youreawizardjerry's reviews
115 reviews

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

phenomenal!!! im sobbing!!!

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

as a queer who once desperately tried not to be, this struck many sympathetic chords (to say the least). There is a distinct sabotage in the self-hatred fallout where one can't help but grossly implicate the innocents who love them most. That inevitability lives in these pages, evocative and still deeply relatable despite them being over 65 years old. The intersecting identities surrounding our morally gray characters were expertly woven in (obvi it's james baldwin) and created such vividly believable scenes and emotional dialogue. And all in under 200 pages?! Fucking legend. I'm just echoing what y'all already know but wow. A very human story that a very human me will keep in my human memory box for a very long time. Loooved.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

medium-paced

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

esthers biggest mental illness is actually her being a racist *ptooey* yet its the one she doesnt care to work on, go figure
there is a testament to it still being relatable and technically well-written (again, aside from the hitler greenwood moments).... but even accepting it as a product of its time (which some of y'all are leaning enthusiastically heavy on as rebuttal) i still found it lukewarm at best and mostly at worst. a few hahaha-I-do-that moments don’t change that fact for me. im not one of the girlies that this is for, and I’m clearly in the minority here, which i think is fine (but esther would not) 

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

just let my good sis stock the items, damn

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

Engrossing. 
A family that can mirror many of ours "post"-colonialism. These lives touched me in extremely familiar ways, yet preserved a distinct quality while exploring their ethnic plights and experiences that read as uniquely moving and eye-opening. A complexity was captured here that I cannot praise enough. Beautiful, immersive, and heartbreaking. Shoutout to my Grandmother, my Sunja, my matriarch, who is the bedrock of all of us come after. I will have to recommend this to her <3

Berserk, Vol. 4 by Kentaro Miura

4.75

no I’m obsessed

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.

zZZZZZZ not 4 me atm, the writing is on the bland side maybe ill try the audio version in the future

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

The first half was far stronger than the second (got a tad too cliche at times), but it was a great pleasure all the same. How thankful I am for my queer elders and this story for allowing me to sit more intentionally with them in my thoughts-- while I was reading and certainly moving forward. What a bittersweet transcendant experience. And oh so funny. Truly funny. Thank you, John Boyne.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

powerful concept. About halfway through it seemed to lose much of the  initial strength in the prose that the beginning had and never regained it.