stories_of_the_soul27's reviews
265 reviews

The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann

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

4.0

I will list the reasons why I absolutely loved the book point wise as my brain is working that way only for now. 
1. Joy - straightforward, honest, sunshine, brings literal joy to a room but mostly yes her straightforwardness 
2. Pining for her best friend - it was so so real and graphic that it ripped my heart. How dangerous it can be to be in love with your best friend for so long and watching him fall in love with every other girl but not you. The author got the feeling right down to the T. 
3. Ace rep - the representation was so on point. I identify as demi and some of the discussions and observations hit home with me. But also Joy’s description of who she is as an Ace and her portrayal of herself was educational. 
4. Writing - very polished. The balance of the amount of pining, her being Black, ace talks, Joy’s monologue of whether she is being toxic or supportive, her and Michael’s years long relationship, the finding the right ONE discussions, Joy’s anxiety and boundaries - lots of discussions could have gone south but the author almost balanced everything. This sometimes affected the pacing and felt a bit too much but overall it was balanced. 
5. Joy & Fox - loved each and every one of their moments together. It was so fun and my gut made me that giggly feeling  which one gets while reading very cute, lovey but not corny interactions between potential couples. Their moments were so honest, tender, warm and snugly. The perfect sunshine x grumpy couple 🥺
6. The cherry on the top has been the sibling relationship of the romantic leads. It was so endearing so read about supportive siblings who tease you but are your biggest supporters.
7. My issues : At times I felt that Summer and Joy interactions were not handled very well. And the crucial and much needed discussion between Joy and Malcolm towards the end was short and rushed. 
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

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

3.25

I always believed that cooking a meal for your loved ones is one of the best kind of love languages. If you put love and effort into cooking then it creates a dish like nothing else. And food is the important and the most luxurious thing in any living being’s life. When we leave home to stay in a faraway place, the thing we are most nostalgic about is home cooked food, made by either parent or grandparents. We go to a new place to explore and we try the local cuisine to truly understand the essence of that place and the people inhabiting said place. Food connects people. Food enriches our body and soul. Food makes us alive and happy. This book was an ode to importance of food or rather meal. How food is associated with memories long forgotten but their intensity still fresh in our heart, how food is connected to past and how it sets course to our future. Also I really liked how nostalgia/past haunts us humans. No matter at what age, there will always be some memories that will keep plaguing us, for better or worse. 
That said, while I did like the theme and overall atmosphere created by the story, I was unable to connect to the characters so it felt flat to me. 
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-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? No

4.25

When I first heard about this book a few months ago, I was sold by the idea of Elizabeth Bennet being a trans character and be in a relationship with Darcy. So it goes without saying that I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Pride & Prejudice retellings have a very high bar to match and this one reached it quite well. I loved Oliver. His inner monologues, courage, bravery and refusal to conform to society’s views were so admirable. The pain and turmoil of every transperson being forced to be called by their deadname and not being acknowledged who they were have been written in such a raw and honest way. It shows how much courage and mental strength they have. Oliver and Darcy were very cute together and we get some lovely scenes of them. Lastly the climax and the epilogue was such a chef’s kiss. I was giggling throughout. 
Also I listened to the audiobook which was narrated quite well. 
One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

This was bit of a miss for me. Normally I love Blake’s flowery prose but this time it felt a tad bit much. The prose made everything way too dramatic and showy when in actuality nothing like that was happening in the story. It was filled with too much frequent and unnecessary declarations of love which became tiresome after a while. 
The book is enjoyable in someways though. I always enjoy variations of Romeo and Juliet.  But the plot was lost to me after a while. Nothing was happening except plans were being made and everyone seems intent on kissing the grounds on which the Antonovas walked. It got a bit tiresome from the middle to the end. The power dynamics were largely heavy on the Antonova side and that doesn’t work out for a Romeo&Juliet-esque story. Maybe if I connected to the characters, I’d have enjoyed more. But the characters were already written out for us. There wasn’t left anything for the readers to judge for themselves. And the characters were becoming frustrating to read about after a while as there wasn’t anything new to discover about them. I really am disappointed with myself that I wasn’t a fan of this book. Olivie Blake is such a great storyteller and weaver of plots and themes. 

However I feel this is a book that will be enjoyed depending on individuality. Two star crossed couples, elder daughter/son syndrome, demanding parents, siblings love - all these are fuel for a great story. 
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I lot of times while reviewing feminist books, I mention that I love how subtly the author imbues feminism in their books. But you know what, I love when feminism is LOUD. Like in this book. Feminist books should be LOUD and PROUD!!!!! There should be graphic moments of women being put down by the patriarchal society because often times it is important to show directly how harmful the myths of society, culture or religion is to certain sections of people. There should also be GRAND moments of women being uplifted and celebrated for breaking barriers because women have to fight harder till now to get a place and a name in this world compared to their male counterparts. And DO NOT get me started how it is 10 times harder for POC women. 

This book was equally gut wrenching and heart warming!!!!! The protagonist and the side characters are all a peculiar bunch who will just bulldoze themselves into your heart and stay there! The dialogues were beautiful. Grief was depicted in such a raw and real way. But there were fun moments too. Within 390 pages, Garmus has taken on a lot of topics to take a jab at and none feels like half-done. It is a very well written and well thought out book. 

As with all my reviews on any historical literature focusing on women, I will end my review saying this : Those women walked just so we could run! 
Kudos to the women who came before us!!! 
The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer by Shrabani Basu

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dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

This is a BRILLIANT piece of work!!! Kudos to Shrabani Basu for bringing this forgotten story to light. Why didn’t this book make noise? Why aren’t more people talking about it or making noise regarding this book? 

  1. The writing of this book is so intricately done. There are so many incidents and characters that needed to be written in just the perfect way so that the readers can judge the characters for themselves. The writer did spell out the racial prejudices faced by the key characters but with the way the book has been written, the reader comes to the same conclusions beforehand. 
  2. Shrabani Basu didn’t go out of her way to build sympathy for the protagonist and neither she had to portray someone as a villain. Her neutral standpoint of writing this book was commendable. 
  3. Kudos to her to bring out the British superiority of not just few people but of many eminent personalities of that time period. Her brilliant way of comparing Eldaji case with another cases going about during that time period brought a lot of perspectives at the front. 
  4. It is a heartbreaking story and I will remember the names of those people who have wronged the Eldaji people throughout their lifetime and never once repented.

George Edalji had been a good man. He deserved the protection of the law as his fellow white countrymen. He was an Englishman too. But racist policemen like Campbell and Anson deemed him a criminal and so did the judges of his case and the British Government. All this people have contributed to the downfall of a good man. I do not, standing in 21st century, still understand racial superiority and discrimination against other races like brown/black/dark skinned people. This book has opened my eyes further regarding how the brown/black/dark skinned people are portrayed in popular media. 
This case has long since being forgotten but  I will remember it and so will others who have read this book. 
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I never liked Colin much. After reading this book, I detest him even more. 

There’s a part in the book from Colin’s third person POV about how he had gone years without thinking about Penelope and now she had permeated his every last thought and every last desire. He asks himself, ‘How had this happened? When had it happened?’’And did it really matter?’ I would say yes it very much mattered. Because I simply fail to understand how this romance between them started. Not noticing Penelope for 12 years and now he cannot have enough of her without any rhyme or reason. I think Penelope deserves a better story. She deserves to have a whirlwind romance where the boy and now the man she has been in love with all these years, sweeps her off her feet. 

And let us talk about the most important thing - Colin Bridgerton’s temper. The man gets so angry at Penelope at various times in the book and on what grounds? His opinion that if the ton comes to know that Lady Whistledown is Penelope then it would ruin her is so derogatory and condescending. His anger had made Penelope cry and he has even hurt her by gripping her too tightly. His inner thoughts say that at that moment he was making a right choice. His fury led to him say he would kill her. All of this is written down as if ruination of Penelope would hurt him beyond measure as they are a team now, and Penelope should have consulted him before not doing this and her not doing so is betrayal. What is this narrative? The whole ballroom scene during their engagement read like a conversation between an abusive husband and his timid wife. Penelope says, “ if having to endure his anger and disdain at a time like this was to be a part of marriage as well, then that would be worth it too.” What a way to reduce the worth of such an amazing character like Penelope! 
Few moments later we read about Colin’s thoughts where he says that maybe love was being utterly furious and quite ready to tie her to the bed just to keep her from going  out and making more trouble. Is this kind of love to be celebrated and written about? What an absolute tosh! 

Colin majorly loses his temper at Penelope twice. In both times he doesn’t apologise to Penelope and Penelope meanwhile was alarmed with Colin’s behaviour but proceeds to forgive him without getting an apology. And then they have hot steamy moments. 

I understand that having a temper doesn’t necessarily make a person bad. But the way Colin’s emotions are written makes one fearful that how much his anger can turn him into a violent man. He gets so angry at Cressida that he wants to take it on anyone he can find, he wants to punch a wall and kick things. 

I couldn’t understand the need to highlight Colin’s temper like this. Was it to point out that Penelope had put Colin on a pedestal for 11 years and now that she gradually comes to understand that Colin is not the perfect man she thought he was but still she loves him with her whole heart? I feel showing Colin’s vulnerability regarding his legacy and his jealousy towards Penelope did a fine job. There was absolutely no need to glorify Colin’s temper (anger) in any way. 

It feels like this author is desperate to have at least one problematic aspect in her every book. 
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

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lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? No

4.0

There’s something about the way that contemporary Japanese authors write that fills up your heart with warmth and joy. They romanticise the joy of living life peacefully, without any rush or fear and celebrate the little moments of life. That is true for Satoshi Yagisawa too. The story is so simple yet it leaves behind a deep impression. Each of us in our lives must have come across a point when circumstances must have overwhelmed us and we all wanted a place just to be us, in peace and quiet. The story is just about that. It is also about meeting people of different ages and finding friendship among them. It is also about revisiting old relations and discovering them anew. It is also about love for books. It is about taking walks with your friends, visiting a coffee shop to meet old friends and finding new friends, reading and recommending books and above all to discover life in a different way. 
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Haynes is brilliant. She did it again. She wove a heartbreaking story and this time she wrote it from the start to the finish. I am amazed how she comes up with such witty lines and write a story with so many characters maintaining their individuality. I commend her for writing Perseus as the whiny, cowardly ‘hero’ he is and it is such a tragedy that the fool was the only one of the Greek heroes who got to live a long life. 
My only complain is that we didn’t get to see enough of Medusa. 
Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb

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

5.0

I love the mysterious and beautiful atmosphere that Jeph Loeb creates. And the soul crushing dialogues he writes. He manages to really convey whatever goes on Bruce Wayne’s and Batman’s mind. The Villain was good and so was the story in terms of Batman being generally a detective. What I liked most was seeing the people Batman have come to rely on in all these years and the interactions between them. 
The artwork was also phenomenal. All macho and seductive. 
Also please let Batman and Catwoman be happy canonically.