sydtalksbooks's reviews
194 reviews

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

loved this one! really filled my criminal minds obsessed heart! stevie is so flawed yet lovable and david has this chaotic energy that just really fuels my soul, i love them. also nate and janelle 🥺 precious babies too good for this world. excited to see how the rest of the story unravels!

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

i find it deeply interesting that a lot of people who loved normal people hated this book and not a small part of me wonders if it has to do with the f/f relationship aspect. sally rooney is particularly good at writing deeply unlikable characters and i felt that exciting times was just the same! and yet! so many reviews from people who start off saying they read the book because it was recommended by rooney, but you all somehow found ava insufferable and the book pretentious? both things that i’ve found to be hallmarks in sally rooney novels?

anyway all this to say i found the book pretentious, but i believe that was the point. i found ava unlikable in an endearing way, if that makes sense.

it seemed that a lot of her self hatred came from being in the closet and a history of being bullied. she sought approval from julian and it seemed pretty clear she was only interested in him because he didn’t hold the power to hurt her. theres such an interesting discussion throughout the novel about power in relationships and who has it and i think with edith for the first time ava found a relationship that could be equal and that terrified her. the fact that they both held the power to hurt the other made her feel vulnerable and scared. i like to think ava didn’t go to frankfurt and her and edith moved to a new city together instead.

Content Warnings

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

ok like the plot was very good and i read this all in one sitting, i guess my only real problems are with camille as a human being. i wanted to empathize with her and i really wanted to like her but then she did things like

hard drugs with her thirteen year old sister and a bunch of other teenagers

and

had sex with an eighteen year old and i was like :/// bestie :/// why??

like i know she was clearly mentally unwell but it still felt very yucky! and that was really my only issue. also just the way she talked about her barely teenaged sister and her friends sometimes made me feel icky like the comments their bodies and stuff?? idk it’s hard because i feel like it was intentional in order to paint an accurate picture of the darkness that surrounded those kids but it just felt weird hearing a 30 something year old’s internal dialogue about how hot some of these prepubescent girls were.... you know?

Content Warnings