Scan barcode
alouette's reviews
258 reviews
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
not going to spend much more time thinking about this book after analyzing it for book club but i gotta say- whether i'm just not a gothic horror person or the characters really are just bland and annoying, either way the plot was very anticlimactic!
Godslayers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
not as good as book 1 if i'm being perfectly honest, but still action-packed and exciting with plenty more of that awesome world-building. the side characters got more fleshed out while Eris and Sona fell a little bit more flat in this one, which really was a shame. i understand that they already had the "falling in love" part of their story but the synopsis really hyped up Sona's corruption to be a bigger, more irreversible deal than it was. this didn't feel as intricately plotted as the first book BUT it was still a great conclusion and i'm glad there were some happy endings to be found in all the war and loss.
and i even took pleasure in some of the supposedly sad endings! sona's love for enyo sat wrong with me for a lot of scenes so the turn it took for them was a relief to me lol
and i even took pleasure in some of the supposedly sad endings! sona's love for enyo sat wrong with me for a lot of scenes so the turn it took for them was a relief to me lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection by Yao Xiao
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
very much on a blurred line between fiction and non-fiction. it wasn't all relatable or understandable to me, but there were some really pretty poems in here and the abstract/surrealist art was very cool. i wish it had more continuity or some kind of timeline to really feel like a journey through the character's (or author's?) life.
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
as you might guess from the combo of the bright cover and the jarring title, this book is a very heavy read told with the levity that only an abused person in recovery can find. the most honest pieces of writing i've seen in a long, long time. very tear inducing, especially for someone of my age (20). so much sympathy and i'm glad McCurdy has come through this journey to a much better place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Stone Fruit by Lee Lai
challenging
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
very much a relationship study of multiple kinds!! i was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more exploration of the main characters' relationship together but it was still great to see them grow as individuals (though i would have loved to see their personalities be a bit more clear). these characters had clearly been each others center of gravity for so long and it was both beautiful and sad how they handled that when push came to shove. separating from someone so you can learn to love them better and be a better person for them is so meaningful to me. if only there has been more to their reunion and more conversation between them, this would've been 5 stars.
it will always be hard for me to handle books about depression but the fact that this one was about siblings and love and children, too, made it bearable. ness is so wonderful!
the metaphor in the nectarine scene was my favourite <3
it will always be hard for me to handle books about depression but the fact that this one was about siblings and love and children, too, made it bearable. ness is so wonderful!
the metaphor in the nectarine scene was my favourite <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family's Past by Jessica J. Lee
change is happening endlessly, and few nonfiction books can capture it as well as this one. Lee takes readers on a journey through Taiwanese history with them, of discovery and beauty and reverence for the past while accepting that it may one day become unreachable, too far behind us in time. she connects places to people, showing rather than telling the way those places become overlaid with a million new fingerprints, sometimes smudged to being unrecognizable but beautiful in a new way. as a third generation immigrant and settler, living on stolen land but finding my heritage almost beyond reach, this book does a damn good job of exploring how it feels to live between worlds by embracing the anthropocentricism of nature. nature is the foundation of life, so we need to find meaning in it to find meaning for our own existence since we are products of it
i think my favourite scene is when Lee gets to the top of one trail alongside another child of immigrants and can't see any of the view through the fog. she contemplates how much we need the view from the mountaintop against how much we need the beauty of everything that obscures it.
and it makes such perfect sense, this book. it's like ideas click into place and experiences i couldn't ever describe are captured perfectly in everything, from the forest trails Lee describes to her grandparents' incomplete recollections of the past. the book mourns the loss of old memories while coming to the understanding that new memories will be made, that there will be new possibilities for knowing.
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
Mountains could be rattled all too quickly, their timelines fractured in mere moments.
change is happening endlessly, and few nonfiction books can capture it as well as this one. Lee takes readers on a journey through Taiwanese history with them, of discovery and beauty and reverence for the past while accepting that it may one day become unreachable, too far behind us in time. she connects places to people, showing rather than telling the way those places become overlaid with a million new fingerprints, sometimes smudged to being unrecognizable but beautiful in a new way. as a third generation immigrant and settler, living on stolen land but finding my heritage almost beyond reach, this book does a damn good job of exploring how it feels to live between worlds by embracing the anthropocentricism of nature. nature is the foundation of life, so we need to find meaning in it to find meaning for our own existence since we are products of it
Nature stitches a seam between our anthropogenic divides.
i think my favourite scene is when Lee gets to the top of one trail alongside another child of immigrants and can't see any of the view through the fog. she contemplates how much we need the view from the mountaintop against how much we need the beauty of everything that obscures it.
What we believe to be culture is only ever a fragment of natural world that we have sectioned off, enclosed, pearl-like, for posterity.
and it makes such perfect sense, this book. it's like ideas click into place and experiences i couldn't ever describe are captured perfectly in everything, from the forest trails Lee describes to her grandparents' incomplete recollections of the past. the book mourns the loss of old memories while coming to the understanding that new memories will be made, that there will be new possibilities for knowing.
Trees can span all our stories... the forest stands despite us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Xenophobia and War
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
challenging
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
simply gorgeous,,, whether you relate or you don't, this memoir encapsulates the author's experiences gender so well while also being clear that eir experience isn't the universal one. e bring you along on the journey with em, in being queer and in just being a human in the strange wide world. the book is brutally honest and a bit difficult to get through at times, but that's just the nature of seeing my own reflection in its pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Dysphoria
The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams
informative
lighthearted
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
1.0
relatively short book that still manages to be a slog to get through! a jumble of words with no substantial plot or characterization beyond "this guy lies and lisps" and "this girl is in the closet". nothing really happens that i can bring myself to care about, even the bomb threats and the ending. none of the new words i discovered in it managed to stick with me thanks to how obscure they were. redeeming factor: the fact that this man just pretended to have a lisp because he was tired of talking to people was a promising premise at the beginning!
The Hourglass Throne by K.D. Edwards
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
The Book of All Time! i will never be able to make a coherent review of tarot sequence novels, they just transcend words. i can't believe we're set to get 6 more books of this intricate world, magic, and the best found family out there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder
All the Water I've Seen Is Running by Elias Rodriques
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
3.5
a book that meanders a bit, in need of more structure, but still draws you into the mind of the main character. i enjoyed the surrounding cast, the atmosphere of the south, and the social commentary. i think that the author has a lot of potential! (also shoutout SLC)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gun violence and Car accident