Not my favourite of Bradbury’s “The Illustrated Man” but criminally underrated. Seems to perfectly capture even my own experiences with depersonalisation and derealisation, as well as the object of solloquism that asks if there is any form of object permanence- in our minds, our hearts, or in reality, displayed to the extreme in the character Hitchcock. For Bradbury’s work, this one was less unsettling due to technology, but instead commentary on the terror that is mankind to itself. Technology supplementing the eminent overthinking! Classic Bradbury subverting Bradbury.

Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder

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adventurous challenging funny informative reflective 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? No

4.0

Did as it was expected to, and I read this for my Philosophy class. I thoroughly enjoyed how the information was portrayed through a frame narrative but sometimes it would lean too much into one style, feeling as if it curbed the ability of the other style to follow-up in a smooth manner. Overall, I was drawn from the start by the cosy vibes of Sophie’s World and I understand why so many use this as their jumping off point for philosophy!

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

Uses highly effective storytelling techniques to create engaging snapshots into lives and facets of people- some characters were more or less intriguing than others, but once this book gets you hooked, it’s caught you.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

listening to it as an audiobook most definitely saved this experience for me 🙏

Pride, Prejudice, and Pledging: A Modern Retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice by Sara Marks

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Solid 3 star book- I was going to give it a lower one because of common, noticeable errors in punctuation that messed up my reading experience, but I did enjoy the drama! I read this while also reading the original Pride and Prejudice so it was really funny attempting to discern characters- and maybe it’s a flaw with the original as well, but there’s so many, between Charlotte and Caroline, I was constantly getting names mixed up. A lot of characters were introduced early, so if you’ve already read the original, you are good to go! This didn’t much effect the scoring because I imagine most readers of this book are in a far different situation than I am lol.
Also, for anyone interested in getting this for a school or personal library or gift: this book is a closed-door romance and has strong language at times with frequent mention of alcohol (I was a bit concerned about these characters tbh for their alcohol levels😭). Overwhelming, it seems fine for 13+, to me, as long as the reader doesn’t get easily frustrated with teenager-like behaviour from adults and frequent miscommunication. All in all, fun book for a fun time!

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thyroyalreader's reviews 70 reviews

thyroyalreader's reviews
70 reviews