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wetherspoonsgf's reviews
59 reviews
August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
never trust a book that seems proud that it uses 'folx'
Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
4.5
This book is Fucked, but in a very good way. Very few books turn my stomach, this did. It's good.
Devil House by John Darnielle
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
John Darnielle the man that you are. Alexa play Oceanographer’s Choice.
Corey Fah Does Social Mobility by Isabel Waidner
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another Waidner, another total headspinner that I devour in one sitting, you know how it is.
Some capital T Themes in this one that allow themselves to be dealt with through sci fi tropes in a way that stops them feeling pretentious and makes sure the tropes are interesting rather than tired.
This requires a lot less just going with it and accepting you feel lost than SKG which I think benefits it, thought it means that where the ending is SKG’s strongest moment, it feels a tiny bit flimsy for a moment in CFDSM.
To be clear, though, this is an excellent excellent book. I saw Isabel talk about it and they were immense. Very excited for whatever they do next now they’re with a nice big publishing house.
Some capital T Themes in this one that allow themselves to be dealt with through sci fi tropes in a way that stops them feeling pretentious and makes sure the tropes are interesting rather than tired.
This requires a lot less just going with it and accepting you feel lost than SKG which I think benefits it, thought it means that where the ending is SKG’s strongest moment, it feels a tiny bit flimsy for a moment in CFDSM.
To be clear, though, this is an excellent excellent book. I saw Isabel talk about it and they were immense. Very excited for whatever they do next now they’re with a nice big publishing house.
Females by Andrea Long Chu
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
You sort of have to feel bad for every other academic because they're not Andrea Long Chu and they just cannot write like her. Still debating whether the pun (?) the book ends on warrants knocking half a star off though.
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book is really exactly as wanky as you need it to be, and definitely as wanky as I needed it to be as the first thing I read for my MA.
Nelson is very good at throwing theory into real life in the same way my brain does and you can tell from the writing that she talks for a living. Because of this, the book wasn’t a challenging read per se it just refuses to be simple in a way I enjoy.
Very interested in how she constructs ‘you’ vs ‘Harry’ and also her focus on queer motherhood which is deeply underexplored in a lot of literature and definitely in autobiography.
File under: winnicott, queer theory, thinking about scholars when you really should be thinking about what’s in front of you instead.
Nelson is very good at throwing theory into real life in the same way my brain does and you can tell from the writing that she talks for a living. Because of this, the book wasn’t a challenging read per se it just refuses to be simple in a way I enjoy.
Very interested in how she constructs ‘you’ vs ‘Harry’ and also her focus on queer motherhood which is deeply underexplored in a lot of literature and definitely in autobiography.
File under: winnicott, queer theory, thinking about scholars when you really should be thinking about what’s in front of you instead.
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
This book seemed like it would be a fun ‘no plot just vibes’ deal but it just fucking sucks.
Deborah Levy doesn’t seem to understand that isolating a witticism or a pithy emotional observation in a short 2 sentence paragraph doesn’t make it profound, and doing this twice a page doesn’t make you even profound-er. Even more so, she doesn’t seem to realise that having your main character go ‘hmm this would make a good phd’ at ideas that are obviously Deborah Levy’s and not the character’s is deeply masturbatory and awful to read.
Also, and I don’t know or care what the outcome of this is in the plot, laying the foundations of ‘someone is faking a disability’ through the logic of ‘some days they can walk some days they can’t’ is boring and ableist, and running a through line of ‘gender is mutable because this spanish man is feminine and this german lesbian is mannish’ is boring and homophobic.
Her central metaphor of bathroom signs has aged so badly it’s now hilarious, and that’s the only positive I have about this book - it’s funny that this character meditates on identity via bathroom signs (it’s much less funny that she does what reads [today] as out and out transphobic panic and goes completely uncriticised by character or author for doing so).
I was going to try and finish this just so I could rate it 1 star rather than let it get away with a dnf, but it was making me Not Read, so count yourself lucky, Hot Milk. The blurb promises that in 2015 Levy was writing a (second) essay on gender politics, I hope the manuscript got lost in the post.
Deborah Levy doesn’t seem to understand that isolating a witticism or a pithy emotional observation in a short 2 sentence paragraph doesn’t make it profound, and doing this twice a page doesn’t make you even profound-er. Even more so, she doesn’t seem to realise that having your main character go ‘hmm this would make a good phd’ at ideas that are obviously Deborah Levy’s and not the character’s is deeply masturbatory and awful to read.
Also, and I don’t know or care what the outcome of this is in the plot, laying the foundations of ‘someone is faking a disability’ through the logic of ‘some days they can walk some days they can’t’ is boring and ableist, and running a through line of ‘gender is mutable because this spanish man is feminine and this german lesbian is mannish’ is boring and homophobic.
Her central metaphor of bathroom signs has aged so badly it’s now hilarious, and that’s the only positive I have about this book - it’s funny that this character meditates on identity via bathroom signs (it’s much less funny that she does what reads [today] as out and out transphobic panic and goes completely uncriticised by character or author for doing so).
I was going to try and finish this just so I could rate it 1 star rather than let it get away with a dnf, but it was making me Not Read, so count yourself lucky, Hot Milk. The blurb promises that in 2015 Levy was writing a (second) essay on gender politics, I hope the manuscript got lost in the post.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
5.0
This is real (Queer) Horror Pantheon stuff imo.
The prose just fucking rules. Love is written so tenderly, hate is written so pure, and Vern’s internal battles just invade your brain with how clearly they’re put onto the page.
Solomon uses language in such interesting ways, especially tracking Vern’s removal from Cainland as we lose the KJB style preacher’s tongue and presents a conflicted motherhood that’s gut wrenching to watch evolve. The transfer of that internal conflict into a Doomed (?) Lesbian Romance is done incredibly. I probably cried once every 10-20 pages for the last 150 pages.
Also, and this is not Solomon’s writing by definition BUT - this is the first Good Blurb I’ve read maybe ever? Gives almost fuck all away but builds stakes and tension, good work.
(I do sort of want to write 1500 words on the parallel metamorphoses in this and OWUTS now).
The prose just fucking rules. Love is written so tenderly, hate is written so pure, and Vern’s internal battles just invade your brain with how clearly they’re put onto the page.
Solomon uses language in such interesting ways, especially tracking
Also, and this is not Solomon’s writing by definition BUT - this is the first Good Blurb I’ve read maybe ever? Gives almost fuck all away but builds stakes and tension, good work.
(I do sort of want to write 1500 words on the parallel metamorphoses in this and OWUTS now).
4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane
4.0
i still have a playlist called please open the curtains and i've got a degree in english literature now
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
5.0
this book is infinitely funnier if you choose to believe bromden is always 100% correct. even if you dont you still cry in a cafe nero.