turnaboutcafe's reviews
149 reviews

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

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

2.0

it was just... really boring (i wasn't aware that the ml of a academic rivals to lovers could be boring)
it's just a pattern of "we hate each other" x "conveniently timed trauma dump", doesn't feel like a romance, no chemistry

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E.B. Hudspeth

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mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

really interesting format, fascinating magical realism with interesting emotional points interwoven in between (downfall of black's sanity, the ripping apart of his family because of his research, etc.)

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-hee

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challenging emotional informative fast-paced

4.0

"I'd like you to not give too much credit to what people are saying about you." (page 14)
"If you shift your perspective from their past to your present, you can start perceiving your personal experiences in a more positive manner." (page 16)
"Butt the moment you think to yourself, Well, this is the way I am, and what can you do about it, you'll feel much freer." (page 34)
"It's a question of whether 'everything you ever wanted' was ever what you really wanted in the first place." (page 48)
"But right now, you keep interpreting every behavior exhibited by your friend as rejection." (page 72)
"The desire to look at myself 'objectively' has been the reason I have put a knife to my heart for a long time." (page 74)
"Think of yourself as entering a sea change in your life, and choose things you haven't chosen before — try to enter situations, even ones you know will end in failure, just to experience failure." (page 79)
"'In some ways, I feel fear. In these other ways, I feel relief.' That kind of thing. In this way, writing can be a way of regarding yourself three-dimensionally."
"There are many shades of gray. but I think even there you think there is only one shade of gray. A spectrum contains many colors and shades, but you don't see it that way." (page 87)
"These behaviors you had no awareness of until recently, and to realize that you make the same choices time and time again is, in itself, proof you're getting better." (page 97)
"The important thing here isn't whether you are being loved, it's how you will accept the love that comes your way." (page 131)
"I tended to discount anything positive that happened to fall into my hands. Even when I managed to accomplish something difficult, or when I wore a pretty dress, I would immediately decide my accomplishment was no big deal; the dress would lose its power. Nothing in my grasp seemed precious or beautiful. The real problem was how this principle began to apply to people as well. The more someone loved me, the more I got bored of them. Perhaps not bored — they ceased to sparkle in my eyes." (page 151)
"What do I wish for? I want to love and be loved. Without suspicion, and with ease. That's it. I don't know how to love or be loved properly, and that's what pains me." (page 153)
"Because the human heart, even when it wants to die, quite often wants at the same time to eat some tteokbokki too." (page 156)
"What terrible advice to offer a person with no confidence: to pretend to have confidence. What could be more misguided than telling a fearful person not to fear? What could be more pathetic than a weak person pretending to be stronger than they are?" (page 159)
"Being imperfect is all right and being awkward is okay. You don't have to cheer up. I can do well today, or not. It'll be an experience either way. And that's fine." (page 160)

Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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emotional inspiring sad 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? No

3.25

honestly the first book was significantly better than this one, because the four short stories in the first book were connected, while these ones purely felt like standalone stories
i like how they discovered more of kazu's backstory as the coffee pourer and everything, but the way they introduced her backstory felt really disconnected from the short stories
idk somehow there wasn't as significant of an emotional impact as the first book unfortunately

Last Violent Call by Chloe Gong

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced