burnedstory's reviews
174 reviews

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

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slow-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? No

2.5

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

I loved it. Shroff has acquired the feat of telling such a heavy story, portraying such heavy issues in such a humours but impactful way. A real page turner. Often when talked about India casteism is not talked about, it's like an unspoken devil in the nation but the way it was written in the story, I applaud it (Here I understand my privelige of being an upper caste person and not knowing even the tip of discrimination). The humour in the story in my opinion is commendable, shows the strength and courage of these women. Shroff says, she wanted to honour the Bandit Queen, Phoolan Mallah and I think she acheived that in a wonderful way. One of the major takeaways for me from the book was the power of female friendship, how these women stood behind each other warmed my heart. As we talk about feminism in the modern world, somewhere we forget about women like Geeta, Saloni, Farah and co. So I am very grateful to get to read their story. One where they are not put on pedestals, one where they are human and make wrong decisions and face the consequences of it. It's beautiful to read.
If "I support women's rights and women's wrongs" could be a book this very well might be it.
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Normal People by Sally Rooney

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

4.5

I don't think I've ever felt the feeling I had when I finally read the kast sentence of Normal people and I don't think I'll ever feel that again. Wonderful writing by Sally Ronney, never did I feel bored. This one deserves it's cult status is all I have to say, what beautiful characters, the complexity of their minds is portrayed with such care it's astonishing. I'll come back and re-read this probably a few years later and I feel I'll still find it this good then too.
Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

Acts of God by Kanan Gill

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adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

Witty, to the point and incredible. 
The writing style may take some time to get used to but it's such a good way to present a book, I have no complaints really.
The Begum and the Dastan by Tarana Husain Khan

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emotional informative sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Khan tries to do too much, in too little time and it botches everything. There are three different stories and not one lands as impactfully as it would had Khan focused and crafted just one.

We know the characters like we know our neighbours, we know them like historical figures, there is no show and all tell. 

Women telling women stories is my favourite thing in this world. With our three leads we do see how they are similar in their characteristics and their tragedies if you will.

There is not much to say cause Khan didn't let anything develop to such extent that you would talk about it.


The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

3.5

I love the format of the story, I wish it was longer though. The author walks on a very thin line between coming off as preachy and being idealistic. Favourite part was when the idealism of the character was challenged but it didn't quite land for me. There is definitely no subtlety, everything is pretty much served on a silver platter for the reader. Very skillfully the author has managed to potray reading and readers in the rise of capitalism. 
Thank you to the translator for keeping the Japanese words that really don't have an English counterpart.

Summing it up
Was it great? No, but it was good.
Would I pick it up again? Yes, very much so, it's a very comfortable read and cherry too in a way.