swatswatwhat's reviews
50 reviews

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Reminded me of “the secret history” - liked this one better. Started off very strong. Dark academia and moody but lord the sections of full Shakespeare texts was rough. It could have been shorter without pages or Shakespeare that didn’t add much except for the theatre kids. Characters stayed pretty flat (so much opportunity to flush them out!!!) and honestly James and Richard seems so similar. Writing style was beautiful and I didn’t clue into the mystery till the near the end so bravo for that. 

could have went to specific characters issues like Alexander’s drug abuse and Wren’s stuff which I forgot what it was already

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

Quick read. Love Japanese literature so picked it up based on cover and fact the author won a Nobel prize. Beautiful writing with stunning description of snow. Words felt delicate and tranquil to match the snowyness of the town. Didn’t care for the story itself. It was sleep inducing. Classic story of a rich man falls for a sex worker. Felt no connection to the characters and their actions just seemed bizarre. Characters didn’t seem to know what they wanted which obviously was the point but it didn’t do well for me. A lot of conversation was non-sensical. Perhaps it was badly translated. 2.5 for the writing though. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I was surprised about how unmemorable this was for me. Tartt tried to put a lot of ancient Greek  in here but it came off shallow and did nothing for the story. What was the point?!?!?! You can tell what the authors intention was. The book started off moody, atmospheric and eerie but Tartt was unable to hold on to that - where was the character development for these pretentious students. This could have easily been a 300 page book instead 600 pages of nonsense. 2.5 is for the first 1/3 of the book.

I can’t believe this is written by a woman .. the only main female character was flat with a personality of a door knob. A few more thoughts…

1. Why did the professor seem like he’d be a significant character but barely appeared in the story beyond the introduction with chunks of greek lessons. I was waiting to see the tie in from the lessons

2. All the characters blend into one except Richard and Bunny.

3. The first half of the book was good and lots anticipation but once the murder happened, the rest was such a drag.

4. Terribly written Camilla character. 

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The beginning pulled me in right away with the 3 images and bam… straight to his existentialism.

Then the misogyny started so it’s hard for to rate it any higher even though I enjoyed a lot of the book. To Yozo, women are simple and empty. 

Yozo is miserable, make terrible choices yet you care (ish) for him. His inner world and mental illness (mix of depression and narcissism) depicts the darkness of humanity. The later half of the book was less interesting as it focused more on actions with characters and less stream of consciousness rambling which is what drew me in.

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

1.0

Not sure what I expected but this was a yawn fest. This really isn’t my type of novel (coming of age type) so the review feels unfair.  I solely picked up this book because I loved “normal people” (the movie, didn’t read the book). 

These characters seem juvenile and I didn’t care about them. Can’t think of the last book where I cared this little about ALL the characters. 


Writing style is fine. Not sure if the book was trying to get into philosophy or be erotic. At some points, it felt a story a new writer would put together. Not a fan of Rooney - first and last book. 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

A very readable memoir filled with raw emotions, beautiful descriptions of food, honest words about the complex relationship with her mother. The first half of the book really hit home. Wanting your mothers approval yet fighting for own identity as a child, finding your place as a child of immigrant, harsh fights and words that stick with you years later. The last couple of chapters felt unnecessary for me - the reconnecting with her Korean family was sweet but felt a little dragged out.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

4.5

Gut wrenching. Ishiguro’s writing always leave with a specific unnameable feeling. You leave feeling haunted by the book for days. He taps into the human condition in a way that leaves me hollow that no other author can. Beautiful and sad. 

A powerful exploration of important ethical questions in a way that is harsh yet warm. 

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

adventurous medium-paced

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

1.5

This is one of those books that feel likes a drag but felt like I had to finish it. Wish I stopped mid way when it became a real drag for me to continue. 

 I’m not in the mindset of finishing every book you start but this one felt different cuz it had all the keys things I would have normally been into - magical realism (legends, insomnia disease, dirt eating), transcending timelines, dreaminess, beautiful writing with lots of descriptors  and adjectives.

Overall, it just had too many of boring parts with incessant amount of characters (even beyond the main family tree). I spent most of the time just trying to keep the characters’ name straight.  Many troubling topics like incest, rape, bestiality. I didn’t feel connected or moved by the characters and wasn’t provoked by any of their actions (minus being jarred by the troubling topics).

At the end of the day, this novel is a love it or hate it type read.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

An easy, quick, one sitting read. Great genre and quick pace. Writing style was clean and crisp, yet melodic with a few thought provoking moments. Spread over hundreds of years, it’s reflects the truth about living in variations across different life times. Looking forward to reading glass hotel.

I usually don’t like to read and watch anything to refers to the covid-19 pandemic … but Mandel only has covid-19 as a small sliver of all pandemics in her novel.

“My point is, there’s always something. I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history, that now, after all these millennia of false alarms, nowis finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world”

The Overstory by Richard Powers

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.5

Wow. Makes me want to run into a forest and touch every piece of nature. A dense 550 pager that could have been shortened but so so compelling. There were some repetitive thoughts but purposeful and intentional to drive the points home.

Kind of felt like the characters and stories were branches where some connected and other were just adjacent. Neelay‘s storyline didn’t seem as relevant but was lovely in its own right. Some parts were confusing and ambiguous however the structure of the story and the unfolding was stunning. 

 
"She remembers now why she never had the patience for nature. No drama, no development, no colliding hopes and fears. Branching, tangled, messy plots. And she could never keep the characters straight."

Some unanswered questions. I was confused by Ray and Dorothy’s child?? Was this Olivia or their chestnut tree?