svmreads's reviews
375 reviews

Helen of Troy, 1993 by Maria Zoccola

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

One of the more innovative poetry collections I’ve picked up! Definitely going to seek out more narrative and epic poetry collections.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.

I had the sense this book was going to get repetitive so I put it down. However, the food descriptions were lovely and I loved Drowsy the cat.

Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

Loved the writing, loved the immersive atmosphere, HATED the fatphobia, and wished the relationships between the main character and her mom and Max were fleshed out more. Overall, I enjoyed the book but thought it tried to tackle too much. Excited to read The Rooftop by this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, and Fatphobia

Minor: Death and Suicide

Ghostroots by 'Pemi Aguda

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.5

Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler

dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Loved the first 100 pages of this book, but it got to be tedious after a while. There were some really sharp observations and zingers but admittedly I had to skim the second half because I got bored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Blue Light Hours by Bruna Dantas Lobato

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Real Life by Brandon Taylor
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.

If I kept going with this it was gonna put me in a reading slump in the worst way. Incredibly slow and overly descriptive.

The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Normal People by Sally Rooney
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.

I feel bamboozled. I was expecting to love this and it was so boring! I read many books where not much happens but at least in those there is some element I enjoy about it. In this, I found nothing that compelled me to keep going.

The Details by Ia Genberg

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

“We’d drink cloudy homemade wine and scream loud enough to get through to the core of life, believing that there was less in between us and heaven since we were on a roof. Today, several decades later, separated from that time by a new millennium and a new kind of world, I can still understand that scream, perhaps more so than ever, that yearning for closeness and getting to the heart of it all.”