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storytold's reviews
394 reviews
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
Among her weaker FMCs and I'm just not getting much from romance atm
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
3.0
Repetitive and poorly edited with absolutely inexplicable character behavior and motivations, and yet: compelling. Climax ridiculous, dénouement very enjoyable. Cannot possibly recommend.
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
4.25
This was great! Genuine talent! The ending has no problems if you don't mistake this for a romance! Excited to see what else this author puts out!
The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
I forgot I was reading this every single time I put it down. dnd-inspired fantasy is never gonna hit for me
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
I returned to this more than once because the voice occasionally transcended the rest. Ultimately it is two things this book cannot afford to be: a bad facsimile of a biography and a badly motivated alternate history. It may be that I come back to it again; if I find it used I may well buy it. It's a great case study. It's a great example of a book to learn from.
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
3.25
Compels me though. Will probably stop here - I do not think book 3 will interest me.
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
3.5
Great structural conceit but iffy execution with some glaring mistakes in storytelling decisionmaking. Nevertheless, did finish and immediately want to pick up the sequel.
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben
4.0
Well, I smashed this in one sitting. Trees are friends to you and me.
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
2.25
I think this is shlock! It tries to do some interesting things. Its perspective work is deliberate, for example. Unfortunately the deliberate choice doesn't execute well.
That the book barely even attempts to explicitly address its central question—why would five white, suburban teenaged girls all kill themselves on a certain date?—is its central failing in the trickledown effects it has on what the book does do well. It means the clearly deliberate choice to view the girls through the boys' retrospective lens has absolutely no purpose except to render both the girls and the boys' characters in extremely limited dimensions. Allusions are made by the collective second person narrator that the boys have fared poorly as adults as a result of what they witnessed in that year, but again this is not explicitly elucidated upon.
The author wanted to write a novel about the halcyon days of youth (gore edition), but it felt incredibly sanitized from start to finish because, instead of leaning into or exploring the fundamental horror of what's being explored, the halcyon feeling is prioritized. This is deliberate, and it could have been interesting if it was also intentional. What I mean is that the author had a plan and he executed it, but he didn't bother to think very deeply about how he was executing it. This is a book about suicide that managed not to have any depth as a result.
Perhaps in fairness, it's not actually trying to be deep. Instead, it's trying to explore the eroticization of these suicides through the lens of teenage lust. People who have been teen boys might like this book better because the lens feels relatable. People who have been teen girls, especially troubled ones, are probably going to wonder how this book managed to achieve so little, how little manages to get explored. The book would be more aptly named, Witnessing the Virgin Suicides; that is what it is about.
That the book barely even attempts to explicitly address its central question—why would five white, suburban teenaged girls all kill themselves on a certain date?—is its central failing in the trickledown effects it has on what the book does do well. It means the clearly deliberate choice to view the girls through the boys' retrospective lens has absolutely no purpose except to render both the girls and the boys' characters in extremely limited dimensions. Allusions are made by the collective second person narrator that the boys have fared poorly as adults as a result of what they witnessed in that year, but again this is not explicitly elucidated upon.
The author wanted to write a novel about the halcyon days of youth (gore edition), but it felt incredibly sanitized from start to finish because, instead of leaning into or exploring the fundamental horror of what's being explored, the halcyon feeling is prioritized. This is deliberate, and it could have been interesting if it was also intentional. What I mean is that the author had a plan and he executed it, but he didn't bother to think very deeply about how he was executing it. This is a book about suicide that managed not to have any depth as a result.
Perhaps in fairness, it's not actually trying to be deep. Instead, it's trying to explore the eroticization of these suicides through the lens of teenage lust. People who have been teen boys might like this book better because the lens feels relatable. People who have been teen girls, especially troubled ones, are probably going to wonder how this book managed to achieve so little, how little manages to get explored. The book would be more aptly named, Witnessing the Virgin Suicides; that is what it is about.
The Turnaway Study by Diana Greene Foster
5.0
Fantastic. Gold standard for research-based nonfiction. Systematically tackles every common objection to abortion and disproves nearly all of them with both quantitative data and qualitative testimony. Apart from that, it was excellently written: declarative, unambiguous, political, often moving. If you often find yourself debating abortion rights, this book has the talking points to help destigmatize.