theeo's reviews
20 reviews

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.25

I don’t have anything original to add to the conversation about this book, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. It’s definitely an emotional read and a lot of the themes are very heavy, so it took me a little while to get through despite it being very short. This isn’t a bad thing in this case - I was savouring it. The descriptive language is so meticulously crafted that it felt wrong to rush through. 

I believe this is a must-read for queer literature and I’d really like to read more of James Baldwin’s work now!

Definite recommend, just don’t expect to like the protagonist…
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Dune by Frank Herbert

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

3.0

Finally it’s over.. this took me way too long to finish. I have pretty mixed feelings about it but I think I was biased towards the films from the beginning anyway, having watched both part 1 and 2 before reading.
I see why it’s such a classic, the world building is so in-depth and grand. I can’t put my finger on what I disliked though - I just found myself forcing myself to pick it up, and not particularly looking forward to it.
I’m glad I’ve finished it now, i was determined to get through it. Maybe I’ll try it again one day and will love it.
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The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this! The the plot was a thrilling slow burn, and disliking the majority of the characters was strangely fun. The writing style is also really wonderful. The dialogue is sometimes overly-formal, which at first is a bit jarring, but it honestly works because the characters are so pretentious.

I disliked that some descriptions and details felt unnecessary - the author sometimes goes on tangents that don’t offer much substance or relevance to the plot, and almost feel like filler to an already rich story. This is more of a personal gripe, but I also didn’t love how long the chapters were. I don’t like to stop mid-chapter (especially when I’m enjoying it) so I ended up sleeping too late on several occasions while reading this…

I did really enjoy this book overall! I may even reread one day - it’s quite dense and I read it reasonably fast.
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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

4.25

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. I love the writing style, it’s well-paced, and the plot itself is so captivating - especially Evelyn and Celia’s love story. I love sapphic stories so much. Also, may or may not have teared up several times…

The only thing I didn’t love about this was that the reveal towards the end felt a tad rushed, and a little too much like a twist just for the shock factor.
It maybe could have been more impactful if Evelyn told Monique the truth about her father a little earlier on, so that we could explore more of Monique’s feelings about it instead of only hearing her perspective after the end of Evelyn’s story.


I really enjoyed this overall. Definitely read if you get the chance!

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Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Definitely shed a couple of tears reading this. I love the simple premise and the room that leaves for exploring the characters’ journeys. I like the separation into 4 different stories too, it was nice having a few perspectives. The only gripe I have with this book is that a lot of things are unnecessary repeated/overly explained rather than shown; maybe that’s a stylistic choice that went over my head, or perhaps it flows better in Japanese than in English, but I’m just not the biggest fan of it. Overall though, I definitely recommend this!
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The concept was really interesting! I didn’t love the execution but this was still an enjoyable read.
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Circe by Madeline Miller

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adventurous emotional hopeful relaxing sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don’t know a lot about Greek mythology, but this was still wonderful to read! I adore the author’s wording, and I think the descriptive language is really beautiful. I found the protagonist very compelling, and I especially enjoyed the depictions of Aiaia - both of its environment and its animals (I would very much like to live there).

One thing that weighs this down a little is the fact that large portions of the story overly focus on so many men. I also couldn’t help feeling as though it was missing sapphic elements (but that might just be me as I tend to prefer books with lesbians…) Maybe I’m asking too much of a retelling; perhaps it could’ve benefited from a reimagining instead.

Overall, though, this was a really lovely read! Definitely recommend even if you also aren’t well versed in Greek mythology lore.
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A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Fun read!! Anything sapphic and I’m a fan. Nausicaä is a very likeable character, the world building is interesting, and I’m a big D&D fan so the influences from that were really nice to see.

Definitely not perfect though - the queer rep is great but it lacks in other forms of diversity as there were very few poc, and the few that do appear are very minor characters. Also, the dialogue can sometimes be a tad cheesy as lot of pop culture references undermine a few tense moments, but this is fairly easily overlooked.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett

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

3.75

fun!!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

3.5

an easier book to help me get back into reading (even though it took me so long…)