threeyearsaway's reviews
29 reviews

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

sabran and ead i will give you my life you are my family my everything my universe

the characters in here are literally my family and it's peak idc what anybody says i'm sorry TRULY PEAK

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

i enjoyed it very very much and i want grey

Bunny by Mona Awad

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

BRILLIANNNNNNNNTTTTT. incredible... i'm reading all the interpretations of this book from other people and am amazed and intrigued by all of them. this was genius.

i had a different part of the review here a few hours ago but now i'm just going to leave it with what i said up there. i am obsessed with how it is written and how her inner dialogue is constructed and changed and twisted throughout and i had a great great great time WE FREAKING LOVE YOU BUNNY

Content Warnings

All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

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emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

I'm actually extremely bad at writing down my thoughts on a book in a concise way so this will not be concise in any way but the main feeling as I was reading the last quarter of the book was that I knew I was gonna end it being really completely fond of its story. A lot of this book is really just what goes inside Fuyuko's head and her mundane, day to day life, so I feel like it kind of puts you in this headspace when you read it. I like that a lot. I feel like I really know her, most of all I really felt for her, and I also feel like this kind of inner struggle of feeling like you've never made a decision in your entire life and not knowing how to spend your time because you've ended up in a stagnant place that you put yourself in is something that i think a lot of people will feel really seen by. There were a lot of paragraphs in this book that I thought really touched me because her mind is very similar to mine in so many ways. I also really like the discussion of light in the book and how it gets absorbed by the objects around it when you turn them off. I really got the idea that Fuyuko as a person held a place in that conversation. You get, and Fuyuko gets, the feeling that she's just like that, absorbing what everyone does and says to her without really inputting much of her own opinion at all. I just thought that was so cool. The way the dialogue was often written later in the book was also mesmerizing to read for me. I really liked it, which is most of what I'm trying to say in everything that I'm writing. I think the way that dialogue is written in general in most Japanese novels that I have read is my favorite thing. I've only read one other of Mieko Kawakami's books and I think they always leave you with this sort of bittersweet feeling. Even after finishing this book, I brought it with me the next day. I don't think I even read it.. but her thought process matches mine so much that if I'd left it behind it'd feel as though I were leaving a friend who really understood me. There were parts of me that obviously did not match up with the character at all. Some of the experiences she had I hope to never have. But even in those areas where we do not technically match I still cared for her as a character very much.

ALL THAT BEING SAID I gave it 4 stars for all the reasons listed above but I guess I didn't give it 5 because I could definitely see some critiques for this book, I could see why someone could think it is repetitive or dragging. There were times where I didn't always feel the urge to keep going until I reached the end, which I feel like is the biggest factor for when I give a book five stars... but it was still so good and 4 stars is good NO MORE EXPLAINING ^#^!!!

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

an amazing, immersive read. i was and am so thankful for this book. i deeply missed the feeling of being completely captured in a fictional world and having the drive to actually finish a story. i was genuinely excited for the next moment i could read more of it. once i'd picked it up, i really was sad to put it down when i had to...

i really like 1984 by George Orwell and the concept of it. even though this book obviously had similar themes it still felt new and as if it were its own, and i would say i even care much much more about the people in this story than i did in that one which has always been a big factor in any of my favorite books. i think this will definitely take a place in that list. i'm tempted to give it 5 stars so maybe i might. (UPDATE: i did change it to 5 because.. i love it..) i was satisfied with the ending even if it wasn't what i thought it would be.

i actually thought R would somehow be the mastermind of it all and be the villain, reflecting her teacher in the manuscript she was writing. i thought this since he was her editor, and he technically had control of how she could have perceived the disappeared objects.. though i guess his mission in that never succeeded so.. and also what he said to her in the secret room as she lost her leg and arm, that he could touch her whenever and that he would keep her safe with him in the room. it felt ominous and reminded me of the teacher in the manuscript.

BUT!!! i was still happy with the ending. it left a hole in my heart just like the main girl. i sort of wanted to know more about why everything was happening, but not knowing also kind of adds to the hopelessness... i am actually just rambling.

:D i loved this book. i will recommend it to anyone, but especially to people who enjoy japanese literature a lot like me.

Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

i loved it!! i'm happy to finally finish a book again and this one was perfect to get me back into reading once more. i loved kazu so much in the first book, so being able to learn much much more about her and many other characters in the story was really great and i was very satisfied by it. it still made me cry a lot so it did its job well. :D

Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thích Nhất Hạnh

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emotional informative inspiring reflective

4.0

i thought this was a good book to generally follow, obviously not to a tee for all situations, but provided a good perspective for me. i read this a while ago, around christmas, and i really liked it, i felt like i had new ways to look at anger when it arose in me. i saw a review say 'what about in abusive relationships?' regarding forgiving and being compassionate, but one of the lines that stuck with me the most was that being compassionate did not mean letting people walk all over you, and that you were not stupid. i never saw anything as victim blaming (maybe i missed something, i haven't reread it in a while, but again i just think this book is good in a more general, getting the gist of it sense.) anyway i liked it! i liked the analogies, like anger being compost, and letting cold air into a warm room, and not turning yourself into a battlefield. i thought those were very insightful.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.

i will definitely finish, but... not now

My Ántonia by Willa Cather

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced