alovelettertoliterature's reviews
16 reviews

The Picture of Dorian Gray [Penguin Twentieth Century Classics] by Oscar Wilde

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

The story follows a young, handsome man name Dorian Gray who becomes morally corrupt with worldly things, youth and beauty.

Although the book focuses on Dorian Gray, the scope of the topics and conversations in this book is beyond that. It’s dark, it’s alluring and just so beautifully articulated into words. It talks about art, politic, society, morality, vanity and so much more.

This book was ahead of its time when it was first published. The piece of art by Wilde was not only banned at some certain point but it also helped sent Wilde to jail for its sexual undertones.

The conversations between Lord Henry and Dorian were the most interesting to me, especially as we started off with Dorian Gray who was innocent and uncorrupted to the point where he was ripped from all that through Lord Henry’s influences. It just shows how words is a strong weapon that can be utilized to influence, change and even corrupt an individual.

My suggestion when going into this book is take your time. Do not rush the process. Even though it is around 200+- pages, it is very slow paced. Some parts of the story could seem boring but if you pay closer attention to it, these words make you think and ponder on whatever the subject may be.

This masterpiece is truly a work of art. One rule i have for books i consider to be a masterpiece is that it needs to withstand time. It needs to contain ideas that will not only be relevant today but anytime in the past, present and future.

This book is one of those book that is better when you pick it up knowing barely anything about it. But i promise you when finish reading, much of your perspective and outlook on life will be expanded.

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

In her introduction, she stated that: “The purpose of this book is not to arrive at answers, but to honestly explore ideas I can’t help but return to.” And this something we have to remember through reading this book.

There are 12 essays in this book and, as mentioned before in the synopsis, it primarily focuses on her relationship with her body. She opens with the essay ‘Beauty Lessons’ and it is a beautiful essay about how her born beauty has affected how she see, do and experience things since a very young age. This is one of my favorite essays from the book. It is relatable, easy to follow and enticing.

The first half of this book focuses on a mixture of her childhood and adulthood. I have to say that the tones were pretty consistent and even though she was pursuing modeling and acting her whole life since a very young age, something that not most of us can say, she was able to word it into thoughts, ideas, experiences that other women could relate to to.

However, with that being said, starting around ‘BC Hello Halle Berry’ i was starting to lose interest and it was getting a bit difficult to relate to her. Particularly, her life style.

Yes, i understand the whole point of this essay about her life as a model and actor weren’t supposed to be relatable. She was describing her experiences in her line of work and on her body but that’s the thing, most people are not and will, most likely, never be in her position. So it is more difficult to put oneself in her shoes, both; literally and figuratively.

When she started to talk more about her life as a model, especially after her success, it became harder to relate to her thoughts, actions and experiences. At the same time, Ratajkowski’s journey on her way to success brought authentic, raw and honest insight into what it takes and what it’s like to be where she is. Most importantly, it provides awareness and perception to how models were treated as a “mannequin” and nothing more than an “object” in the industry.

I have to admit that some of the essays here are disappointing to me. The idea would be interesting but then the execution would be done poorly.

Even so, each essays that are included in her book has their purpose. I can see that all of her essays are put there with intention, even if it falls flat with the readers.

One of the most brilliant thing that she did with her book is how she structured the essays. In my experience, when i read some of what i consider to be her less stronger essays, she would make up for it with the following one.

The last essay was ‘Releases’ and it was truly a perfect essay to end the book with. You can see that towards the ending that there is growth in the way she connects and sees her body. Although it is made obvious that one’s relationship with themselves and their body will never truly end, it is good to see improvements as time progresses.

I personally don’t think that this book is a book you should pick if you want a motivational or feminism book. Referring back to Ratajkowski’s statement in her introduction, this book talks about her ideas and thoughts. I have to say though i am impressed at how well the book was constructed. I’ve read all of her online essays before and i loved it but i was a bit skeptical about how good the book would be. I do admit that some of the essays weren’t as consistently strong as ‘Blurred Lines', 'Beauty Lessons', ‘Emily Ratajkowski Explores What It Means to Be Hyper Feminine’ or ‘Buying Myself Back’ but it shows that she has the talent and i hope that she will continue improving her art.

If you are fan of Emily Ratajkowski or if you’ve read the essays she wrote online and enjoyed it, by all means get this book. But if you’re not particularly interested in her or if you thought this was a feminist read (as what was advertised), please allow me recommend you other books.

Consent: A Memoir by Vanessa Springora

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

It was so beautifully written. Understanding consent is so important and through this book we are shown just how important.

It’s hard to write a proper review of this book but all i can say is that it’s so brilliantly done. Just absolutely such a informative, challenging, dark and hopeful read.

Content Warnings

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

I’ll be honest, i didn’t expect much. I thought this was going to be a quick and light read. Something for me to enjoy after the serious content of ‘Consent’ by Springora. I was actually conflicted which of the two I should read first; ‘Consent’ or ‘A Certain Hunger’. My dearest friend suggested I read ‘Consent’ first so I could let out my anger in ‘A Certain Hunger’.

This is a story about a woman named Dorothy Daniels who kills and eats men. Now what’s intriguing about this is the why and how of it but it’s actually a lot more complicated than that. I would assume from the title and description that the book is plot driven but in my experience, it was character driven.

You have to at least be intrigued by the main character to be able to finish the book because it relies heavily on her narrative, charm and wit. Something i didn’t really expect the book to be was funny because every review i’ve seen has always came with a warning that it was for the strong stomach. I do agree with that. Summers did not paraphrase or sugar coat the events, she says its as it is with a dash of dramatization (as she should).

I love how well researched, brilliantly written and informative this book was. Actually, i don’t know how accurate the information in this book was but either way i believed every single word and that’s Summer’s magic. She is also able to precisely balance everything out. She knows exactly how to entice you with her words, when to make you laugh and to make you think.

If i recalled correctly, it took Summers many long years to finish the book and twenty five rejections to finally get this book turned into an audible and then into a book. Not to mention, it was to an unknown publisher. My point is that she gave this her all to finish the book and it shows. It was exquisitely written, researched and crafted. So it is only right that i took my time to read this book.

With that being said, i wouldn’t recommend this book to everybody. First and foremost, the most obvious, not everyone can stomach graphic sex let alone killing and cannibalism. Second of all, as i’ve mentioned earlier, if you are not in the slightest bit fascinated by the narrator, you will not enjoy this book. Lastly, if you are here for a Hannibal or American Psycho comparison, this is not for you. I think this is a much lighter and fun version of that, so it’s not really a serious read in my experience. It’s just suppose to be fun, charming and sometimes informative.

I will say that at certain point, it can get boring and overly written but i don’t particularly mind it. In my experience, this is not one of those books that you will re-read again, so while you’re at it, devour every word, take your time and just enjoy.

Content Warnings

Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A.: Tales by Eve Babitz

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adventurous funny informative lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

4.0

‘Slow Days, Fast Company’ has become Babitz’s most notorious novel, so I went in with high expectations.

Eve Babitz breathes L.A. and is the embodiment of the California dream. In this memoir//fiction, she described L.A. so vividly that you can’t only visualize it, but you can smell and taste the air that surrounds it.

“I’ve been in love with people and ideas in several cities and learned that the lovers I’ve loved and the ideas I’ve embraced depended on where I was, how cold it was, and what I had to do to be able to stand it. It’s very easy to stand L.A., which is why it’s almost inevitable that all sorts of ideas get entertained, to say nothing of lovers.”

The way Babitz described being in love with a city, and in her case, it’s Los Angeles. The way she writes this collection of stories feels personal and real but fleeting. She’s naturally witty, funny, and seductive. How she described L.A. is the only time I understood why people dream of L.A. and what it offers.

I don’t care much about the “gossip” written in this book. Instead, I just enjoyed how Babitz would tell it. Maybe that’s also one reason I couldn’t enjoy this book as much as everyone else seemed to be. I only cared about Babitz’s ability to entice me with her writing.

I have to be honest and admit that I didn’t love this book as I thought I would. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, ‘Slow Days, Fast Company’ was written around the 1960s, so some of the ideas in this book are outdated, understandably so, but it still bothered me to a certain level. Secondly, I’ve never really thought much of L.A. because I know that I’m a “New York person.” So in that regard, I am biased.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, which is purely because of Babitz’s brilliance. She is truly the ultimate cool girl. She’s cool; she’s chic; she’s bold and effortless in every sense.

“Women want to be loved like roses. They spend hours perfecting their eyebrows and toes and inventing irresistible curls that fall by accident down the back of their necks from otherwise austere hair-dos. They want their lover to remember the way they held a glass. They want to haunt.

Men don’t work like that as far as I’ve been able to judge. Men aren’t haunted by the way a woman holds a glass. Men are haunted by women who’re just like the one who married dear old dad.”

Eve Babitz is someone you’d fall in love with because of the way she does mundane things, much like what she describes in her passage of this book. That is the only way I could describe Babitz’s charm, and the rest is just magic.

A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp

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adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.5

There is no feeling that can compare to moving to a big city in your 20s. The thrill of sex, dreams, ambitions, and endless possibilities drive you to an unforgettable time in your life. You might not remember the events, but you will never forget the feeling. ‘A Very Nice Girl’ is all those things and more.

The first chapter sets the tone of the whole book. The story stars Anna, who trains to be an opera singer in London as she navigates through life with barely anything to her name and a powerful drive for her art. There she meets Max, who has everything she doesn’t. As Anna begins a connection with him, she asks herself whether she should follow her desire for art or passion.

The questions and emotions imposed by this book align with personal experiences I have encountered. Motivated by determination, Anna sacrifices everything to achieve her dreams, but her focus shifts when she meets Max, who shows her the opposite of her envisioned life. Slowly she began to pull away from her devotion to her art. It had me thinking about how privilege shapes one’s determination, motivation, perspective on life, and what it means to be successful.

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

‘Eileen’ by Ottessa Moshfegh is a slow-burn mystery thriller that follows Eileen Dunlop, a disturbed 24-year-old woman, and what happened to her in the days leading up to Christmas of 1964.

Let’s get one thing straight, Moshfegh is a talented writer with the gift of creating profoundly raw, authentic, and disturbing characters. I read ‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation’ long before ‘Eileen,’ so I’m familiar with Moshfegh’s ability to construct well-made characters, even if they are deeply flawed. Anyone can think of bad people or actions done by said people, but not everyone can create such a deeply disturbed, unsound character not by what they have physically done but simply because of who they are and what caused them to be that way.

With that being said, If you want to read ‘Eileen’ to enjoy a well-written complex character, this is an excellent book for that, but it’s not if you’re here for the plot.

Here’s the thing, it could’ve been a good thriller, but I just wished the anticipation of the ending was pushed a little earlier. The end feels like it’s cramped up. The most exciting part, THE part that everyone wants to know, the how of it, was just simply summarized to say the least. I think that Moshfegh perfect this in ‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation’ where the subject of the big how in the book was not just brushed on but was well explained.

Nonetheless, this does not take away the artistry of Moshfegh’s ability to create complex, engaging, and real female characters.

Content Warnings

The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson tells 29 tangos (poems) of John Keats’ idea of ‘beauty’ equalling ‘truth’ and the concept of marriage.

The story begins with the ‘wife’ and ‘husband’ being told that marriage is not as good as they think, and it follows along their journey through a marriage that is falling apart. It focuses on the emotion and thought behind a doomed marriage and what it follows.

The beauty of the husband isn’t physical. His beauty relies on his ability to shape words so convincingly that it creates a hold on her wife of his so-called love.

Carson brilliantly visualizes the scene, atmosphere, emotions, and story of a dissolving marriage with her rhythmic rhymes and style. Though this book may be fiction, the intensity of emotions projected through these essay-styled poems is real. You can feel every heartbreak and wound created from love and the power it holds over someone.

Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays by Durga Chew-Bose

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emotional funny inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

4.0

Too Much and Not the Mood by Chew Durga-Bose is taken from Virginia Woolf’s last diary entry on April 11, 1931, where she described how tired she was of correcting her writing, of the “cramming in and the cutting out” to please readers (Chew-Bose, 2017) with the words ‘too much and not the mood’.

Chew-Bose took these words to heart when she decided to publish her collection of “unpolished” essays in this non-fiction memoir. This collection of essays is raw, unfiltered, honest, and emotional. There are 14 essays in the collection, and you can tell they are well structurally constructed. Essays, especially in this case, are incredibly personal to everyone. In my experience, I deeply resonate with Chew-Bose’s emotion in these essays, even when some of the essays were not my favorite.

Some of the most memorable essays were: ‘Heart Museum,’ ‘Part of a Greater Pattern,’ and ‘Since Living Alone.’ These essays alone were worth buying the whole book. When reading this collection, you must remember that these essays are intentionally unconventional and raw. I saw some critics saying that “it didn’t need to be that long” and such, but that is the whole purpose of this collection. You are told in the title and description, and it is vital to acknowledge and understand this.

Since the essays were “unfiltered,” it feels so nostalgic like you are let into Chew-Bose’s mind, and you can see how she formed her train of thoughts. It feels real and tender when she tells us about how her parents migrated to America, her experience living as a child of an immigrant, and how her parents' divorce affected her. These essays seem so personal that it feels like you are not supposed to reading them.

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

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challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this book. This is just not for me at this time. I couldn’t really connect with the poems but that’s the thing about poems, they’re very personal. It is so beautifully written but this style of poetry just isn’t for me. I understand though when people say that Vuong is brilliant and talented. Just because i don’t resonate with the poems here, doesn’t mean Vuong isn’t an amazing poet.

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alovelettertoliterature's reviews 16 reviews

alovelettertoliterature's reviews
16 reviews