ruekeyronay's reviews
314 reviews

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

emotional 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

3.0

I have a couple of things to say:

1 - This book took years off my life. I don't mean that as in I thought it was terrible, just that this book and its characters exhaust you.

2 - Since this is the third book from Sally Rooney that I've read, I think I can confidently say that all of her female characters are basically indistinguishable from each other. Replace Marianne with Frances and Eileen with Alice and you would notice no difference in tone of voice or descriptions or their personalities.

3 - More on the descriptions, if I took a shot everytime the female characters were described as 'slim' I'd pass out. If I took a shot everytime it happened in all of her books, I'd already be dead.

4 - My favorite ship was the fatal accident I kept hoping for x Eileen.

5 - I know Sally Rooney's whole thing is unlikable characters and realistic relationships but I thought Felix was one of her most toxic characters. Top contender is of course, Eileen.

6 - The discussions on climate change, dealing with our impact on the environment in the modern world, religion, politics, etc were interesting but did not need to take up that much of the book.

7 - Keeping that in mind, the book itself did not need to be that long either.

8 - I don't know how I feel about authors dumping their opinions and their own pet peeves in a book that isn't nonfiction, especially at the end when subtlety just flew out the window.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

Go to review page

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Please look in to a list of trigger warnings for this book because there are many.

I don't often feel nauseated while reading a book but it's sort of impossible not to with this one. I didn't expect this book to be so incredibly dark and addicting.

The stories are creepy, full of gore and straight up deranged. I've never read anything quite like it and I have to say every story was ridiculously entertaining.

(spoiler: the descriptions of bloody masturbation were too uncomfortable and I'm still cringing)

The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad fast-paced