselves." Their stridencies are fragile, while their need to protect their ego, and what forms that ego, is strong. -pg 209
Love confirms who a person is, and that they are worth loving. Politics do not confirm who a person is. -pg 209
We pick up things along the way that are of no use at all. The trick, he said, is to acknowledge these images, and to let them float past. -pg 228
"Men are all the same," she says. "They try to get what they want. And after they get it, they change. They're completely different." -pg 237
What I don't like about jumping from heights into water, including from diving boards - even low ones into clear water whose depth is known - is that once you've initiated your jump, you cannot change your mind. You can't turn back. I don't like irreversible decisions. I don't see the point. I always want the option of doubling back, reversing course, changing plans. -pg 273
Let us count stars and live in their luminous gaze.
Which is to say, these stars' deep past, which is to say, our future, bright as Polaris. -pg 10
Charisma does not originate inside the person called "charismatic." It comes from the need of others to believe that special people exist. -pg 17
This cold, dry white wine sent me dreaming about a world where all my clothes were white3 and I slept on white sheets and would never be traded for a dowry or violated by rough and unworthy men or forced to drink anything less than the finest French wines of the smallest and oldest and most esteemed appellations, and in a way I could say that I was living that life, right here at this gas station. At least in spirit I was. -pg 22
Currently, he said, we are headed toward extinction in a shiny, driverless car, and the question is: How do we exit this car? -pg 25
And then he leaned in like billions before him have done, action upon a desire to kiss some woman. In such a scene between new lovers, a moment repeated everywhere all the time with no originality to it - none - Lucien surely felt that something singular and novel was taking place. -pg 47
Something happens and people think, This was meant to be. The random nature of luck and of incident is too disturbing to acknowledge. I'm not the first to know this. It's in the Bible. Ecclesiastes declares that life has no meaning, that evil will be rewarded, and goodness punished. He says that even the most honorable man can be left in town to die in the street, while the greediest fool gets a eulogy and a proper burial. But either people skip that part of the Old Testament, or they never read the Bible at all, and instead they follow their instinct to mythify a sequence of random events and the stream of strangers they encounter in life: Good things happen to them or people they like and they think, "justice." Bad things happen to people they don't like and once again they think, "justice." -pg 48
I'm aware that iconic beauty involves some deviation from universal standards, and I don't have that kind of beauty. I wouldn't want it. My banal and conventional looks have served me well. People think I look familiar. Have I met you? they ask. But I'm merely what white women are meant to look like. Symmetrical face, small straight nose, regular features, brown eyes, brown hair, clear skin: these are not identifying descriptors. -pg 61
A high-speed train was approaching from the opposite direction. As it whooshed past our own, the effect of wind between the two trains stopped my heart.
I know perfectly well that each train has its own track. I know they won't collide. -pg 72
We'd been together only a few months, and he knew nothing about me. He was in a couple with a woman who didn't exist. But still, we, they, that couple, she and he, they had their way of doing things. -pg 88
Its temporary nature was unknown to him, but no friendship, no contract of sympathy or trust with other people, comes with a guarantee of permanence. -pg 106
It is hard to explain, he said. You would have to have lived as I live, done what I have done, learned what I have learned, in order to hear what I hear. You would need a different consciousness, he said. -pg 114
MY biker and these tramps, as people who organize their life around some subculture or other: People can sometimes pretend so thoroughly that they forget they are pretending. At which point, it could even be said that they are no longer pretending. -pg 144
It is natural to attempt to reinforce identity, given how fragile people are underneath these identities they present to the world as "themselves." Their stridencies are fragile, while their need to protect their ego, and what forms that ego, is strong. -pg 209
Love confirms who a person is, and that they are worth loving. Politics do not confirm who a person is. -pg 209
We pick up things along the way that are of no use at all. The trick, he said, is to acknowledge these images, and to let them float past. -pg 228
"Men are all the same," she says. "They try to get what they want. And after they get it, they change. They're completely different." -pg 237
What I don't like about jumping from heights into water, including from diving boards - even low ones into clear water whose depth is known - is that once you've initiated your jump, you cannot change your mind. You can't turn back. I don't like irreversible decisions. I don't see the point. I always want the option of doubling back, reversing course, changing plans. -pg 273
Dayspring by Anthony Oliveira
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5