charbck's reviews
120 reviews

Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz

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lighthearted reflective slow-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

3.0

definitely the worst babitz ive read. this novel is meditative, i wouldnt say nothing happens, but it chases its tale a lot. but i literally cant shit talk my novel would be the same. the character descriptions are a bit wishy washy and its hard to pinpoint how jacaranda feels about each person (lowkey isnt that just life tho?). i did enjoy jacarandas fall from grace and her recovery in nyc. and i lovedddd max, gonna say You’re Here! to everyone and anyone i want to fall in love with me. 

babitz’s prose saves this book of course. its so refreshing to read her style im addicted to her and i will continue to read and reread all of her work. but without a doubt her essays are better
The Iliac Crest by Cristina Rivera Garza

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

4.0

i went into this novel to continue my interrogation of the gender binary. did i get an interrogation of the gender binary…? not really. the david lynch comparison by publisher’s weekly is extremely fitting. like lynch’s films, i admire this novel for its craft, style, symbols, characters, and world, yet i have no idea what happened at all.

i’m confused about the interrogation of the narrator’s gender. the Amparos insistence that the doctor is secretly a woman reads transphobic. and this being published by the feminist press… it’s feeling terfy. our main character was not floating within the gender binary like i assumed he would be… he was a man. and reassured himself he was a man over and over. everyone in his life addresses him as a man except the Amparos. but the narrator’s insistence that he is a man refutes the transphobia. but maybe i am thinking too pessimistically and the Amparos insistence that he is a she is another instance of denying reality. there is a brief interrogation of gender in the middle of the book, where the narrator concludes men and women r the same in labor as in death, in a very women r as ruthless and cruel as men way. i saw some reviews calling this nonbinary realness and while i agree garza crossed many boundaries (state, time, language) the characters fit very neatly into their assigned gender, ESPECIALLY the main character. his description of women and his relationships with them was soooo heterosexual cis man. since he was written by a woman im sure this is commentary on misogyny, but he does not give transmasc theythem anything… at least not to the 2024 reader. garza in the author’s note says “gender—and what is done in the name of gender—can be lethal.” i dont understand how the book addresses that sentiment ??? unless the narrator disappeared themselves and chose to live as a man in the disappearance. or they r all dead. IDK!

this is just ONE motif i dont understand. that being said, i dont think this confusion makes the book bad, but i need to be in a socratic seminar with a professor to get my questions answered. 

this is a RICH text. there is an analysis essay to be written for every chapter. Maybe if i am still logged into JSTOR i will try to find a paper. there is important historical and literary context that i am DEFINITELY missing. glu glu.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

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adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

scifi is not my fave, so this complicated world was difficult for me to understand, exasperated by these poets’s clipped writing styles. it was VERY hard to find footing in this world. but after 100 pgs i got a hold of the universe logic and could delve into the language and the relationship. rlly appreciate the references, just the right amount sprinkled thru the story chefs kiss. especially loved the romeo and juliet 1 2 punch. that being said ……::…. i was not mystified by red and blue’s love.
we didnt get to see them fall in love at all? just went from skeptical to ur my everything. or maybe i couldnt see their sparks through the fog of the metaphors. or maybe  they dont have personal romance in this universe? so they fell super hard as soon as someone was emotionally vulnerable?? not a lot of character building either because there isnt a lot of character thinking outside of im so in love with you… i didnt fall for the characters or their love story, so their story was hard for me to believe or be invested in. that being said the flowery love proclamations were beautifullll so well crafted. also i called the seeker twist, which made the reveal rlly bleh to read. the plot was otherwise unpredictable and unexpected. also loved the descriptions of the garden… probably best writing in the book. anti establishment message was rlly shoehorned in there at the end.

tfw u have this deep-seeded hunger u cannot explain that is semi satiated when u read letters from ur pen pal. but then u realize its because ur pen pal groomed you when u were five so that u can never die. who can relate? 
better love story than twilight 
The Awakening by Kate Chopin

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emotional reflective 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

4.25

EDNA !!!!!!! rlly enjoyed this read. loved chopin’s writing and a lot of vocab words in here !! i loved edna’s feminism and her choice to value herself and her whims over any expectation put on her. was also comparing this to agnes grey… both heroines subvert their society’s expectations and suffer for it. they are both critical of the patriarchy, agnes more so. however agnes is much more moralist and spiritual and finds resolution in god, while edna is existential and looks for answers within herself. (also edna never considers class once while its all agnes thinks about. bc upper class vs working class. england is typically more class conscious then america anyway) i rlly loved the romance between her and robert … much more than ive liked any bronte or austen romance.
which is why i dont like the ending !!! EDNA there is no reason to walk into the ocean u JUST got robert back!!! i wanted them to run away togetherrrr. but she was thinking of the children…. better to have a dead mom then a whore mom ??? UGH!  to a modern eye it is frustrating, to an 1899 woman it mustve felt like the only way out… she couldnt keep living the way she was and she also couldnt be with her beloved. and her friends dgaf abt her. UGH THO!!!!!! shes real tho sometimes u fantasize abt ur beloved for months and then they come back and tell u they love u and then u get insecure and KILL YOURSELF.  edna pontellier i wouldve done so much coke with you and kept you alive forever
a true saturn’s return book. i’ll remember to pick it up again when i turn 27! 
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

5.0

GREAT!!! just great. the characters were so tangible and bright, even tho kaysens descriptions are minimalist. offers great questions about diagnosing, illness, and treatment. i feel like diagnosing smth like a personality disorder is not helpful… but i hate labels. very intentional writing, would love to read her novels.
Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast by Oscar Wilde

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

a quote book wilde wrote while he was in prison (i think?). he philosophizes on art, life, sin, marriage, class, basically everything they knew about at the turn of the century. rlly weird first wilde to read and even tho these were mostly stand alone thoughts i caught wind of a lot of his personality. he reiterates that pleasure is most important (he was imprisoned for it) and he is right!!! if we do not live for pleasure what do we live for. if we do not make our dreams a reality what are we dreaming for ? workaholics have nothing better to do. PERIOD. one day i will photocopy the pgs of this book and use them as bathroom wallpaper
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

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lighthearted reflective slow-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

2.5

SLOW burn for a 150 pg book. not to say this is a bad book at all, its just a slog. bronte develops all of the themes present in Agnes further in her second novel Tenant, which i loved. really good to read if u r writing a dissertation about feminist views in 19th century england
Crush by Richard Siken

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emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

my 4 star rating is not indicative of siken’s skill… dude is a MASTER. personally, i like siken most when hes left aligned and writing huge chunks. he jumps around in his pieces a lot and it can be disorienting. the ragged poems in this are strong but the left align keeps us grounded. the strongest to me were “Saying Your Names” and “You Are Jeff.” great to read his early work, excited to read recent work
Writers & Lovers by Lily King

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inspiring reflective tense 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

4.0

i was completely sucked into casey. i loved her thought process and i sped read the last 200 pages. the last 70 pages wrap up a little too perfect for my taste, some cheesy stuff. but otherwise every time i predicted some coincidence or some embarrassing or traumatic moment, it didnt happen! love. i recognized a handful of the music and literature references which made me feel special. encouraged me to stick to my love of writing. i wanna read more lily king!
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 53%.
the show summarized the first 300 pgs in 20 mins and it took me 2 months to get thru 300 pgs so. im over it