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sheonceread's reviews
74 reviews
Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
quite a book as my introduction into clarice lispector. most of the times i dont know whats going on as it jumps through things really abruptly but i find myself enthralled and charmed by the writing nevertheless. looking forward to reading more of her
The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World by Vincent Bevins
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I don’t even know where to begin. which one of the long list of lines i should quote first. this one took a long time to finish, and an even longer time to digest.
as an indonesian, i have only recently unlearned the PKI propaganda fed to me in school. it wasnt until 2020 that i realized the history i was told is not at all what had happened. in 2023, i went to london and found this book while browsing Daunt Books in Marylebone and thought it would be ironic to buy it in the UK. so i did.
Vincent Bevins did a really great job with the storytelling. parts of why its very hard for me to digest this book is also because i’ve not read much history books or non-fiction written by journalists, but Vincent made the journey very doable. i can tell how much heart, passion, humility, and awareness went into telling this story.
it is very jarring to learn that the name of my hometown has a history of having a horrible connotation to it. every part of this book is very very heartbreaking and i hate that this is my country’s history and (shamefully) our legacy. nothing ever changes with our government, which is even more apparent (and worse) in Prabowo’s regime.
i also love how this isn’t Only about Indonesia, but everyone else that are affected by the Jakarta method. im rambling, but i need this book to be more widespread. put it in american school curriculum, put it in indonesian school curriculum. this is what kids should be learning about. they need to know what once was, what could have been, and what we became.
as an indonesian, i have only recently unlearned the PKI propaganda fed to me in school. it wasnt until 2020 that i realized the history i was told is not at all what had happened. in 2023, i went to london and found this book while browsing Daunt Books in Marylebone and thought it would be ironic to buy it in the UK. so i did.
Vincent Bevins did a really great job with the storytelling. parts of why its very hard for me to digest this book is also because i’ve not read much history books or non-fiction written by journalists, but Vincent made the journey very doable. i can tell how much heart, passion, humility, and awareness went into telling this story.
it is very jarring to learn that the name of my hometown has a history of having a horrible connotation to it. every part of this book is very very heartbreaking and i hate that this is my country’s history and (shamefully) our legacy. nothing ever changes with our government, which is even more apparent (and worse) in Prabowo’s regime.
i also love how this isn’t Only about Indonesia, but everyone else that are affected by the Jakarta method. im rambling, but i need this book to be more widespread. put it in american school curriculum, put it in indonesian school curriculum. this is what kids should be learning about. they need to know what once was, what could have been, and what we became.
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
i usually like no plot, pure vibes books but this one was actually just pure boredom. two of my favorite booktuber rated this 5 stars so im starting to question their judgement but perhaps it’s just not for me. i keep waiting for a hook but it never came. would finish if it was max 150-180 pages but what else can these girls say that needed 280+ pages??
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
Angela Davis the woman that you are. this was very insightful and so so important. i kinda cant believe things said in 2013, which is over a decade ago, is still highly relevant today. shows you how much we need to fix still.
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
a haunting, disgusting book. i hated everything about it, and i hated myself for being so enthralled by it that i finished it almost as immediately as i started it. it’s an important and relevant commentary on what propaganda and blind trust towards rumors and the government can do to society. this is by far the craziest premise i’ve ever known but the story didn’t live up to it. there are so much that it could have been but in the end im left with a “ok.. what now” feeling. is the ending meant to signify how humanity is indeed depraved and there’s no saving us? what is it truly trying to say?
i wish instead of focusing on the gore and the process of how the meat is being produced, the story could’ve dive more into the how and why of this world’s reality. what does it do to the ecosystem now that animals are gone? how many years did the Transition took place? was overpopulation Really that bad that the govt had to make up this may or may not be propaganda? i didnt need to learn how the humans are being processed as livestock to understand how horrifying it is, but alas we have a BUNCH of chapters walking us through that.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
"After all, since the world began, we've been eating each other. If not symbolically, then we've been literally gorging on each other.
The Transition has enabled us to be less hypocritical."
a haunting, disgusting book. i hated everything about it, and i hated myself for being so enthralled by it that i finished it almost as immediately as i started it. it’s an important and relevant commentary on what propaganda and blind trust towards rumors and the government can do to society. this is by far the craziest premise i’ve ever known but the story didn’t live up to it. there are so much that it could have been but in the end im left with a “ok.. what now” feeling. is the ending meant to signify how humanity is indeed depraved and there’s no saving us? what is it truly trying to say?
i wish instead of focusing on the gore and the process of how the meat is being produced, the story could’ve dive more into the how and why of this world’s reality. what does it do to the ecosystem now that animals are gone? how many years did the Transition took place? was overpopulation Really that bad that the govt had to make up this may or may not be propaganda? i didnt need to learn how the humans are being processed as livestock to understand how horrifying it is, but alas we have a BUNCH of chapters walking us through that.
moreover, i hated everything about Marcos. his ass was a depressed, angry, miserable contrarian the whole time just for him to end up doing alladat. like wdym you spent the whole book being all holier than thou about hating the whole Transition, being disgusted by his job, etc just for him to r word a woman, impregnates her, cages her the whole duration of pregnancy albeit treating her “humanely” and not even letting her hold her son after she gave birth???? and cecilia saying “whyd you kill her she could’ve produced us more babies girl shut the fawk up??I HATED THIS even though i know it’s to show that even Marcos himself is depraved and a product of this world no matter how different he is from most.
i do however really like the thought exercise this gave me, a lot of thinking will go into this one and i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since i finished. this one sticks with you. it also reminded me that in any state of dystopia, it will always be women who suffers the most.
i do however really like the thought exercise this gave me, a lot of thinking will go into this one and i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since i finished. this one sticks with you. it also reminded me that in any state of dystopia, it will always be women who suffers the most.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Car accident
Re: dan Perempuan by Maman Suherman
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
(indonesian review below)
A very important read. it didn’t dive into the topics of prostitution in a theoretical/analytical way as much as i would’ve liked it, and i find that it lacks an actual conclusion besides some reflections. i liked Re: better than PeRempuan, because i feel like the latter dragged on too long than it needed to be. some parts are really beautiful, some are kinda questionable (the author was quoting tweets at some point 😭 ). there are also so many typos and mistakes for a book published by gramedia.
but despite that, i think everyone should read the “Re:” part at least once in their lives, what a dark and hard-to-digest thing it is learning about prostitution in Jakarta.
—
Bacaan yang sangat penting. Sayangnya, buku ini tidak membahas topik prostitusi secara teoretis/analitis sedalam yang gue harapkan, dan gue merasa buku ini kurang memiliki kesimpulan yang jelas, selain beberapa refleksi. Gue lebih suka Re: dibandingkan PeRempuan, karena menurut gue yang kedua kerasa terlalu berlarut-larut. Beberapa bagian penulisannya elok banget, sementara beberapa lainnya agak questionable (girl idk what to translate this to) (penulis bahkan sempat mengutip tweet 😭). Selain itu, ada begitu banyak typo dan kesalahan yg menurut gue fatal untuk sebuah buku yang diterbitkan oleh Gramedia.
Namun, terlepas dari itu, gue rasa semua orang setidaknya harus membaca bagian Re: sekali seumur hidup. Betapa kelam dan sulit dicerna rasanya mempelajari realitas prostitusi di Jakarta.
A very important read. it didn’t dive into the topics of prostitution in a theoretical/analytical way as much as i would’ve liked it, and i find that it lacks an actual conclusion besides some reflections. i liked Re: better than PeRempuan, because i feel like the latter dragged on too long than it needed to be. some parts are really beautiful, some are kinda questionable (the author was quoting tweets at some point 😭 ). there are also so many typos and mistakes for a book published by gramedia.
but despite that, i think everyone should read the “Re:” part at least once in their lives, what a dark and hard-to-digest thing it is learning about prostitution in Jakarta.
—
Bacaan yang sangat penting. Sayangnya, buku ini tidak membahas topik prostitusi secara teoretis/analitis sedalam yang gue harapkan, dan gue merasa buku ini kurang memiliki kesimpulan yang jelas, selain beberapa refleksi. Gue lebih suka Re: dibandingkan PeRempuan, karena menurut gue yang kedua kerasa terlalu berlarut-larut. Beberapa bagian penulisannya elok banget, sementara beberapa lainnya agak questionable (girl idk what to translate this to) (penulis bahkan sempat mengutip tweet 😭). Selain itu, ada begitu banyak typo dan kesalahan yg menurut gue fatal untuk sebuah buku yang diterbitkan oleh Gramedia.
Namun, terlepas dari itu, gue rasa semua orang setidaknya harus membaca bagian Re: sekali seumur hidup. Betapa kelam dan sulit dicerna rasanya mempelajari realitas prostitusi di Jakarta.
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
what a haunting story. i dont know how but i can feel the atmosphere of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and grief. the writing style is simple enough but not diluting the heavy subject. i absolutely feel every emotion the MC feels especially during tense moments (the memory police searching her house, the tsunami ), which has never really happened before while reading a book. i loved the ending as well. easily one of my favorite reads of 2025 so far. i especially loved the friendship between MC and the old man.
however, i kinda don’t like the parts where it’s the passages of the MC’s novel. i lowkey dgaf sorry girl 😭 i understand though it was supposed to parallel her own experience as the author and the oppresive world she’s living in, but i found that it was dragging too long at times. i feel like 1 page for certain chapters would have sufficed.
moreover, im not a fan of one of the plot choice for the characters. like the choice to make MC and R fall in love w each other, making him cheat on his literal wife with a new born??? whom was still pregnant when he left her?,? their characters and relationship w each other could’ve been fleshed out in so many other ways imo. im just not a fan of infidelity in a plot where it doesn’t require any. R’s wife could have been a parent, or a sibling (who used to be dependent on R before his disappearance) .
but other than that, a very important read. should be a classic by now. what a scary thing it is to live in a military/police controlled state. i should know, im Indonesian 🙂
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Men who start by burning books end by burning other men.
what a haunting story. i dont know how but i can feel the atmosphere of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and grief. the writing style is simple enough but not diluting the heavy subject. i absolutely feel every emotion the MC feels especially during tense moments (
however, i kinda don’t like the parts where it’s the passages of the MC’s novel. i lowkey dgaf sorry girl 😭 i understand though it was supposed to parallel her own experience as the author and the oppresive world she’s living in, but i found that it was dragging too long at times. i feel like 1 page for certain chapters would have sufficed.
moreover, im not a fan of one of the plot choice for the characters. like the
but other than that, a very important read. should be a classic by now. what a scary thing it is to live in a military/police controlled state. i should know, im Indonesian 🙂
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
read this cus some says that this is an inspiration for Yellowjackets. i love the premise, i see the vision, i just dont rly like how it's written. i wish there's more clear timeframe of how long the boys were stranded so their descent into paranoia can be a bit easier to understand.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
this is the one of the books over 400 pages that I have finished since i was a teen. my attention span was declining more and more each year i grow into an adult, but I could not put Pachinko down and never at some point i thought that i have to push through the book. i didn’t want it to end.
i have always loved historical fiction, and the history of colonial korea was not one im familiar with. as an Indonesian, whose country had a brief (albeit very violent) colonization period by the Japanese, i am familiar of the cruelty of the nation towards a lot of east and south east asian countries. through all the cast of characters, i learned their shame and generational trauma. by the end, i feel like they were my family too.
every character, even the side ones, feels very sufficiently fleshed out. the omnipresent narrator made it possible to know every angle of the story possible and i really like that when it comes to a story with a lot of characters. i found that i was always rooting for them to find just a smidge of happiness, but they just keep suffering lmao 😭 this was written simply, succinctly, and beautifully. i knew by Book II that this would be a 5 star for me.
my only complaint is that many instances in the story feels like it was told too briefly or abrupt, especially with characters i deem are very central to the story. like finding out Isak was imprisoned for 2 years being mentioned like a passing, Noa’s death?? this one broke me and then there were limited follow up or acknowledgement about this, Haruki being gay just brushed off like that wasn’t a nuclear bomb in itself, Yoseb’s death only took half of a sentence and 0 acknowledgment after that from any other character even Kyunghee, and many more.
all in all, this is a book i will recommend to anyone who would read it. and i will revisit for many years to come. now, onto watching the adaptation series.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Sho ga nai, sho ga nai. How many times had he heard these words? It cannot be helped. His mother had apparently hated that expression, and suddenly he understood her rage against this cultural resignation that violated her beliefs and wishes.
this is the one of the books over 400 pages that I have finished since i was a teen. my attention span was declining more and more each year i grow into an adult, but I could not put Pachinko down and never at some point i thought that i have to push through the book. i didn’t want it to end.
i have always loved historical fiction, and the history of colonial korea was not one im familiar with. as an Indonesian, whose country had a brief (albeit very violent) colonization period by the Japanese, i am familiar of the cruelty of the nation towards a lot of east and south east asian countries. through all the cast of characters, i learned their shame and generational trauma. by the end, i feel like they were my family too.
every character, even the side ones, feels very sufficiently fleshed out. the omnipresent narrator made it possible to know every angle of the story possible and i really like that when it comes to a story with a lot of characters. i found that i was always rooting for them to find just a smidge of happiness, but they just keep suffering lmao 😭 this was written simply, succinctly, and beautifully. i knew by Book II that this would be a 5 star for me.
my only complaint is that many instances in the story feels like it was told too briefly or abrupt, especially with characters i deem are very central to the story.
all in all, this is a book i will recommend to anyone who would read it. and i will revisit for many years to come. now, onto watching the adaptation series.
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.5
Helene has such a humble yet witty way with words. you can just tell she’s a new yorker. her observations on London is so funny and fresh i can almost see everything that she’s describing.