audreybethc's reviews
280 reviews

Sexual Politics by Kate Millett
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.

Read the first part but stopped at the literary analysis as I had not read any of the novels Millet addressed. 

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

5.0

The Beetle by Richard Marsh

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

The Beetle is compared frequently to Dracula because they were published the same year and have similar writing styles and a fantasy/horror bent. I much preferred The Beetle because I found the underlying mechanism used to generate fear to be more interesting. Beyond the surface level cozy mystery, Marsh has much to say about gender and colonialism. There is a constant push and pull between male and female in the novel. A huge part of the fear in this book comes from, at its root, the fear of a loss of masculinity. Classically masculine characters are made weak, taken advantage of, and dominated in the face of a gender shifting (although ultimately female) monster, who acts in the name of a female god. In the end, the novel reads as moral tale of what happens when Victorian values are challenged by outsiders. 

Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art by Carl Hoffman

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

2.0

The beginning of this book is a complete turn off. I almost gave up, but continued because it was a bookclub selection. It ended up being ok. In general I don’t find stories about billionaires putting themselves in harms way and then being harmed interesting. I think stealing art from people only to turn around and make millions of dollars off of it, giving the actual artists no credit, and in turn none of the profit,  is disgusting. I don’t really care about what happened to Michael. The only redeeming parts of the book were when the author tried to genuinely understand the Asmat culture. I would have greatly preferred a book about that unrelated to the Rockefeller incident. 

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

As it was published, this is a 4 maybe, rather than a 3.5, but I can’t help but thinking the success of this novel is by accident, not what the author intended, especially after reading about the editor’s role in the missing chapter. So I’m rating it as the complete piece the author meant to publish, including the missing chapter. Picnic at Hanging Rock is definitely a masterpiece of eerie, subtle mystery. There are so many little pieces of information given along the way that in any other novel would mean something, but here they don’t. Or it’s not clear what they do mean. Which leaves every situation and relationship and path unanswered. I like the light, natural feel of the setting against that dark unknown. It reminds me of Midsommar in that respect. Definitely worth a read, and an excellent bookclub pick - has the potential for unending discussion!! 

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Eva is an unforgettable character who weaves a story that is magical, mythical, folklorish, and also important. This book has a lush, cozy feel that I really loved. Perfect for a late summer read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Rape

River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard

medium-paced

1.5

This story did not need to be told. Horrible white men go out to “discover” something that is already known. They ignored the knowledge of people native to the area they were infiltrating, and if they did utilize the expertise of native people, those people of course went unrecognized in the “discovery”. At the end, the author (in a few short paragraphs), notes what a shame it is that the African guides got no recognition and “no biographies were ever written about them”, yet she too chose to write about Burton and Speke rather than them??? There is no valuable information to be gained from reading this book if you’re even remotely intelligent and already understand the evils of colonization and “exploration”. I was waiting for at least some kind of underlying emotional or human message to justify this book, but there is none. 

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Loved reading this after Dracula. Very easy to see parts that inspired Stoker. 

Summer by Ali Smith

emotional reflective 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

Genius story weaving, as expected from Smith. I didn’t love this one as much as Spring.