yolanda_h's Reviews (306)

Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths

Natalie Haynes

4.0

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Still Life

Sarah Winman

4.5

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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‘So, time heals. Mostly. Sometimes carelessly. And in unsuspecting moments, the pain catches and reminds one of all that’s been missing. The fulcrum of what might have been. But then it passes. Winter moves into sprong and swallows return. The proximity of new skin returns to the sheets. Beauty does what is required. Jobs fulfil and conversations inspire. Loneliness becomes a mere Sunday. Scattered clothes. Empty bowls. Rotten fruit. Passing time. Bit still life in all its beauty and complexity.’

This book is full of still lives - scenes and pictures painted with words, and then captures forever in my mind. Snippets of life, distilled. Like the known paintings in museums, the narrators sometimes focus on something and make the ordinary extraordinary. Precious. The way the light hits something or someone. A smile. A gesture. The texture of food. Sounds, smells, sights. Sketched and framed. For us to see, admire if we like, but most of all to remember.

Earthlings

Sayaka Murata

3.75

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder

Moderate: Gore, Pregnancy, Gaslighting

The Wild Swans

Jackie Morris, Hans Christian Andersen

4.5

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual harassment

Song of Solomon

Toni Morrison

3.5

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My Sister, the Serial Killer

Oyinkan Braithwaite

3.75

dark funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

4.25

dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pregnancy

Circe

Madeline Miller

4.0

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pregnancy

Persuasion

Jane Austen

3.75

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes