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lazymajou's reviews
238 reviews
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.5
Pułapki myślenia. O myśleniu szybkim i wolnym by Daniel Kahneman
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins
When Léo finds out that Claire is Carfrax’s sister he does project Carfrax on her. In their school days Léo and Carfrax they went from rivals.. to friends.. to kissing. OMG and here I thought we’ve got tragic LGBTQ+ romance! I was so annoyed at the fact that Léo doesn’t really look at Claire but at Carfrax he saw in her. We have so many instances when Léo is just describing how much she reminds him of Carfrax. And I get it, he loved him, lost him and never was able to fully get over it buttttt Claire is Claire you meanie!!
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-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
4.25
This book is just stunning. It has all of the dark academia vibes but it’s also an adult fiction piece. We follow the story of 3 different main characters: the Rat, Léo and Magister Ludi. The story takes place at a boarding school called Montverre where student train in this thing they call grand jeu. Martin Léo is banished by the Party to the school he used to go to 10 years prior where Magister Ludi teaches and where the Rat is hiding. With time we get to know what happened when Léo used to go to school and why Magister Ludi hates him so much.
Léo made many mistakes in his life and he’s not… very likeable to me. He’s low key misogynistic – he believes that women are inferior to men, that their place is at home, not at school. We learn that the Party he is a part of is introducing those “Purity Laws” that are highly nationalistic and especially anti-Christian and anti-Communistic and everyone that defines them.. disappears. Léo is lucky, because even tho he went against what Party wanted of him “Old Man” (head of the Party, he’s only mentioned a few times) likes him, so he was banished.
Magister Ludi, fist female Magister at Montverre as we learn later is also aware of what happened at school when Léo attended it and she knows more than anyone would expect.
And this book has the biggest plot twist at the end that I’d never have expected. Now that I think about it, it was hinted here and there but I never expected THAT! I did not expect Claire (Magister Ludi) to not only be Carfrax’s sister but also the fact that it wasn’t the real Carfrax, who Léo fell in love in when they were at school but it was Claire. And while the real Carfrax did indeed commit suicide – the Carfrax that Léo knew, his love, Claire was alive.
I would love to give it 5 starts but to be honest.. I’ve missed something in it. Not sure why, it’s just the feeling I got.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Suicide
Minor: Religious bigotry
夜は短し歩けよ乙女 by Tomihiko Morimi
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
2.5
So.. the reason why I scored this book this low is not because it’s not good. The reason is that.. it wasn’t particularly my taste and it was very hard to read. This book has tons of kanjis and N2 grammar structures but what makes it hard to read is that it is kinda abstract. I’ve mentioned before that it reminds me of Bruno Schulz works and what I mean by it is the overwhelming usage of magical realism and abstract concepts to progress the plot. To be honest I wasn’t a fan of Schulz either, this type of writing is just not my cup of tea.
Throughout all of the book author changes the pov pretty much every ~10 pages which is nice, cause we get to know different perspectives but it can be kind of chaotic and I didn’t particularly like any of the characters,,, Which isn’t a problem for me but I just couldn’t make myself care about any of them. Not to forget that the main male protagonist is just a stalker in my eyes? He’s creepy. And I do agree that there were some moments that I wasn’t able to fully comprehend (that’s why I give it N1+. My JP teacher also said that this book is hard even for Japanese ppl), I was just too confused.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Sexual harassment
The first chapter was full of drinking and being under an influence, we also have a guy grabbing one of the main characters and it just.. triggered me. Another character saved her but and the whole thing was just kinda brushed over. The second chapter was better, it took place in a library but it was slow-paced and boring and times. The third chapter was just pure chaos. The forth (and the last) chapter.. let’s say the ending was a summary of what happened in chapter 3 but I didn’t like the end.
The Shining by Stephen King
dark
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
1.5
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
In the beginning I wasn’t sure if I would like it. Like, yep it has witches and I love that part but from how it started I wasn’t sure how they’ll handle it. This book is an allegory for feminism. Women living in a men’s world, where those that are different are branded as outsiders, heretics and are treated badly. I really liked the ending and I don’t know how to feel about the fact that it’s a part of a series, because for me it is a finished story.
小說 言の葉の庭 by Makoto Shinkai, 新海誠
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75