thefigtree's reviews
33 reviews

The Graduate by Charles Webb

3.0

Stoner by John Williams

5.0

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Suicide, and Drug abuse

Minor: Vomit, Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Skellig by David Almond

dark emotional hopeful slow-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content and Animal death

Minor: Child death

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Absolutely devastating- I've never read anything like it stylistically. 
I don't know how I felt about the ending but that's not really the point, I guess. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Rape

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

dark tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Racial slurs

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

fast paced enough to not become boring but slow enough to stay reflective. i loved it. 
if you like camus' the outsider then i think you'll like no longer human. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Rape

Minor: Chronic illness and Vomit

Incredible. I read mainly in one day and loved every page. It's fast paced enough to stay engaging but slow enough to be reflective. It's a beautifully written book on alienation. If you like Camus' The Stranger you'll love this.

And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by William S. Burroughs

informative mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

it's not exactly going to win any literary awards (it's a bit shit) but i liked it.
the writing is very basic but you have to remember this is typed up exactly as kerouac and burroughs wrote it down how-ever-long-ago.
the afterword is gossipy and a bit shit but ah-well—

i'm giving it such a high rating, to say i thought it was shit, because it's interesting and i like the beats.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Drug use

Minor: War and Adult/minor relationship

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

• 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? Yes

4.0

feels like a book version of that game where one person draws a head and then folds the paper over and someone else draws a torso and folds that over until you've got a really bizarre miss-matching person

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcohol, Eating disorder, and Racism

Minor: Vomit