chels_ro's reviews
32 reviews

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.75

a harrowing book that chronicles a queer abusive relationship with each chapter built around a prompt/trope that lands just personal enough to make you feel as though you are reading her diary. the unique structure through which the story is told is reason to read it alone. the only reason it wasn’t quite 5 stars for me is because i felt a few chapters didn’t add anything to the book.

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Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

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emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

a beautiful love story

on borrowed time

whose players show how toxic masculinity can breed internalized homophobia. it shares all the iconic scenes and dialogue with its movie adaptation, my only complaint is how short it is

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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

a glimmer of a good book on mental illness and the coming of age of a woman in the 60’s, lost in the authors inability to not write racial stereotypes and every turn and allow the main character to treat anyone in her life well

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The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Maura Spiegel

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dark informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

despite the book serving as a voice for the progressive movement i found that it actually went much farther in its ideology, it’s very telling to me that it’s discussion of socialism and treatment of immigrants are less remembered than its problems with food safety. overall, while not what i would call enjoyable, still a very informative read.

Content Warnings