emcatbee's reviews
224 reviews

Wonderful by Harry Baker

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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

4.0

Beautiful and light and deep all at once, and every single poem had a moment thatade me laugh.
The Future by Naomi Alderman

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

5.0

Another absolute banger from Alderman. Her mentorship from Margaret Atwood is obvious, and this book is absolutely incredible. A wonderful mix of end-of-days fic mixed with tech-fic, with so many twists!
A Dutiful Boy by Mohsin Zaidi

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

Beautiful and engaging, good particularly for queer people from religious backgrounds but also wonderful in so many other ways.
Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

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challenging dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Yes, this is an absolutely horrific book, and no, I wouldn't evenlr hold the responsibility of recommending it to someone. However, Rumfritt, unlike so many others before her, has written a brilliant horror book with something to say in an interesting and uncliched way. It's academically interesting from a literary point of view in terms of the position that trauma plays in gothic horror but also has such an interesting commentary on British racism and it's insidiousness. My final valuation was of the ending, which horror books rarely do well, but Rumfritt's was absolutely perfect.
Hold Your Own by Kae Tempest

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emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

Kae Tempest's poetry always hits. And this one was so cohesive and so interesting, based on Tiresias.
The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Absolutely bizarre, but also quite dark in places? A fun ride!
The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas

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reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This was interesting in the sense that it was based on a lot of truth, either specific or general. And it was, of course, deeply sad. Whilst I liked the short length of it and the way it was a 'quick' story, because of the subject matter it felt fairly undeveloped.
Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

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

2.5

I appreciate the queerness and the joy in queerness in this book, but unfortunately I found the narrative style simply...boring
Doctor Who: The Silver Turk by Barnaby Edwards, Marc Platt

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

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

3.5

I found that this book had a really similar narrative voice to the other books by Japanese authors I've read, which I found very interesting. I quite liked the concept even though it didn't pan out as I would have liked, and I loved loved loved the attitudes to food and weight that were wonderfully explored and emphasized in the book.