thomasdm15's reviews
84 reviews

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

A masterpiece, I love R. F. Kuang but I mean this: F*** YOU (and I say this with all the love in the world)

Side note : next time PLEASE make the asterisks bigger because I missed a ton of them because of how small they were.

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

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funny lighthearted 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

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

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medium-paced

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

3.75

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

This is ABSOLUTELY a 5 star book BUUUUUUUT I just have to deduct half a point because of how unrealistic some characters/conversations felt.
Maybe (Most likely) it was done on purpose (to make the characters that are liked and accepted by society look "less normal" to the reader and the ones that are rejected by society "more normal") but it still was seriously bothering to read at times.

Our Friends in Beijing by John Simpson

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adventurous informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

It was a very good book to read, especially if you know anything about China, its culture or its contemporary politics/history.
HOWEVER I'm deducting a whole point for the unnecessary comments of any sorts (especially about women and the occasional condescending "his/her English was surprisingly good") which really made my reading experience less enjoyable although the book's contents were really enjoyable for me. Audibly sighed more than once due to them and they put me off.
But, in all fairness, that's the "only" thing I can really complain about. Everything else was really good: the writing, cultural references, humour, suspense, etc.

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin

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lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

This would have been a solid 4-star for me but I can't help but feeling kind of unsatisfied with the ending? It was a very good fast read but the book feels somewhat empty of anything once you finish it?

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

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mysterious sad fast-paced