17lusha1's reviews
12 reviews

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-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

3.0

Oliver Twist is a classic, and I can see why. As with all classics, I know that the writing and language can be outdated, but the main content of the book was an enjoyable read. While some bits of it were quite dark I’d say, it contrasted well with some of the more lighthearted scenes. It did feel like a long read but it makes sense as the story was originally periodical releases in a magazine
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

Reading this was an experience. The underlying themes of the use of language and the normalisation of horrific acts and general reflections of the meat industry were very well interwoven with the plot and writing of the story. While I felt the ending fell a bit flat, the premise of the book was gripping and shocking and at some points made you question what you just read.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

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challenging funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

I’ll say, I do have aversions to self-help books, but this didn’t have any of the philosophical fluff or long winded analogies (or at least, not to the same extent). It felt like a real conversation about practical life advice. The way the author writes feels very blunt and honest - there’s no sugar coating of hard to swallow pills. Which feels refreshing. Definitely a book I’d return to
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring slow-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

4.75

Genuinely, one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in a while. I take months with books, and yet I set aside time to finish the majority of this within a week. The storytelling, while on a surface level seeming all over the place, is genius and charismatic, and continually re contextualises scenes you read a few pages ago. The characters and their relationships are understood by the reader on such a fundamental level without the author having to write entire essays on the nature of their beings. By the end of the book, I get why people say it’s a book about love but not a romance book - simply put, it’s about two people destined to be intertwined intimately, in both their work and personal lives.
We Don't Know What We're Doing by Thomas Morris

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dark funny hopeful lighthearted 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

A collection of short stories that are centred around humans: some loveable, some annoying, and all flawed in their own human ways. The storytelling was charming, and each chapter had a new character for me to sympathise or empathise with. At the end of the day, what made me like this book was that it felt real - there was no sugar coating or fluffy wording, these were the stories of people warts and all. And there is something cathartic about it.
Ikigai: Giving every day meaning and joy by Yukari Mitsuhashi

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inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

Ikigai is a wonderful little read, aimed at helping you realise what makes you happy. With interviews and research to back up the Japanese concept of Ikigai, it helped me understand what makes me get up in the morning.
Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? by Michael J. Sandel

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Justice is probably one of the rare books that have actually influenced the way I think and see the world. It delves deep into philosophies of how to build a just society while also bringing in real life scenarios and hypotheticals to help us understand them more. It was a very insightful read and multiple times i had to put down the book and contemplate what I had read and how it may apply to my actions and the way I view everyday events.
The Devil You Know: Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry by Eileen Horne, Gwen Adshead

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I may be biased, as I was a psychology student and continue to have an interest in the study of human behaviour, but this book has genuinely influenced and helped shape my view on criminal and everyday behaviour. The authors do a great job in not only painting a picture of the therapy sessions and patients, but diving into their behaviours and how an “average” person can turn into a criminal. A lot of the time, people have an “us and them” mentality, often classifying murderers and arsonists as completely separate beings. The Devil You Know takes us down rational albeit difficult paths showing that the development of anti-social behaviours can never simply be put down to a “bad person” but that the same everyday emotions and cognitions that we feel can be interpreted, twisted and morph into the rational behind a criminal.
Secret Tibet by Fosco Maraini

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adventurous informative slow-paced

3.0

While some parts of this book are definitely dated and have some colonial undertones, it was still quite a good read to pick apart. An outsider’s insight into Tibet at a time where it was still very much being explored shows how Tibetan culture, and in some parts wider asian culture, was perceived and studied by westerners. A good piece of history to read.
Mr. Holmes by Mitch Cullin

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mysterious reflective slow-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

3.0

(WARNING: personal opinions here) 

I did not enjoy the ending. Not only did it refuse to tie in the three separate storylines into one coherent message and overarching story, but it left us on a weirdly somber, uncertain and unsatisfying note. That is probably by author’s design though; they wanted us to feel as questioning and as incomplete as Sherlock did


Despite my personal dislike of how the book ended, it was a good read. The exploration of Sherlock Holmes in his retirement and the way he processes emotional experiences was an interesting journey to go along