thecatladybooknook_penny's reviews
564 reviews

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

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reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

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

4.5

The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

I'll like reading this in the future as a light palette cleanser.
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.
Not feeling it
The Brazilian Cat by Arthur Conan Doyle

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

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emotional funny hopeful relaxing slow-paced

4.0

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

LOVED this book but I love sad and intense books. 
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
Gross sexual violence innuendo and violence that I felt was getting worse and worse. 
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


I'm really not sure how I feel about this. Definitely a tragic story for everyone involved.

MORALLY, it's all wrong... from the wife to Ethan's thoughts about some things.... and then when you see what happens to make him lame (which you see his limp in the prologue) and where everyone ends up and how they got there, it's all just so sad and tragic.

So taking morality out of it I see where some feel sorry for Ethan and all he's been through and can agree with them especially because he explains his situation and the dreams he had.

There was an Afterword written by Alfred Kazin (whoever he is....) and he says that Wharton's themes here are her favorites that are in every book...determination, passion and artfulness. I can see these in both books that I've read so far from Wharton.

I definitely don't like this one like I did Age of Innocence.... yes the writing and storytelling and descriptions (chef's kiss).... but no to the plott. I loved the structure of the storytelling...a prologue in current time told thru a stranger'sobservations, then Ethan's POV until the very ending, then back to the stranger.