charbck's reviews
120 reviews

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

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

5.0

amazing imo. bret easton ellis is a genius and im excited to read more of his books. this is something that ill have to sit with for awhile. this book is a feat
Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield

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inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

convinced me marriage can be good, actually
Note to Self by Connor Franta

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reflective medium-paced

1.5

in an attempt to read books i bought in high school but never finished… i read this. unfortunately theres no substance and most of them read like an okay college essay. the photography is good for 2016 instagram. that being said the physical book itself is beautiful (hence the .5 stars). this is probably really good for the 14 y/os that were connors audience at the time , but not for them 6 years later. i hope the boyfriend was troye sivan ! and i do hope connor franta is doing well
Mr Salary by Sally Rooney

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

4.5

sally rooney is so good at capturing the Yearning
Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

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adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

i bought this book in freshman yr of high school i think? and never finished it. im glad i did! the thing is is that i like the characters but
the love story between mad and vic is inspiring ig but sooo not believable imo and also cringe. like everytime vic flirted w mad im like where is this rizz coming from??? the boy who has been bullied his whole life and has never talked to a girl suddenly comes out of his shell within 2 days and can pull a hot punk girl??? who is OLDER than him no less??? so ya the cringey forced love story ruined it for me i would have rather them just become besties!


but it was moving and arnold’s voice is entertaining. glad i read but i def suffered thru the y/a classic aspects
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Dracula by Bram Stoker

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adventurous dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

overall good book. was really slow which took me out of it a lot. there were some parts that i was gripped, like
johnny in the castle, the ghost ship, and lucy turning
but there was so much description and dialogue and fluff in between the grand moments that i was bored. i wish the ending was different. also the gender discussions were SO boring and not nuanced in the slightest which also took me out of it a lot. and no not excusing it just cuz its old! there r plenty of old books that have more interesting analysis of gender !
The Girls by Emma Cline

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

2.75

the book that put me in a two month reading slump 🙌🙌🙌 this book is written fine. the feminist critiques are interesting and well put but surface level. the only thing intriguing is the queer love/lust
that is never realized (big surprise there)


the problem with this book, and the reason i was never motivated to pick it up, was
you know from the start its just the fictionalized manson family murders. the book tells you that. and you get the facts the whole time : cult, mass murder, who did it, who was murdered, the narrator wasnt involved. and thats the problem. you know everything that is going to happen so there is no feeling of suspense or intrigue or mystery. and you think omg its a plot twist she did actually kill them what??? but nope. she wasnt there. theres no plot twist, no hints at mystery. so like why do i want to pick this book up if i know everything thats gonna happen


i should have just dnfed this book but it got such good reviews and i wanted to see what the fuss is about. if you know anything about the manson family murders (and basically everyone does), i recommend skipping this one.
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Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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

5.0

this story is beautiful. it was the exact thing i needed right now. maybe it sent me into an episode? but it was worth it. its about time and language and how humans keep going forever and destroy so much but create so much. and its about climate change and how easy it is to get indoctrinated/radicalized/convinced of a “truth.” and how even though we are all born into what we think is the end of the world actually there are thousands of years of humans before us and there will be more thousands of years of humans after us… maybe. but at least a good few hundred. and even though we dont think we can relate to people 500 years ago or 1000 years ago we all go through the same anxieties and griefs and joys. and human advancement is scary but its not all bad. and how what we think we are stuck in forever at age 10 we will be completely out of and in a whole new place by age 25. and the sky will keep being pretty. ADD THE LGBTQIA TAG TO THIS BOOK!!! 

this is really a book for Us Right Now. it especially hits i think for my generation, im the exact same age as seymour, and like seymour i am also incredibly frightened for my own future and the future of our planet. and like all the characters in the book i cant shake this feeling that i am living at the end of human history. but cloud cuckoo land reminds us that life circumstances change and we, and our grandchildren, end up okay. this is like book Everything Everywhere to me

this should be all over booktok and booktube and everything, i cant believe this was just something i picked up at barnes bc there was a discount and id heard zero reviews
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Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.25

loved breakfast at tiffanys — i get the hype, gonna watch the movie soon but im skeptical that old hollywood will make holly as spunky as she truly is. also really enjoyed a diamond guitar and especially a christmas memory… house of flowers was less interesting but im glad i didnt give up after it because a christmas memory might be my new christmas story bedtime story ! i should really re read in cold blood. also like u could really tell it was a gay man writing this — gay ppl just have better and deeper perspectives on life … but maybe im biased
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

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

4.5

took me a long time but i really enjoyed. i liked the philosophy aspect i also loved the Drama and the Gossip. some points off for the blatant misogyny and anti-black racism and im not sure if i like how isabel’s character played out, although i liked the ending. im gonna research now to see if anyones figured out who these characters actually were in real life lol

also; all the summaries say this is a book about larry. but it is not more larry’s story than it is isabels or elliots or any other character. its really a chatacter study and is much more about how and why each character makes extremely different life choices in order to pursue their own happiness and purpose. i think calling it the story of larry really boils it down