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hollyway's reviews
524 reviews
Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
I just read this within 24 hours what the hell? Anyway...
I loved Room by Emma Donoghue when I read it and have been meaning to explore her work further ever since. Finally got around to it and I was not disappointed! Strangely, I did read the blurb of this novel before I bought it yet somehow didn't realise it was an Anne Lister story. It was a nice surprise as I'm as fascinated by Anne Lister as the next flaming homo. I read a biography a few years ago and have seen the first season of Gentleman Jack. It was really interesting and refreshing to see Anne as a character in someone else's story. It was fun to see Anne through Eliza's eyes, but it also didn't feel like Eliza was overshadowed by her. I don't think this is a breathtaking masterpiece but it was kind of exactly what I needed right now: a competent, absorbing, lively story with an interesting cast of characters.
I wouldn't recommend this to someone who needs a snappy plot to be hooked, but would recommend it in general!
I loved Room by Emma Donoghue when I read it and have been meaning to explore her work further ever since. Finally got around to it and I was not disappointed! Strangely, I did read the blurb of this novel before I bought it yet somehow didn't realise it was an Anne Lister story. It was a nice surprise as I'm as fascinated by Anne Lister as the next flaming homo. I read a biography a few years ago and have seen the first season of Gentleman Jack. It was really interesting and refreshing to see Anne as a character in someone else's story. It was fun to see Anne through Eliza's eyes, but it also didn't feel like Eliza was overshadowed by her. I don't think this is a breathtaking masterpiece but it was kind of exactly what I needed right now: a competent, absorbing, lively story with an interesting cast of characters.
I wouldn't recommend this to someone who needs a snappy plot to be hooked, but would recommend it in general!
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.
Fun concept but didn't hook me.
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Says so much in so few pages. Propulsive, hypnotic prose. As messy and elusive as a dream, and equally imbued with heady symbolism. A darkly gorgeous and magnetic novel. Really loved this.
Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I was really expecting Kafka to rock my world but he really didn't move me. The concepts were interesting but the execution was sort of bland. Granted I have been really exhausted this week so not at my most analytical. I'm sure I would get more out of these stories if I were to dig into them but there wasn't enough I enjoyed on the surface to encourage me to dig deeper.
The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was so mediocre. I honestly don't mind some circular thinking in first person narration because that's human, but here it did not feel earned and it became so repetitive to the point where several entire chapters could have been cut without missing anything essential. It just felt really aimless, which makes sense given the nature of the plot, but it didn't feel like a result of the prolonged captivity the characters were experiencing but a lack of nuance within their inner experience. Each character had a strong voice but basically only one defining trait, making them feel more like caricatures than real people. Also this is not so much a writing issue as a personal one but oh my god, the way she presented the whole Mary-Bothwell thing was an ENORMOUS yikes. I have no idea if Mary's sentiments about him have any basis in evidence so I'm reserving judgement but nevertheless I physically cringed over certain lines.
With all that said, I'm still giving this 3 stars simply because I did enjoy the writing itself. The novel wasn't painfully bad, it just could have been so much better. I also thought Mary was slightly more nuanced and interesting than the other characters. I have a feeling that if we had only had her perspective it would have been a much more interesting book. I'm not willing to write off Philippa Gregory yet. I doubt she has written my favourite book ever, but I'm willing to bet she has something stronger than this. I won't be rushing out to grab more of her books but I'll be open to giving another one a shot if I see it at an op shop or something and I need something undemanding to read.
With all that said, I'm still giving this 3 stars simply because I did enjoy the writing itself. The novel wasn't painfully bad, it just could have been so much better. I also thought Mary was slightly more nuanced and interesting than the other characters. I have a feeling that if we had only had her perspective it would have been a much more interesting book. I'm not willing to write off Philippa Gregory yet. I doubt she has written my favourite book ever, but I'm willing to bet she has something stronger than this. I won't be rushing out to grab more of her books but I'll be open to giving another one a shot if I see it at an op shop or something and I need something undemanding to read.
Prima Facie by Suzie Miller
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a hard book to rate. I'm noticing a trend in novels that have been adapted from plays: odd pacing and structure, lack of detail/scene setting and a somewhat unsophisticated translation of emotional experience into words, which I imagine stems from the writer being so used to relying on actors to convey the inner world of the character. Prima Facie suffers on these fronts, yet overall it is an effective, affecting novel. On purely a literary level it is not a masterpiece but I think its strengths outweigh its weaknesses. I was continually drawn to it, I liked it and I would recommend it to others.
*Probably worth noting I haven't seen the play it's based on.
*Probably worth noting I haven't seen the play it's based on.
Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Loved this. Understated yet entrancing. Humans scrambling for a way to bear the burden of existence. Atwood's prose is so tight, so clever, but not so polished as to be lifeless. So many paragraphs that leave me in awe of her ability to wield language to express the mundane or universal in such a unique way and affecting way. I would recommend this one to fans of Sally Rooney - subtle interpersonal drama that ponders deeper questions about life, love and humanity.
Andromache Between Worlds by Gabriel Bergmoser
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
5.0
I mainly read this to vet it for my niece, but it was honestly a delight to read. A fun spectacle but always motivated, never divorced from the characters and their emotional experience. It's exactly the kind of thing I would have loved to stay up way past my bedtime reading when I was a kid.
(Full disclosure: I know the author)
(Full disclosure: I know the author)
A Year of Last Things: Poems by Michael Ondaatje
4.0
A solid collection even if nothing particularly blew me away.
West Girls by Laura Elizabeth Woollett
dark
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is the first book by Laura Elizabeth Woollett that I can't quite give 5 stars, but I still absolutely loved this. Everything to do with Luna and Caitlyn was pure gold. The other vignettes were all interesting in their own way, but it was the meandering structure of this novel that stopped it from quite reaching the same heights as her other books for me. That said, Woollett's depiction of 2000s Australian girlhood was painfully vivid, and the way she illustrated the entanglement of beauty standards and queerness/desire was so perfect that it left me desperate for more. Her narrative voice was wry and raw and gripping as always. A fascinating, messy book that leaves you with much to think about.