Scan barcode
bluedilly's reviews
154 reviews
Dracula Daily by Matt Kirkland
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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? No
3.5
finally finished the dracula daily i started two years ago lol
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Mental illness
Severance: The Lexington Letter by Anonymous
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Classism
Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
So, funny story. The Storygraph recommendations algorithm suggested Pizza Girl to me when I was looking for something similar to the Heartstopper series! I could immediately tell from the genres, moods, and synopsis that it wouldn't be that kind of vibe, but it did still catch my attention, so much so that I tracked down the audiobook and started reading it immediately.
For about the first third of Pizza Girl, I really thought it might become a new favourite. Like the protagonist, I was an eighteen year girl in 2011, and this book transported me back to that time. I was reminded of all the quirky, low-budget indie films which were everywhere back then, as well as the types of young adult novels I grew up with, the ones which somehow managed to portray the absurdity within the mundane, with messy, flawed, complex protagonists. (Speaking of, I'm surprised that this isn't listed under the Young Adult genre, but I guess readership trends change?)
Anyroad, so I was loving this, I was loving the slice of life pacing, the nostalgia, and the autistic girl energy, but the more it went along, the more I lost the thread of what was supposedly going on in our titular Pizza Girl's mind. It was as if, the more "wacky" the plot became, the more boring and unclear she became as a character. I'm still not sure what she was thinking half the time, or what the motivation was behind some of her actions. Maybe there was no motivation. Maybe the whole point was that she was so lost and young and grieving and drunk that she was operating in "no thoughts, head empty" mode, constantly oscillating between apathy and desperation. I guess I can try to make sense of it that way, if I really try. I don't know. I just know that I kind of had to force myself to finish this one.
I'd still totally watch an A24 adaptation, though. And I hope Jean Kyoung Frazier keeps writing!
P.S. The audiobook reading by Jeena Yi is superb! Her acting talents, as well as the voices she used for each character, really brought them to life!
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I realised that directness wasn't a quality I was used to, that the conversations I had were often dictated by others and made me feel nervous, like I was trying to transport a handful of sand from location A to location B without losing a single grain. Conversations full of questions that were looking for very specific answers, leaving no room for any bit of thought or meaning.
So, funny story. The Storygraph recommendations algorithm suggested Pizza Girl to me when I was looking for something similar to the Heartstopper series! I could immediately tell from the genres, moods, and synopsis that it wouldn't be that kind of vibe, but it did still catch my attention, so much so that I tracked down the audiobook and started reading it immediately.
For about the first third of Pizza Girl, I really thought it might become a new favourite. Like the protagonist, I was an eighteen year girl in 2011, and this book transported me back to that time. I was reminded of all the quirky, low-budget indie films which were everywhere back then, as well as the types of young adult novels I grew up with, the ones which somehow managed to portray the absurdity within the mundane, with messy, flawed, complex protagonists. (Speaking of, I'm surprised that this isn't listed under the Young Adult genre, but I guess readership trends change?)
Anyroad, so I was loving this, I was loving the slice of life pacing, the nostalgia, and the autistic girl energy, but the more it went along, the more I lost the thread of what was supposedly going on in our titular Pizza Girl's mind. It was as if, the more "wacky" the plot became, the more boring and unclear she became as a character. I'm still not sure what she was thinking half the time, or what the motivation was behind some of her actions. Maybe there was no motivation. Maybe the whole point was that she was so lost and young and grieving and drunk that she was operating in "no thoughts, head empty" mode, constantly oscillating between apathy and desperation. I guess I can try to make sense of it that way, if I really try. I don't know. I just know that I kind of had to force myself to finish this one.
I'd still totally watch an A24 adaptation, though. And I hope Jean Kyoung Frazier keeps writing!
P.S. The audiobook reading by Jeena Yi is superb! Her acting talents, as well as the voices she used for each character, really brought them to life!
I remembered being a quiet little kid, constantly aware and uncomfortable with the ways grown-ups talked to me, how much they seemed to want from me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Car accident
The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhall Follett
First of all, the introduction by Jackie Morris (quoted above) and the included review by Eleanor Farjeon were as beautifully written as Barbara Newhall Follett's debut novel itself, and absolutely crucial in providing me with the context to appreciate it.
I have a feeling this is a book that I will remember for years and years to come. Perhaps I won't always remember the names of any characters or even any particular scenes, but I will remember the way it made me feel.
This is THE autistic girl book!
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
slow-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? No
4.0
Is it possible to be haunted by two ghosts of the same person?
First of all, the introduction by Jackie Morris (quoted above) and the included review by Eleanor Farjeon were as beautifully written as Barbara Newhall Follett's debut novel itself, and absolutely crucial in providing me with the context to appreciate it.
I have a feeling this is a book that I will remember for years and years to come. Perhaps I won't always remember the names of any characters or even any particular scenes, but I will remember the way it made me feel.
This is THE autistic girl book!
She never had had such a lot of emotions in her head at the same time. She tried to describe them to herself, but soon gave it up as useless. She thought: 'Here I am; I see it; you don't need to tell me about it!'
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, and Colonisation
All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the Art of Risking Everything by Claire Harman
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I picked this up from the library on a whim, not even half expecting I would actually read it, but it ended up being one of my favourite books I've read this year.
Here were just a few of my favourite quotes from Mansfield's stories, journals, and letters:
Here were just a few of my favourite quotes from Mansfield's stories, journals, and letters:
Why be given a body if you have to keep it shut up in a case like a rare, rare fiddle?
Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.
One must submit. Do not resist. Take it. Be overwhelmed. Accept it fully—make it part of Life. Everything in Life that we really accept undergoes a change. So suffering must become Love. This is the mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and War
Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
Yikes! While I agree with Cameron that there probably is enough time and resources in the world for all of us to be creatively fulfilled, and we may already have more than we realise if we shift our perspective, it seems privilege has blinded her to the reality that there are a handful of capitalists who keep the rest of humanity from being able to access their fair share of the abundance. To accuse poor people of being poor because they don't have enough faith in their "higher power" to provide for them is immensely insulting to millions of people across the globe. She is a rich American woman with rich American friends, and seems to have written this book with the assumption that the only people reading it are other rich Americans. She insinuates that it is people's own arrogance that keeps them from accessing the resources that they need, but she is the one who is arrogant, boasting that her faith in God to provide for her has allowed God to give her wealth, never acknowledging the privilege she was born into.
Like, I cannot emphasise enough just how disturbing I find Cameron's beliefs when it comes to money. Getting a look inside her mind has taught me a lot about the hoops rich people jump through in order to convince themselves that they deserve to be rich, rather than it being a matter of luck or exploitation. I should give this book one star for this bullshit, but I can't deny that Cameron also has a lot of practical wisdom when it comes to nurturing oneself creatively, and it was only two chapters out of the twelve where she went down such an ugly path. I will take the things from the book which have helped me, and metaphorically throw the rest in the trash where it belongs.
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
2.5
People have been suggesting this book (or perhaps it's more accurate to call it a "course") to me ever since I was an art student a decade and a half ago, and now that I've finally gotten around to it, I have mixed feelings. While some of the tasks and advice have certainly helped to unblock my creativity (some of it might even turn out to be life-changing), I was deeply bothered by the chapters which focused on money. Here are just a few of the things Cameron says:
Remembering that God is my source, we are in the spiritual position of having an unlimited bank account. [...] We unconsciously set a limit on how much God can give us or help us.
We come to recognise that God is unlimited in supply and that everyone has equal access. This begins to clear up guilt about having or getting too much. Since everyone can draw on the universal supply, we deprive no one with our abundance.
Very often, when we cannot seem to find an adequate supply, it is because we are insisting on a particular human source of supply.
Yikes! While I agree with Cameron that there probably is enough time and resources in the world for all of us to be creatively fulfilled, and we may already have more than we realise if we shift our perspective, it seems privilege has blinded her to the reality that there are a handful of capitalists who keep the rest of humanity from being able to access their fair share of the abundance. To accuse poor people of being poor because they don't have enough faith in their "higher power" to provide for them is immensely insulting to millions of people across the globe. She is a rich American woman with rich American friends, and seems to have written this book with the assumption that the only people reading it are other rich Americans. She insinuates that it is people's own arrogance that keeps them from accessing the resources that they need, but she is the one who is arrogant, boasting that her faith in God to provide for her has allowed God to give her wealth, never acknowledging the privilege she was born into.
Like, I cannot emphasise enough just how disturbing I find Cameron's beliefs when it comes to money. Getting a look inside her mind has taught me a lot about the hoops rich people jump through in order to convince themselves that they deserve to be rich, rather than it being a matter of luck or exploitation. I should give this book one star for this bullshit, but I can't deny that Cameron also has a lot of practical wisdom when it comes to nurturing oneself creatively, and it was only two chapters out of the twelve where she went down such an ugly path. I will take the things from the book which have helped me, and metaphorically throw the rest in the trash where it belongs.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Until August by Gabriel García Márquez
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
She had always gone through life without looking at it...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, and Murder
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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? No
3.5
You walked out of the woods, and you said, "What do you need, and how can I help?" [...] Well, I didn't know then, [...] and I still don't. But what I do know is... you help. You're helping me figure it out. Just by being here. You help. [...] What if that's enough, for now? What if we're both trying to answer something much too big before we've answered the small thing we should have started with? What if it's enough to be... [...] Us [...]
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual content
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
My favourite robot names: Two Foxes, Morning Fog, Wolf-and-Fawn, Mouse Bones, and Termites.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-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
That's something I'm doing. That's not my reason for being. When I am done with this, I will do other things. I do not have a purpose any more than a mouse or a slug or a thornbush does.
My favourite robot names: Two Foxes, Morning Fog, Wolf-and-Fawn, Mouse Bones, and Termites.
Because I know that no matter what, I'm wonderful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail