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eliya's reviews
102 reviews
The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
Moral of this story was confusing, didn’t like that it didn’t seem to come to a concise end. Maybe this is supposed to end that way to set up for the Big O, so we have backstory on both sides??
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
✅ sobbing
✅ sobbing many times
✅ yearning
✅ i will be thinking about this book for a long time
✅ i am a love and my love is my love we are two beams of light connected to eachother
✅ love is beautiful
❌ the war bit was hard for me to get through, felt really slow from that 50-70% mark but i’m so glad i persisted
this book is so beautifully written
i’ve discussed the similes and metaphors painted in this with friends, and we all craved figs after this
i want to experience live with the same absolute mindfulness as patroclus does
i could re read the first 50% and the last 10% of this book over and over and over again
edit: this book = unreal unearth hozier album
specifically francesca
✅ sobbing many times
✅ yearning
✅ i will be thinking about this book for a long time
✅ i am a love and my love is my love we are two beams of light connected to eachother
✅ love is beautiful
❌ the war bit was hard for me to get through, felt really slow from that 50-70% mark but i’m so glad i persisted
this book is so beautifully written
i’ve discussed the similes and metaphors painted in this with friends, and we all craved figs after this
i want to experience live with the same absolute mindfulness as patroclus does
i could re read the first 50% and the last 10% of this book over and over and over again
edit: this book = unreal unearth hozier album
specifically francesca
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Galatea by Madeline Miller
LOL “as for pigmeleon, i accepted him as [name] wrote him- term ‘incel’ was not in circulation when i wrote this book”
…
“THAT IS THE SOURCE OF A GOOD MYTH - IT IS WATER SO WIDE IT CAN REACH ACROSS CENTURIES” OUCH
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
…
“THAT IS THE SOURCE OF A GOOD MYTH - IT IS WATER SO WIDE IT CAN REACH ACROSS CENTURIES” OUCH
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.75
reading this book was unwrapping a perfectly wrapped present and not ripping the paper. formulaically perfect.
this isn’t like “speak” to me in any holy ways or make me think any deeper about my own life. this is just a good story told exactly like it should be.
this isn’t like “speak” to me in any holy ways or make me think any deeper about my own life. this is just a good story told exactly like it should be.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
dark
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
this took me f o r e v e r to read
i started on sept 7th and MAN did it slow me down. took me 11h 46m to read and i was not very motivated to read it, but once you get in the groove it reads like gossip.
some people don’t recommend doing the audiobook and reading at the same time but i honestly do recommend it. there are some differences in the wording, some paragraphs added or taken out here and there, but it felt like i got the full recounting.
the author is very clever in the way he kind of leaves little foreshadowing clues - toward the end i think i was a little over the “that was… until” type of wording from him though. omnipresent in the most educated way lol. felt very much like i was living it // a work of fiction rather than an amalgamation of random facts here and there.
really enjoyed learning about the chicago fair, crazy how many things were just accepted because of the time. i would not have like to be apart of that time lol.
i made so many notes reading this lol there were so many fun facts that felt so important i’m glad - really glad - i read this but MAN i’m also glad it’s over
i started on sept 7th and MAN did it slow me down. took me 11h 46m to read and i was not very motivated to read it, but once you get in the groove it reads like gossip.
some people don’t recommend doing the audiobook and reading at the same time but i honestly do recommend it. there are some differences in the wording, some paragraphs added or taken out here and there, but it felt like i got the full recounting.
the author is very clever in the way he kind of leaves little foreshadowing clues - toward the end i think i was a little over the “that was… until” type of wording from him though. omnipresent in the most educated way lol. felt very much like i was living it // a work of fiction rather than an amalgamation of random facts here and there.
really enjoyed learning about the chicago fair, crazy how many things were just accepted because of the time. i would not have like to be apart of that time lol.
i made so many notes reading this lol there were so many fun facts that felt so important i’m glad - really glad - i read this but MAN i’m also glad it’s over
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content and Terminal illness
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
the writing is immediately captivating from chapter 1 to the end I was not bored once, finished this in three days and it would have been faster if i hadn’t run out of listening hours on spotify (lol)
r.f. kuang does a great job of slippery-slope seemingly innocent thoughts that spiral into racist thoughts / beliefs
the plot circles its tail a few times towards the end which wasn’t great, it felt like it should have ended like three times and the ending rly could have been any person and worked out the same way.
r.f. kuang does a great job of slippery-slope seemingly innocent thoughts that spiral into racist thoughts / beliefs
You Just Need to Lose Weight: And 19 Other Myths about Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Love Aubrey Gordon, she always does the most research possible and gives you information in a very compassionate, gentle way, which was a theme in this book. She provides on-the-nose examples to explain her point of view, she does not cut any corners to say what she needs to say. I have been a vigilant listener of her podcast Maintenance Phase for a while now and there still so much information or different ways that she says things that have me reflecting my own anti-fatness as a fat person.
This was a difficult listen for me, first in how defensive I noticed I got of course, second in how somber Aubrey’s tone is the whole time she was reading. The undertone was suffering and while absolutely necessary, definitely made me take longer over the course of this book. In her podcast, the information is easier to bite because of how jokey and conversational she and Michael Hobbes are, and even in her last book “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat,” she had a pretty conversational tone. This one was very heavy. Necessary!! Just consider having space for emotional heaviness when you read this book.
I also love love love how she organized this book, into 20-30 minute listens/reads for the 20 myths that you can share // refer back to.
This was a difficult listen for me, first in how defensive I noticed I got of course, second in how somber Aubrey’s tone is the whole time she was reading. The undertone was suffering and while absolutely necessary, definitely made me take longer over the course of this book. In her podcast, the information is easier to bite because of how jokey and conversational she and Michael Hobbes are, and even in her last book “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat,” she had a pretty conversational tone. This one was very heavy. Necessary!! Just consider having space for emotional heaviness when you read this book.
I also love love love how she organized this book, into 20-30 minute listens/reads for the 20 myths that you can share // refer back to.
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism Basic Course by Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
The Funtastic Frida B. by Kate Frankey
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
fun short read with great illustrations and rhymes, a good 2-3 minute bed time story about an opossum and her two moms
Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
(personal reflection) When my dad died, and after, I kept thinking of all the guilty memories I have, all the times I’d let him down. I didn’t get to know my dad as a whole human being before, but I know he loved us. My childhood sucked and I was abused and he did his best to love us. My mom could never understand what she did wrong, when we talked about her abuse, she just gave the reasoning that that’s how she thought to love us, that’s how you raise kids. My whole family thinks that love is the shape of hurt.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
fuck me, man. this was tough. i read this book just in time for a book club to discuss it, and i didn’t cry until the acknowledgements.
sarah gailey’s writing is so incredibly intimate, a lot of reading this felt like guilt dripping down my back mixed with the cold nakedness of being alone with the words.
sarah gailey’s writing is so incredibly intimate, a lot of reading this felt like guilt dripping down my back mixed with the cold nakedness of being alone with the words.
pg. 320:
“We didn’t ask to be born, did we? We did t ask to have to soak up their sings and their expectations. All we ever did was love them, and all they ever did was hurt us.”
…”He loved us, though,” … “more than anything.”
“Oh, he loved us both as best as he could,” … “He tried to build us strong and steady and whole. But he didn’t keep us safe. He didn’t know how to shelter us from all the hurt that was waiting, because he thought that hurt was the shape of love.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence
Minor: Vomit