angelsbeforeman's reviews
1077 reviews

i had such high hopes for this, and it started off good. but that didn't last long. the story follows grace, who's been killing members of her family one by one as a sort of revenge. but now she's in prison for a murder that she didn't actually commit. grace is the worst thing about this novel. unfortunate for a protagonist. i can't stand her at all, she's insufferable and seems to hate and judge everything and anything. she also contradicts herself, for example tries to make some feminist points but then she turns around and starts judging women for just existing. suprised i finished this 

this was gifted to me, so yeah, i read it. i'm just not a fan of rupi kaur's style at all, her poems never speak to me and i don't find them memorable. it's not bad thematically and i understand her work resonates with a lot of people, though.

the strongest part of this very short story is definitely the dialogue. that's not surprising, since the whole story is a man and a woman having a conversation where they compare the hills to white elephants, and the man pressures the girl into having an 'operation' (we can assume what kind of operation he's referring to). i liked the style of the dialogue and the story is pretty memorable despite being extremely short ^^

i like the author's honest approach to mental health issues related to self confidence and anxiety. i also like that the poems speak of healing, so it's not entirely negative. a few of the poems really resonated with me, and i think this is an overall good collection. flows nicely and it's easy to understand ^^

a story about mina, a young girl who wants to save her people from the sea god. her country sacrifices a girl to the sea god every year to keep peace. when her brother's girlfriend was supposed to be sacrificed, mina decided to go to the spirit world and meet the sea god herself instead. on her journey, she meets a young man called shin who helps her with her task. i really liked the story here, especially the incorporation of mythology into it. it honestly reminded me a lot of studio ghibli movies, both the spirit world, and the way the author built connections between characters. i do think there were some holes in the worldbuilding, purely because the author seemingly forgot to explain certain aspects of the spirit world. i liked shin a lot, he was definitely my favourite character. his romance with mina was also pretty sweet. the writing style was mostly good and quite fun, but i felt like the dialogue was lacking at times. 

a story about a forest in which over ten girls have disappeared. first it was hwani and her sister, who were found in the forest after going missing. their father min goes on to investigate the forest years after this, because he's found out that other girls have also disappeared in it. min then goes missing as well, so hwani decides to investigate. the story is set in jeju, south korea, in 1426. 
i like how the author involved quite a few historical facts in the novel, and made it an insightful read. i enjoyed the characters, especially hwani and her sister maewol. i thought the mystery was well done, and the author's writing style made it better, because she truly knows how to write an eerie atmosphere. i liked the discussions of women's rights and how women were regarded in society in the 1400s. i wasn't as connected to the characters as i would've liked to be, though, and i thought some plot points were a bit unconvincing.

directly connected to no longer human, and they have the same protagonist. here, yozo is staying at a sanatarium after he tries to take his own life. yozo's partner unfortunately died in their double suicide attempt. this book also has an autobiographical quality to it, since dazai inserts his own story and experience into the plot quite often. the writing was absolutely beautiful, there was so much honesty and raw emotion. on the other hand, i giggled a few times at the dark ish humour incorporated. i definitely appreciate this novel as an insight into mental health, specifically depression, and the effects of going through an existential crisis. i think it could be relatable to many people. 

a collection of bizarre stories exploring societal norms, womanhood, sex, mental health, morality, obsession, and other topics that are often considered taboo. my favourite is probably the lookout tower (a ghost is looking for a body to possess, and finds it in a suicidal woman, which was written in a dreamy and strangely romantic way). meat was a very convincing story, probably the most realistic, and it showcased how obsessed two women were with a musician. kids who come back was the longest story, which isn't bad at all, it was interesting to read. it follows a woman whose job is to keep track of child disappearances in buenos aires. she gets obsessed with a girl called vanadis, who seems to disappear and reappear. it was an insight into the struggles of children in poverty. where are you dear heart probably shook me the most, it was by far the most downright disgusting story, which i don't mean in a bad way. it's about a woman who has a sexual obsession with sick people, specifically their hearts. i really enjoyed the author's writing style in every story, it especially came through in the well, where are you dear heart, and the title story. i think this would've been a 5 star read if i were more into this specific type of bizarre literature with body horror involved.

a sweet novel about rintaro, a boy whose deceased grandfather owned a bookstore called natsuki books. while grieving the possibility that the bookstore could get shut down, rintaro meets a ginger talking cat called tiger. rintaro and tiger go on a mission together, they have to save books that have been abandoned or treated badly. this book was very sweet and nicely written, almost like a fairytale. i liked the message of it, or rather multiple messages about how to treat books right. i appreciate the lessons this story is teaching, how books aren't a status symbol, how each holds a special message, how to properly analyse literature. i really liked this book, which is expected because i love cats and books with my whole heart. i only wish tiger was a more lovable character.

a novel that follows the life of deokgeun, an office worker in korea. though that seems simple, he's in charge of filing cabinet 13, which contains the symptoms of a variety of strange people, and people who want to be a part of cabinet 13. there's a person who wants to be a cat, a person who's removed their memories, a man who's in love with his doppelgänger, and such. deokgeun starts speaking to them and sort of investigating them. 
this was definitely a fun read! it was interesting to see everything that the author managed to come up with. it serves as a good commentary on normalcy and why we alienate people in society, why people find certain things weird and inappropriate. why is it that some things are considered undesirable and others are just regarded as unique? this was sort of constructed like a collection of mini stories, and i liked that, since they're still connected. i liked the absurdist elements of this novel, and some parts made me giggle a bit.