eleanor_rose22's reviews
114 reviews

A Darker Shade: New Stories of Body Horror from Women Writers by Lisa Tuttle, Aimee LaBrie, Sheila Kohler, Cassandra Khaw, Tananarive Due, Yumi Dineen Shiroma, Elizabeth Hand, Valerie Martin, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Aimee Bender, Lisa Lim, Raven Leilani, Margaret Atwood, Joanna Margaret

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Surprised this isn’t more talked about, I thought this was a phenomenal collection where each short story was uniquely shocking, horrible, excellently and distinctively written. I loved how the stories are structured, I loved the variety of eras and horrors, and I loved the grotesque manifestations of womanhood in all its rage and hunger and grossness. Fab staff 

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Very well written but just not that engaging and I felt the first 200 pages could have been much more condensed. It felt far too long to hold the suspense of a good ghost story, for me personally, and also just wasn’t my type of era/storyline. I also didn’t really like any of the characters: Dr Faraday is self-righteous and manipulative, Caroline is defined only by her plainness and forthright attitude, I felt so bad for Rod. I suppose it’s technically good and deploys suspense subtly and plays with the contemporary ideas of mental illness/poltergeists well,  but I wouldn’t have finished this if I didn’t have to for book club. 

Also NO verification on what actually happened wtf, I assume it was all Betty?!? Or was Dr Faraday the destructive ghost all along? So unsatisfying

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

An incredibly beautiful and poignant book about grief and identity, as Zaumer tries to navigate the death of her mother and rediscover her Korean heritage through food. I thought this was such a painfully earnest and devastating memoir, that so acutely depicts the relationship between mother and daughter as liable to friction but also desperate, cloying, consuming love. My heart kind of hurts actually 

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

funny mysterious medium-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

There’s only so many Gregor Samsor jokes you can make before you have to read it so I did. It was weird, absurd and lightly funny, capitalism sucks and there is no escape. Not much happens but that’s okay he’s a Bug and he just needs a bit of Help

Lost in the Garden by Adam S. Leslie

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This was such a surreal fever dream that was mostly vibes > plot but I rly enjoyed losing myself in the uncanny Almanby. Setting a folklore style horror in a quaint British village where time and reality bends at each turn makes for a uniquely dreamlike and disorientating read, where it’s impossible to grasp or recall what’s happening, but it rly leaves a  Feeling behind. The writing was equal parts whimsical and unsettling, and it’s best to just lose yourself in it entirely 
BUT you can so clearly tell it’s a white male author writing women, esp lesbian mixed-race Antonia, they didn’t feel fully developed and it felt Off to me and that lets it down a lot

The Girls by Emma Cline

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

A very gripping fictional retelling of the Manson murders which explores the extremes of infatuation, the dangers of obsession, the grisly rageful  potential of female adolescence. I thought the writing was enjoyable and thought-provoking (if a little overly reliant on metaphors) and v fast paced, but the ending was a little bit underwhelming for our protagonist, and I didn’t gain much from the sections set in modern day. I was pleasantly surprised that Evie’s obsession was more for Suzanne than the cult leader Russell, and I enjoyed the dark look into the extremes we will go to to feel seen and loved. Overall a gr8 read for summer!

Mona by Pola Oloixarac

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.25

A surreal look at the contemporary literary world; the writing is excellent, visceral and visual, and Mona is an  interesting, misanthropic, troubled character. But I spent most of this book feeling on the fringes of a conversation I didn’t understand- maybe I’m just not smart enough for Writers™️, or interested in their pretentious philosophical nonsense. The ending tho really packed a punch,  the blurring of reality in a sort of apocalyptic rapture, I just wish there’d been more of That intensity throughout! 

Penance by Eliza Clark

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

A fantastic, compulsive, compelling, page-turner, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so genuinely believable and intensely detailed that I was hooked to each page. The layers of ‘unreliable narrator’ that comes through in this true-crime fiction is so cleverly done, and the critique of true-crime fandoms/franchise - of murder made into entertainment, of grisly appetites, of killers into idols - is superb. Also the ‘muddy rage of girlhood’, esp rooted   rooted in rural British 2015 was so real and raw to me, personally. Eliza Clark the mind you have, I am in awe 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

thank god for book groups bc I would never have picked this up but this heartfelt, sapphic western was incredible! Historical fiction that doesn’t rely on gimmicks or fast-pace-tricks but nuanced, loveable characters who you want to follow through every step of their life. I grew to love Bridget and was so proud of her strength and growth, and also for not not apologising for her huge, loving heart!!

also a lovers to enemies plot was SO thrilling and surprising and the ending had me hooked

will be telling everyone about this 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

4.25

Such a beautiful and whimsical feat of storytelling!! A v unique and surreal plot that rly captures the imagination, while also being v gentle and introspective with our protagonist. Not what I expected, and the first 1/4 was a bit slow, but then i found this so engrossing - mystery and philosophy, statues and self-discovery - enjoyed this a lot more than I expected !