suvissiin's reviews
152 reviews

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

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emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

A beautiful and heartwrenching story of Ijeoma, from her coming of age from the Nigerian civil war to her adulthood.  The conflicts between her mother, religion, Nigerian society, and her sexuality intertwined between stories from the bible, Nigerian folktales, and the udala trees paint and reflect on Ijeoma’s journey as she finds her place as a woman belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community in religiously rigid Nigerian society
Bag of Bones by Stephen King

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

3.0

The haunted summer cabin is the perfect setup for a July read. I liked how the paranormal elements started building and intensifying from the very beginning, but I was left cold by the climax and didn’t really feel like it measured up to the buildup. Didn’t really like any of the characters, nor the love (lust?) story between the main character and the love interest
especially since even according to the book Maddie was barely older than a minor even though I know that King has said that his goal was to write an ethically dubious main ”hero”. 

Didn’t like the portayal of the poc in the book either. For a Stephen King novel this is one of the least likable for me, but I enjoyed the beginning enough to rate it mediocre 3/5
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Stardust by Neil Gaiman

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adventurous emotional 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? No

4.25

Wonderfully captivating adult fantasy, with all the best bits of fairytales while still being unique. I really enjoyed the narration by Neil Gaiman as well.
Sunrise by the Sea by Jenny Colgan

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-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

3.5

Nice and light romantic read that has all the comfy tropes of family and food and a quaint new neighbourhood. The plot was a bit fractured and was not a fan of some of the tropes used i.e. miscommunication and evil ex girlfriend but other than that I enjoyed the read
Furniture by Lorraine Mariner

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

3.75

Enjoyable assortment of contemporary free verse poems that are both clever and insightful. A quick and light read. I missed the point of a few poems because I’m not from the UK and I think some poems require some insider knowledge. 
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

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dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

A nice and refreshing thriller with an unreliable narrator battling an unique phobia. I enjoyed the pacing of the book and even its many twists even though many were very obvious since the beginning. The narration often lacked sublety and was a bit repetitive at parts but I could see the style and atmosphere inspired from film noir and Hitchcock thrillers, which was enjoyable. 
A Bookshop in Algiers by Kaouther Adimi

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emotional informative sad 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? No

3.5

Very emotional and informative story about literature in the midst of Algiers’ history and violence trying to separate from France’s colonial power. The documentary effect combined with the surface level diary entries and a secondary character with no personality made it pretty boring to read though.
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

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

3.0

This book fell somehow right to the middle with me. The start of the book was slow and hard to get through, it was reallt hard to pick the book pack up. The introduction of all the characters in the family with the set up were not really that interesting to me. Halfway through the book the story got more interesting, with further explanation on Orquídea’s circus history. The magical realism was really the jewel of this book, with its vivid personality, rules, chances and possibilites. Sadly, I could not really connect with the characters, and the plot really didn’t make an impact. I feel like the family was there just for the family’s sake, and we didn’t really get to feel for them, apart from Marimar, who’s ”thorniness” is subjected to the reader constantly. 
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

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emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I couldn’t figure out what to rate this book as. Somehow 4 seems too high but anything on the 3 scale too low. 

All in all, the narration was very character heavy, jumping in timelines like the main character was telling me this story personally while also travelling through time. We’re experiencing Danny’s life and all the good and tragic and eveything else in between that connects in the end to the Dutch house. All the characters felt very human, having faults in their own ways. Danny especially seemed first very simple minded, and much like his dad but better, kind of a bad husband in terms of communication. But can’t tell if he just thinks like a man from mid-20th century. This book also raised very interesting questions about morality and personal justice.  Was the mom in the right to leave the kids to help all the poor people in need? Do saints really have the hardest time with their families? Would it have been better if the dad hadn’t gotten the mom out of the covenant?

Personally, this was an insightful and relaxing read, especially narrated by Tom Hanks, but I did find the ending kind of bland, especially since the main character’s kids had such a small impact in the book in general. I felt like I enjoyed the read but would not say I’d recommend someone to read it.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

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dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was such a heartbreaking read, especially given the current state of Afghanistan. There is a great parallel to the violent relationship of the main characters, together with the constant violence and grief they live with in the war torn country. There were moments I loved and moments I hated, still really liked the book until the end.