m4rtt4's reviews
327 reviews

Minun Marttani by Arvid Järnefelt

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

3.0

Miulla oli tän lukemiselle kaksi syytä; nimeni (Martta) lisäksi pidin paljon Järnefeltin Isänmaasta, ja alkuasetelma olikin pitkälti samanlainen, mutta tarina ei kuitenkaan yltänyt sen tasolle — paljon traagisempi se kuitenkin oli kuin mitä olin odottanut.
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Opintiellä by Tara Westover

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

rating a memoir is always hard, but it is especially difficult in this case — what can I say except that I was hooked on the story, which is absolutely horrible considering this is her actual life and not just some thriller typa special effects. I'm glad she finally found the courage to stand for herself, yet I can also absolutely understand why she didn't want to or couldn't do it (not that I can relate, I'm so grateful to be privileged in the fact that most of all this sounds like a fever-dreamish nightmare to me).
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Crossing the Water by Sylvia Plath

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective

4.0

first time reading Plath and issa vibe.
my favourites: Finisterre, Blackberrying, I Am Vertical, Stillborn, Mirror and The Tour.
Maailman ympäri 80 päivässä by Jules Verne

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

3.75

interesting dive into the means of traveling in the 1800s, the plot was witty and original as well. Obviously it is also written from a very colonialist perspective point of view — the descriptions of white Americans were pretty funny, though, and accurate despite being over 150 years old!
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Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.5

probably the best contemporary romance novel I've ever read — like Neil, I'm not an avid enjoyer of the genre either, but it does please me to find a good love story every now and then. As someone who has always prioritized her GPA above all else, this book hit a little too close to home.. nevertheless, I enjoyed it, because what is better than enemies to lovers? Enemies to lovers but make it academic <3
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Äärimmäisen onnen ministeriö by Hanna Tarkka, Arundhati Roy

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

interesting yet very confusing — there were so many characters that I feel like I missed half of the story. The other half I did like, in all its sadness it was also full of beauty and hope.
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The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima

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dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

this is exactly how I imagine those 'alpha male' podcasts will affect children


in all seriousness, it was very thought-provoking and unique, never have I come across something very similar to this. A tragic story, but what makes it even worse is that the boys' thoughts are not that much out of the ordinary, and people with mindsets like theirs do exist in real life. The writing was beautiful and compelling, surprisingly even in the sexual scenes — I've read much worse (Murakami...), this didn't even seem like it was written by a man (it's a compliment).
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The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

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

2.5

this read like a fanfic, except that I did not know the characters beforehand (so there was nothing to be waiting for), nor did the writing manage to make me attached to any of them. Horrible, even demonizing portrayal of mental illnesses; please refrain from writing characters with a mental illness if you can only depict them as a twisted monster :)
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Monte-Criston kreivi by Alexandre Dumas

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

4.5

there is nothing I do better than revenge ~

so long, but so epic and more than worth the time. I took off 0.5 stars because it could have been a tad shorter and there were so many characters I got confused from time to time. Nevertheless, I was hooked on the drama, and there were also some great examples of how pride and greed can really fuck you up. Can't say much anything else without spoiling, but go find out yourself!

+ this doesn't really spoil anything, but Eugenie Danglars and Louise d'Armilly were lesbians in love and you can't change my mind :) <3
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Everstinna by Rosa Liksom

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

4.0

listening to the Finnish audiobook was the right choice — I really loved the dialect, and it hugely contributed to my fondness of the story. Horrible story, though, with horrible things; I do not sympathize with the main character's nazism or condone her actions, but her story was an interesting insight to the political atmosphere before and during ww2 in Finland. She was also a victim of pedophilia, grooming and domestic abuse, a traumatic cycle of which she never gets out of; history repeats itself and victims become perpetrators, just like there will always be people who try to justify their fascist beliefs and start new wars. The way we never even got to know her name shows how little her own self mattered to her, as everything in her life was defined by her relations to men. I'd theorize her traumas contributed to her nazist beliefs, as the lack of control in her own life made her want to control others?
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