gufei's reviews
141 reviews

How Do You Live? by Genzaburō Yoshino

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3.0

I read this because Miyazaki's 'The Boy and the Heron' was said to be an adaptation of it and I planned to watch it but apparently it just took the title (not even in English, mind you) so funnily enough this book made me better equipped to watch Napoleon instead.
Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, the Watsons, Sanditon by Claudia L. Johnson, Jane Austen

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.
Read Northanger Abbey, don't care Abt the other stories
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

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3.75

I read this in like 7 hours and info dumped the story to my mom after but really messily cause I couldn't stay on track or remember what I had and hadn't yet brought up. Like I would say something and remember I had to mention something else first and then when I tried to go back to the first point I didn't even know wtf I was going on abt anymore.
Anyway I liked it because I was right  about who the murderer was.
I got it right away cause of the prologue
dude saying he's making preparations and doing it for revenge which is obviously on the club, as they're the ones going to the island (though I guess when you read on you can interpret it as written by Seiji about the first incident on the island?)
and then
Van getting there a day early to prepare (hah) and his uncle owning the island.. like bro you're suspicious as fuck, especially cause he didn't do/say much and kinda got sidelined (since he was back and forth ofc)
 
At first I thought it was too obvious an answer and it was probably to trick readers into thinking it was them but I read some reviews after finishing, and some people hadn't noticed the clues so I think I just tend to read too much into EVERYTHING.
Obviously I didn't put two and two together to realize
he was morisu (and I had no idea WHY he wanted revenge on them until this reveal)
, though I actually did eat that reveal up. 
Also I made up some convoluted ass theories about Kōjirō that I still like to believe even though I was wrong. (+ I wrote down all my theories as I was reading. I was wrong about a lot (I was just too fucking creative with the kōjirō/first incident on the island theories.) and right about the main thing, so that's good enough for me.)
Overall had a fun good time would recommend
The Phantom of the Opera by Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos, Gaston Leroux

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
Just learned this is the worst translation😍😍😍 (though none of them are too much better as they are not fully unabridged, have mistranslations, lean into Mattos' translation, etc. This is very much the worst of them all, it literally leaves out a full 80 pages.)
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson

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Much more psychological than horror but it is subtly creepy because of how much the narration leaves out.
Natalie's just like me (Avid over thinker that's so in her own head and overly conscious of everyone around her but especially herself and how others perceive her. Just like her whole thought process in social situations) Okay I actually need to drop some quotes
"Was someone regarding Natalie, identifying her by some extraordinary characteristic which Natalie did not know or had forgotten or had convinced herself that no one saw?" 
"(it was here a comfort of sorts to Natalie to know that she had not been so universally observed as she thought)"
Also this is so gay?? She hallucinated a lesbian named Tony and they share a bed and bathe together and brush each other's hair and hold hands and get up early in the morning so they don't have to be afraid when they're together.
Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa

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  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Three for three, Jonny Garza Villa does it again!!! 

Something I always really appreciate with Jonny's YA books is that they always write very sex positive stories that show that, yes, teens have sex, and it's healthy and normal. I think positive queer sex representation like this can be very helpful for young queer people.

As always, I'm excited to read what Jonny writes next :)