m4rtt4's reviews
327 reviews

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What the hell. What the fuck. What on earth did I just read??
I really dislike the plot twist and the ending overall, but despite that I oddly find myself liking the book. I'd like to hate it, but I can't remember any books having ever made me as anxious as this one, and I mean that as a compliment. What a ride, what a page-turner. There definitely was some character development, just in the wrong direction... I usually like moral ambiguity, but this book should have stuck to its predecessors. The second half of the book was not what I wanted at all, nor do I consider it a suitable ending to the series, but THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE TRILOGIES AFTER ALL AND THE WRITING WAS ADDICTING IN THIS ONE AS WELL. One star reduced for the awful choices, but the rest still deserves the full four.

Also I don't give nor have I ever given a shit about Pip and Ravi's relationship.

the murder would have been a great plot twist if Pip hadn't cared about justice and "being right" all the time. I totally understand her mental health issues and everything she's gone through, but GOD DAMN WAS IT ANNOYING THAT SHE KEPT BLAMING MAX AFTER DOING WORSE CRIMES HERSELF. The framing would have been okay as well had she not done it because "Max deserves to go to jail after all his crimes" well what do you deserve then hun xx
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Väärän vänkyrä talo by Agatha Christie

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

3.5

Not bad, as anything by Christie ever even could be, but somehow the plot was a bit predictable in this one. Great family drama, but unfortunately so very stereotypical.
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First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Heartbreaking, well-written, emotional, important. ANOTHER CATASTROPHIC CONFLICT OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM HAS DECIDED TO IGNORE smh
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No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

confused but i've never read such an accurate depiction of the internet and social media before
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Stalinin lehmät by Sofi Oksanen

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dark emotional informative reflective 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

4.75

Oksasen paras.
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Sirkka by Anni Saastamoinen

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

Hauska, samaistuttava, ja ennen kaikkea tämän kirjan myötä HALUAN KISSAN. "Mii," sanoi Naamansyöjä ja sulatti sydämeni. Olen henkisesti Sirkka, mutten käytännössä tai käytännöllinen sellainen.
T. ihminen, jonka lempipuuhaa on myös kirjoitusvirheiden etsiminen myynti-ilmoituksista.
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The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

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

3.0

A beautiful book, but the story was quite bland and would get 2.5 stars without the gorgeous illustrations. Reading this in a library probably added another dimension to my experience as well. This was a must-read for me as I'm aiming to have read everything by Murakami, but I don't think I would have chosen this book had it been by anyone else.
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Maailman hienoin esitys : Evoluution todisteet by Richard Dawkins

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challenging funny informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

fun, entertaining, some questionable and overly complicated word choices at times but overall a very recommendable experience. As a biology student this helped retrieve my lost studying motivation a bit. 

tbh I only read this because of the eponymous song by Nightwish, no regrets but nothing tops that one.
I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm surprised I ended up liking this as much as I do. Big thanks to the skillful narrators; Aysha Kala and Huw Parmenter! I only chose this book because of the narration tbh, as I wanted to listen to something by Oseman and this book was the only tolerable one (yeah, I tried them all and am very picky about the voices).

Narration aside, I liked how accurately the story depicted the lives of (young) fans, online friendships, fanfics and all that jazz. It took me a few years back to when I was in junior high, and a part of it will always live inside me. Oseman's portrayal of young people and fan culture is so accurate and does not feel fake at all (probably due to her relatively young age as well), and I love how casually she includes all kinds of diversity in her books without it feeling forced. Not to forget her authentic depictions of various mental health issues! This woman sure didn't come here to just play, she won it all. Some minor defects of the story were its predictability and general YA-ness, also I really disliked Rowan through the whole book (I have no idea why but he annoys me. A lot). Obviously I shouldn't have chosen a YA book to read if I dislike YA, but where else would I find a story this heartwarming, genuine, inclusive and accurate (and about teenagers, let alone fangirls)? Overall I did like this story. Relatable. A bit annoying, but understadably so.
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Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

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

2.75

I didn't know much about this beforehand, but considering how much I liked Rooney's other books, my expectations were unreasonably high. In no way did this book manage to meet my high standards or even reach the basic standards of a good book – the characters were dull, flat and frustrating, and so was the plot where literally nothing happened. The relationship between Frances and Nick gave me the ick throughout the whole book, and I didn't find a single relatable, likable and/or interesting character in the story. It wasn't necessarily bad either, just very, very bland (and I'm saying this as a white person whose family only knows like salt and sugar). I feel like describing this book with one single adjective in the list – I chose reflective – is too generous. Would and will not recommend.
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