extraterrestrial_congregations's reviews
63 reviews

Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.

The writing style was very much not for me; had such a hard time with the little I read. Decides to drop it after trying to read 30 or so pages at once and left with a headache and no energy at all. Pity :'D

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

The Fetishist by Katherine Min
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.

Not the right time for it

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective 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

4.25

Romaanijõe forsseerimine by Dubravka Ugrešić

informative 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? It's complicated

2.5

Tegelased tundusid kuidagi kauged ja neid oli oi kui palju!

The Garlic Ballads by Mo Yan

dark reflective sad 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

3.0

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

the last page brought it down 0.25 stars😭🫶  I find myself thinking that a sad ending of James dying would have suited this book better, rather than the "oh, yeah, he's probably still alive!" Maybe sometimes I'm just a sucker for tragic endings, but the book was so wonderfully tragic before the hope of him being alive was introduced! To think that James would have lived if Oliver hadn't confessed in his stead — too beautifully tragic! But nope:)

The vibes were immaculate, all the characters intriguing and I loved the way their relationships were displayed. 

ohoho i would have loved to see more of Wren and Filippa though. And at first I was a bit disappointed that the most obvious to-be-killed character was actually killed. I was kind of hoping it would be James or Wren who'd die. In the first case cenario it would have been interesting to see the way Oliver and Wren furher developed, and in the second just imaging the reactions of Richard and James is enticing!

A good time of a book^^ and compared to "The Secret History" there was a lot less to be frustrated about when it came to the plot. And I liked the amount of time we got to spend with both of the teachers too; it didn't feel like anything was missing.

although most of the plot was quite predictable; well written nontheless!

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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

4.5

Jonathan Strange & härra Norrell. I osa by Hana Arras, Mare Luuk, Susanna Clarke

I don't remember much of it but I remember, sadly, being very bored.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I think this was a good book with a good story, but for some reason it just didn't completely resonate with me. While I did find myself looking forward to reading Roya's perspective, the rest of the story, for some reason, just remained as words on a page for me, at least most or the time. And a lot of the references didn't really add much, or were something I'd heard of before with no new perspective or information (e.g about a healed femur being the first sign of civilization and some other things). But I did really enjoy seeing Cyrus and Zee's relationship develop! :>
I think I may like this book more on a reread; I found the constant shift in perspective at the beginning disturbing the flow of the story since I didn't expect it. It may very well be about finding this book at the right time and at the moment, the story just kind of slipped pasy me.