lunabean's reviews
216 reviews

Kingdoms, empires, war, love (messed up ones), power, centred around a strong female lead. I felt emotionally removed from the characters because they felt cruel and unreasonable and so tortured that I couldn’t understand their motivations. But Casati did a great job creating the scene for the Assyrian empire at that time, and the reading experience was very immersive as a result. I still prefer Clytemnestra because the story and characters were more straight forward, compared to this one where there were a lot of characters and a lot of motivations and power dynamics and things happening all at once. Still a worthy read if you’re into Greek myths! (Although this isn’t Greek)

The Bell Jar: The Illustrated Edition by Sylvia Plath

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dark reflective sad 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

I'm Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng

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emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

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emotional hopeful sad 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

4.25

A beautiful read: sisters battling grief and addiction- what once was the 4 Blue sisters has now become 3 after Nicky overdosed unexpectedly, leaving the rest of them lost and on the run from themselves in different parts of the world. a year after her death, they are called back to the apartment they grew up in to go through Nicky’s belongings, each of the Blue sisters carrying a different burden: the eldest worn and weary from taking care of her sisters (SO felt with all the eldest sibling affliction in the book); the middle sister a boxer quietly in love with her trainer; the youngest an addict unable to find her way.

I can’t really understand any of the sisters- self-sabotaging (so exasperating), passive, childish, selfish. They didn’t really interact much with each other, spending each of their respective chapter perspectives mostly separately in their own lives. With addiction plaguing the Blue family in different ways, I’d also expected a fuller picture of its ability for destruction. Surprisingly addiction is talked about in practical terms like AA meetings and waking up disorientated and confused, but never really explored in depth- a couple paragraphs on the effects of an absent explosive father and a sister’s denial of being an addict.

Although I think there’s nothing life-changing or powerful about the story or message, the characterisation and first-person narratives are immersive and painfully familiar, the prose very compelling and beautiful. There is a lot of grief wrought in the characters and a lot of love, Mellors writing emotionally and intimately to our desires and fears- love and loneliness… and who’s not a sucker for a book about that😔

Content Warnings

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

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lunabean's reviews 216 reviews

lunabean's reviews
216 reviews