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aoyenhi's reviews
102 reviews
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior
4.0
the prose was gorgeous and the images were so lush… amazing translation too. but i can’t help wishing there was a little more
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
5.0
you can tell exactly how everything ends right from the start. actually, nothing that happens in giovanni's room is a surprise at all, and somehow that makes every moment hurt even more, which reinforces the image baldwin repeatedly illustrates for us of a prisoner on death row, not unlike the fate david resigns himself to or inflicts upon both giovanni and hella.
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
5.0
"Furthermore, one cannot rule out the possibility of a connection between the two events, or the existence of a hidden link, as one sometimes finds with plants, for instance, like when a clutch of grass is pulled out by the roots, and you think you've got rid of it entirely, only for grass of the exact same species to grow back in the same spot a quarter of a century later."
the feeling of erasure everywhere you look. zionism is so fucking vile.
by the very end of this book i felt so empty.
the feeling of erasure everywhere you look. zionism is so fucking vile.
by the very end of this book i felt so empty.
Rien Ne Va Plus by Margarita Karapanou
4.0
there’s a review here tht says man straight people are weird as fuck but i felt, throughout this entire piece, tht the main character was bisexual and so extremely bitter and angry about it… at the core it felt like she was almost suggesting, what if im not straight or a lesbian but just perverse and miserable and alone? that spiel she went on about hating men but the words ringing so empty and hollow at the very end, like she didn’t believe what she was saying… i was asking why!! Why!! as i read through part 3 but when she said: i would have preferred if you had loved me less but understood me more, i thought, makes sense actually. i read this on my ereader but i think ill need a hard copy to reread it again and again and fully enjoy parts 1 and 2.
i was reminded of the time i read tender by ariana harwicz but i enjoyed this piece so much more. there is a humanity to the twistedness, so to speak.
can you believe that i started liking part 1 alkis more after finishing this? i know what louisa means now all of it
i was reminded of the time i read tender by ariana harwicz but i enjoyed this piece so much more. there is a humanity to the twistedness, so to speak.
can you believe that i started liking part 1 alkis more after finishing this? i know what louisa means now all of it
The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World by Vincent Bevins
5.0
ook me so long to get through because it was so brutal. but necessary reading.
the final chapter was extremely masterfully written--summarizing the atrocities puppeteered the US government on indonesian politics + people while also describing how deeply it affected the politics of other countries surrounding them, especially socialist countries like viet nam and china. i judged bevins too quickly on the first half of this book for being too defeatist, i was wrong. his final analysis and summaries + the amount of respect he shows to everyone interviewed for this book is what truly sets this apart.
also, the US is completely irredeemable. this book is living proof of that. i wish that the socialists of the 60s could have been allowed to build the beautiful world free of colonialism and imperialism that they wanted to so deeply
the final chapter was extremely masterfully written--summarizing the atrocities puppeteered the US government on indonesian politics + people while also describing how deeply it affected the politics of other countries surrounding them, especially socialist countries like viet nam and china. i judged bevins too quickly on the first half of this book for being too defeatist, i was wrong. his final analysis and summaries + the amount of respect he shows to everyone interviewed for this book is what truly sets this apart.
also, the US is completely irredeemable. this book is living proof of that. i wish that the socialists of the 60s could have been allowed to build the beautiful world free of colonialism and imperialism that they wanted to so deeply
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
i am so sad i loved this as much as i did… problematic age gap and all… i don’t know why dwj did that bc i can definitely see a way for this book to have been written without it entirely…
but ughghgh it was so wonderful! the vibes were so perfect!! this was such a good little autumn read… i loved all of the characters sooo much and so deeply and tbh the ending sequence escaped me somewhat as well as some other parts of the plot that revolves around the actual tam lin but everything else about growing up, about friends, about being left all alone—and disappointed so thoroughly by your parents! my goodness! everything abt adolescence felt so real, so true, and so autumnal too somehow… even minor characters like ivy, joanna, and david felt sketched out so vividly. i also wanted to see a bit more of mr. o’keefe…intruiging side character he was… thats diana wynne jones’ gift i think, making even side characters so extremely lifelike and vivid…
part 3 chapter 2 was so devastatingly sweet, so tender, genuinely! i loved every minute w this book…i wish that dwj could have written more books like this (even though her other books are wonderful too!!), everything about this was like all the best parts of a shoujo manga and well the bad parts too like the insane age gap relationship LOL ohhh this will sit in a special place in my heart nevertheless (
but ughghgh it was so wonderful! the vibes were so perfect!! this was such a good little autumn read… i loved all of the characters sooo much and so deeply and tbh the ending sequence escaped me somewhat as well as some other parts of the plot that revolves around the actual tam lin but everything else about growing up, about friends, about being left all alone—and disappointed so thoroughly by your parents! my goodness! everything abt adolescence felt so real, so true, and so autumnal too somehow… even minor characters like ivy, joanna, and david felt sketched out so vividly. i also wanted to see a bit more of mr. o’keefe…intruiging side character he was… thats diana wynne jones’ gift i think, making even side characters so extremely lifelike and vivid…
part 3 chapter 2 was so devastatingly sweet, so tender, genuinely! i loved every minute w this book…i wish that dwj could have written more books like this (even though her other books are wonderful too!!), everything about this was like all the best parts of a shoujo manga and well the bad parts too like the insane age gap relationship LOL ohhh this will sit in a special place in my heart nevertheless (
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Emotional abuse
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.0
Cool concept and beautiful prose. It's very aesthetic for lack of a better description.
But Calvino is just so insanely horny. One character trips and falls on a lady in such a way that they immediately start fucking. That's what we're working with here lol
But Calvino is just so insanely horny. One character trips and falls on a lady in such a way that they immediately start fucking. That's what we're working with here lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow [Large Print] by Jessica Townsend
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
my younger brother said he only liked this book, that he didn’t love it. i asked why, and he said: i think diana wynne jones could’ve done it better. i can’t help but agree.
there are pockets of loveliness throughout: i love the image of the gossamer line, the idea of magical train stations. i think this book is filled with strong and beautiful images, because i could envision all of the magical images in it extremely well. morrigan is an extremely down-to-earth character, believable and sweet and a little bit insecure. it’s also a funny, witty book and the wittiness is very well placed.
it’s a little too arbitrary in other places. ie: each of these children has a “knack”, an ability of some kind, ranging from supernatural to superhuman, but there’s not really an explanation for it—makes the worldbuilding seem a little too random, somehow? i thought that it’d have something to do with wonder, and maybe it does, but i wasn’t able to tell from the first book alone.
the antagonistic characters were very boring. the most interesting one goes and has their big evil villain speech and it made them a lot less interesting in my eyes. the speech is also meant to clarify what their big evil motives are, but only made me a lot more confused, and also unintimidated by them. people like morrigan’s father corvus and her stepmother were supposed to be antagonistic in a way too, but come off comically evil rather than actually bad. same for noelle and baz.
but this wasn’t boring! and the book held my attention very well while i had the audiobook on during work or at the gym. it’s a light and easy enough read for sure. but i wish it could be a little darker, or realer—i KNOW it’s a kid’s book, but there are some parts where townsend seemed extremely interested in those darker and realer conversations, like the erasure of history, or the brief discussion of illegal immigration…i would like to see her embrace those concepts more, because they did not only interest me, but my younger brother! kids like having hard conversations!
there are pockets of loveliness throughout: i love the image of the gossamer line, the idea of magical train stations. i think this book is filled with strong and beautiful images, because i could envision all of the magical images in it extremely well. morrigan is an extremely down-to-earth character, believable and sweet and a little bit insecure. it’s also a funny, witty book and the wittiness is very well placed.
it’s a little too arbitrary in other places. ie: each of these children has a “knack”, an ability of some kind, ranging from supernatural to superhuman, but there’s not really an explanation for it—makes the worldbuilding seem a little too random, somehow? i thought that it’d have something to do with wonder, and maybe it does, but i wasn’t able to tell from the first book alone.
the antagonistic characters were very boring. the most interesting one goes and has their big evil villain speech and it made them a lot less interesting in my eyes. the speech is also meant to clarify what their big evil motives are, but only made me a lot more confused, and also unintimidated by them. people like morrigan’s father corvus and her stepmother were supposed to be antagonistic in a way too, but come off comically evil rather than actually bad. same for noelle and baz.
but this wasn’t boring! and the book held my attention very well while i had the audiobook on during work or at the gym. it’s a light and easy enough read for sure. but i wish it could be a little darker, or realer—i KNOW it’s a kid’s book, but there are some parts where townsend seemed extremely interested in those darker and realer conversations, like the erasure of history, or the brief discussion of illegal immigration…i would like to see her embrace those concepts more, because they did not only interest me, but my younger brother! kids like having hard conversations!
Child of All Nations by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Amazing post-colonial literature. Toer is so incredibly skilled in describing the brutal consequences of colonialism—and I think he explores Minke’s disillusionment with European culture so well. His development is glacial at first, but towards the end of this book, gradually becomes solidified. It had been months since I read Book 1 but I re-entered Minke’s world without much difficulty at all, which is a huge testament to Toer’s characterizations. Love, love, love this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Violence