fictionandfauna's reviews
447 reviews

Queen B by Juno Dawson

Go to review page

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

3.0

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

Go to review page

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

5.0

 I absolutely LOVED this book and devoured it (no pun intended) in less than a day. 
 
The story follows 18 year old Ji-Won, the eldest sister of two who are left to pick up the pieces when their father walks out on their mother for another woman. When their mother brings home her new boyfriend George - a middle-aged, racist and repugnant white man - Ji-Won begins a gruesome and bloody spiral. 
 
On the surface this book presents as a horror, but actually when you lift the hood and get into it you realise it’s a much more complex story with layers detailing the Asian diaspora experience, misogyny, fetishisation, racism and grief. 
 
The horror scenes were truly horrifying. I cringed and gagged delightedly as it is rare that a book manages to elicit such a reaction from me and I rooted for Ji-Won every step of the way. 
 
This is the perfect read if you (like me) love female rage, an unreliable narrator, and a Good for Her ending. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Daydream by Hannah Grace

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

3.75

Just when I think my snobby lit-fit ass has moved on from romance, Hannah Grace has the audacity to drop a banger like Daydream. 
 
I could not tell you the last time I read a 400+ page book in 3 freaking days. I went in skeptical and found I just could not. put. it. down. It was that good. 
 
She fell just short of five stars for me, so let’s break it down into 2 parts: What I liked and what I didn’t like, LOVE. 
 
What I liked:
 
The characters were just so damn wholesome, my god. I wish this fantasy world was real where college-aged boys understood how to talk about their dang feelings and aren’t afraid to tell their mates they love them. 
 
Yay for no third act break up!!! The story did not need it and also it just would not have made sense for the characters to make that decision but I was super happy about that anyways. 
 
Our MFC Halle battling through writing her first book was so real, omg. 
 
Henry being auDHD was deeply relatable as an auDHD girly myself. 
 
Very diverse range of characters with good representation! 
 
What I didn’t like, LOVE:
 
There were some weird jumps in storyline a few times that had me flicking back through previous pages to see if I’d missed some key detail. I hadn’t, it just appears to either be an odd choice by the author or an oversight. 
 
There were actually too many characters, I couldn’t keep track of them all and they weren’t fleshed out enough to really provide much to the story. 
 
I thought it was weird the Halle never officially met both of Henry’s mums ??? Ever? Also, weird that neither of them ever went to his games when they apparently lived right around the corner from Halle?? 
 
Halle’s family is truly terrible!!!! Honestly!!! Even right at the end. Without spoiling anything, they straight up owed her their loyalty and they couldn’t even offer her that ultimately. They did her so dirty and that honestly she would have been well justified in fully disowning them. 
 
I wished that Henry would take a bit of responsibility for finding solutions to his own learning requirements. It’s so weird to me that Halle should be his tutor just indefinitely until he graduates?? Like, pay someone instead?? 
 
And her sister too! She literally has two mums and a dad!!!! Why aren’t they the ones going through her essays with her!!! I think it sends a super weird message that neither of these characters seemed to truly take responsibility for their own education. Especially Henry. Dude, you’re an adult and also your mums seem like the type who would have sussed a tutor for you in childhood? How are you in college and this lost? 
 
But anyway! Overall I enjoyed it and it made me feel happy and hopeful. Cami was absolutely the star of the show though and defs needs her own spinoff. 
 
3.75 stars rounded up to 4. 
 
Thank you so much to Harper Collins for gifting me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. 
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion

Go to review page

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

4.0

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Go to review page

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

5.0

 I would say that this book is about to become my whole personality but that would be wrong since I feel like it already IS my personality. 
 
As a mentally ill girly, I rarely read any books that so perfectly encapsulate the experience of battling depression, anxiety, ADHD or even mania. But The Bell Jar practically reflected back to me the girl I was in my late teens. 
 
I have never felt so seen and understood by a book before and when I learned that it was the one and only novel Sylvia Plath wrote before she took her own life in 1963, my heart broke because it so easily could have been me in 2011. 
 
The slide from “normalcy” into complete and total breakdown was so insidious and accurately depicted, you can’t help but feel for Esther as she battles the dark recesses of her own mind. Anyone who has experienced a depressive episode or lives with chronic depression will see their experience written in the pages of this book. We may not all wind up in an asylum undergoing electric shock treatment these days but the events that led to it are still relevant today. 
 
The one flag is that there is some ugly, jarring racism in this book with stereotypes, racial slurs and even assault. One scene in particular makes for harrowing reading and readers should take care. The fact that this book was published in 1963 does not excuse the awful content but it does offer some context as to the very privileged, very white, very racist world that Sylvia Plath herself was a part of. 
 
Overall, The Bell Jar feels like the original My Year of Rest and Relaxation and for those who enjoy unhinged main characters, this one is the OG. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Amma by Saraid de Silva

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Amma is a profoundly moving, complex, layered story about three generations of South Asian women and the thread of shared trauma and family history that binds them. 
 
From 10 year old Josephina living in old Singapore in the 1950s who is the victim of an act so horrific it is difficult to read, to young Sithara in 1984, newly arrived in Invercargill in New Zealand, reeling from the shock loss of her father and the realities of being the only brown face in every room, to Annie in 2018 who appears on her estranged uncle Suri’s doorstep in London unannounced, seeking refuge and answers about their family. 
 
I read Amma furiously, glued to every page and completely engrossed by Saraid's stunning, lyrical prose. It is not easy to tell a story with three different narrative points of view, but de Silva not only achieved this in spades but added such depth and poignancy to each character. Annie, Sithara and Josephina were incredibly well developed and their individual story lines and conflicts were masterfully woven together to deliver a challenging and gut-wrenching novel that deeply resonates with the reader. 
 
Amma devastated me, and as I lay in bed reading by the light of my phone torch so as not to wake my partner, I shook with muffled sobs and clutched my dog close to my chest as I felt the love for my family so immensely. 
 
What a stunning debut from Saraid de Silva, who has the elegance and sophistication of an author far beyond her years. Thank you for writing such an absolutely phenomenal novel. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings