seyoban's reviews
245 reviews

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Shirley Jackson’s writing is just so beautiful. This book was weird and creepy in the best way. Strangely cathartic to read as a person who’d also like to hide away from the world with a cat and vegetable patch (but without the murder). 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

The kind of book that makes you want to step into the author’s brain to try and figure out how a person can be so imaginative and talented. So glad I went in blind and avoided spoilers.  

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

There’s “unlikeable main character” and then there’s this 💀 this book was a PAINFUL read at times but that’s not a criticism, really just the intended effect. I found the middle to be pretty slow and repetitive. I wish some of the whining from the middle would have been cut to allow for more space to explore the classic bruised ego to alt-right pipeline (see Russell Brand for real life example) which was hinted at towards the end. I appreciate what RF Kuang is doing with her amazing writing and the messages she’s putting out into the world. 

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

inspiring medium-paced

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

3.5

An enjoyable read but not my favourite of her books. The pacing seemed pretty off - Carrie’s character development all seemed to suddenly kick in within the space of a few pages without it feeling like a gradual process. It got a little repetitive at times but I still couldn’t put it down, especially because tennis is perhaps the only sport I find exciting. A strange choice to have a white author write a Latina main character without that part of her identity being explored in much depth, especially when both Nicki and Gwen made mention of racism that they faced. I find it hard to believe that Carrie’s heritage wouldn’t have formed some of the media narrative surrounding her, especially back in the 80s & 90s. Overall I liked it but it has its flaws!

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

3.0

Babel by R.F. Kuang

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This is a masterpiece of a book and a complete one of a kind. I thought it surely couldn’t live up to the hype but it exceeded it for me. I feel sad, angry, and powerless but also inspired and motivated. Wow. 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

dark mysterious 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

4.75

Everything is dark and awful and none of the characters are likeable and I felt like I needed to take a shower after every reading of this book bc it all made me feel so icky. Just pure bleakness but Gillian Flynn is so incredible and it’s such a page-turning mystery that I can’t help but love it. Potentially controversial opinion but by far my favourite book of hers for the sheer chaos of it all. 

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

I really didn’t expect to like this book after reading the first chapter because I found Esther to be a little irritating. I thought her quirkiness came across as too try-hard and didn’t know if I could stomach a whole book of it. But then I got to the passage where she watches the 1/50 video and the absolute beauty of it turned me around. And THEN it turns out that her try-hard quirkiness wasn’t a pitfall of the author’s characterisation of Esther but a very intentional choice and I love it when authors catch me out like that. Mental health struggles are handled with such compassion in this story and I feel like a better person for having read it.