sandrinepal's reviews
1227 reviews

La Catabase by Jack Jakoli, Jack Jakoli

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.0

 Je n'ai pas été conquise. L'extrême violence à l'égard de victimes presque seulement féminines est un élément narratif franchement éculé. Alors, certes, le cheminement à la Monte Cristo du coupable désigné est efficace et un poil original, mais l'ensemble repose quand même sur une cabale (jamais percée à jour, d'ailleurs : ironie du dénouement ?) de riches et puissants sadiques qui n'ont l'air d'en avoir qu'après les femmes, et ça, ça fait très années 1990. L'écriture est parfois décevante, avec des "malgré que" et autres fautes qu'un éditeur/correcteur devrait intercepter.

 
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

 I found this title on a list of detective series to try. The premise of nods to existing works of literature was enticing, so I went for it. In a word, I'd say this is a mashup of Artemis Fowl and Stephanie Plum, which is a -guarded- compliment. Ideas like the bookworms and the prose portal are straight out of something Eoin Colfer might have dreamed up, while the strong female detective lead with a slightly dotty family and unconventional pet is giving Ms. Plum. All in all, though, the book didn't deliver the literary thrill ride I had been led to expect. Damn you, book hype! One thing that is worth sticking around for is the Rocky-Horror-inspired performance of Richard III. The overall narrative arc doesn't make for promising sequels, but I did give in and read the second book in the series. I mean, it's summer and I needed a break. That's the end of the road for me and the Thursday Next books, though. 
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

 Bit of a meh. I found myself zoning out repeatedly. The whodunnit drive is much weaker than in the first installment and the plotlines end up feeling hopelessly tangled. It made it that much harder to care. Also, the time spent in books was less focused and spread across many different books, instead of the deep dive into Jane Eyre which felt so enjoyable in The Eyre Affair. In the first book, I did feel like there was a honeymoon period of discovering all the idiosyncrasies of the Thursday Next universe, but in this second tome, Fforde just keeps adding new quirks at every turn and instead of being charming, it just becomes tiresome. 2.5 stars. 
All Of US Strangers by Taichi Yamada

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 On the strength of the blurb alone and based on the recs of people who had seen the movie, I wasn't expecting what this book actually delivered. For whatever reason (the title, maybe? the cover art?) I had gotten it into my head that this was going to be a riff on the alienation of modern life. Which it kind of is, but that's not the strongest theme, by a long shot. Instead, I got a Jirō Taniguchi-flavored, Stephen King-lite story/novella that really keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you feel all the feels, even for the 'bad' guys. Way more fun than anticipated!

 
The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

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adventurous informative inspiring medium-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

3.0

I was a massive fan of "We Cast a Shadow" and "The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You" when I read them. I have only slightly less love for this new Maurice Carlos Ruffin. Is it still a great book that had me turning pages through the night? Heck, yeah. Will I still be first in line when he publishes the next one? Absolutely. I've been trying to put my finger on what didn't quite work for me in "The American Daughters". Perhaps it's the fact that stories of female empowerment in the Antebellum (or during-bellum—sorry—for part of this novel) South have been getting a lot of press in the last few years: Colson Whitehead's "The Underground Railroad" definitely tops the list. Perhaps it's because I have discovered Percival Everett in the interim and I now require my alternate history novels with a huge dollop of clever. And that leads me to my last hypothesis: perhaps it's because this particular narrative didn't give Ruffin room to deploy his signature wryness. The conceit of the diary crossing the ages to inspire future civilizations, for one thing, merely felt like an afterthought.
The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race by Farah Karim-Cooper

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

The scholarship is there, as is the evident love of Shakespeare. The first section on tragedies is much more convincing and compelling than the latter part of the book, which focuses on comedies (and marginally on the sonnets). I especially enjoyed reading about the historical performances of the works, although I'm not sure I would be up for attending an original practices production of "Titus Andronicus". I can't pretend to know what it must feel like to have the validity of your work in academia challenged by the noted literati of 24hourcampfire.com. But there is certainly a similar trend in French culture, where Molière, Beaumarchais and the like are hostages to identity politics. Appropriation of those texts by people who are not 'Gaulish' French has ruffled feathers for some time. The huge success met by Abdellatif Kechiche's "L'Esquive" twenty years ago shows that just like with Shakespeare, there is a thirst for meeting over those texts.
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

The world needs more race-based dystopia. JK, that's called the news. In this novel set in the near future, convicted murderers and rapists are given the opportunity to enter a bloody entertainment circuit and shorten their term to three years of weekly death matches.  The novel follows individual "Links", select spectators, and the activists who protest this system. In a particularly adroit twist, the many scenes of prison brutality and torture are much more horrifying than the death matches or the sometimes eruptive tension between prisoners on the chain gang. The use of end-of-chapter notes is also highly effective, mixing narrative elements with real-life statistics about incarceration.  Like <i>The Hunger Games</i> meets <i>The New Jim Crow</i>. The narrative arc between Thurwar and Staxxx does run out of steam a little at the end, in my opinion, but the overall experience of reading this is harrowing in all the right ways. Now let's just hope they don't try to make this into a movie, because that would be all wrong.
Collected Poems 1909-1962 by T.S. Eliot

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4.0

Sigh... This would be so much more enjoyable if I weren't reading it in preparation for an exam. "The Waste Land" feels almost entirely impenetrable, but the Ariel Poems and the Sweeney Agonistes were delightful.
Comedy Bang! Bang! The Podcast: The Book by Scott Aukerman, Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk

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1.0

Just not for me. A couple of chuckles here and there (Fourvel is a slam dunk every time), but the overall feel was just too sophomoric for my blood.
Death in the East: A Novel by Abir Mukherjee

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adventurous informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

All right, Surendranath! Way to not take things lying down!

I enjoyed this installment as much as the previous two (still waiting on Smoke and Ashes from the library). I have to admit the cross-narratives of 1905 London and 1922 Assam just had me turning pages that much faster, but the ashram rehab line left a little to be desired. Similarly, the locked-room tribute to Agatha Christie works quite well the first time around but is a little tired by the end.