Scan barcode
halfcactus's reviews
74 reviews
Call for the Dead by John le Carré
3.25
I liked the murder mystery aspects and the bits of characterization for Smiley, but the spy plot went over my head (business as usual).
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
4.0
Read this because I saw Angela's rating and got curious haha I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would! It had a lot of things I did not like—canonically very attractive female lead, quirky romcom elements, anthropomorphized talking dog, and exceptionally precocious genius daughter—but surprisingly it all ended up working for me in the end. That, or I just get desensitized to it haha.
The main character is pretty much a Mary Sue in every way you can imagine—she's quirky, she's highly intelligent, she's conventionally attractive and charismatic, she conquers labor pains by erging everyday, and she's Definitely Not Racist—but she is all of these things to criticize the flaws of a patriarchal and ignorantly religious society, so it didn't really bother me. Okay, the white savior bits kind of made me raise my eyebrows, as did the fridging of an offscreen gay character to make a Point about homophobia and give a straight character a Traumatic Backstory, but I just skimmed through them.
The science/STEM storylines felt more like TV science, but tbh everything about this book felt like TV logic, and I'm not knowledgeable enough in either the field or the subject to make a comment on it. Would not recommend it as a realistic depiction of STEM struggles, however.
CW: Rape, sexual assault... a "bury your gays" fridging subplot
The main character is pretty much a Mary Sue in every way you can imagine—she's quirky, she's highly intelligent, she's conventionally attractive and charismatic, she conquers labor pains by erging everyday, and she's Definitely Not Racist—but she is all of these things to criticize the flaws of a patriarchal and ignorantly religious society, so it didn't really bother me. Okay, the white savior bits kind of made me raise my eyebrows, as did the fridging of an offscreen gay character to make a Point about homophobia and give a straight character a Traumatic Backstory, but I just skimmed through them.
The science/STEM storylines felt more like TV science, but tbh everything about this book felt like TV logic, and I'm not knowledgeable enough in either the field or the subject to make a comment on it. Would not recommend it as a realistic depiction of STEM struggles, however.
CW: Rape, sexual assault... a "bury your gays" fridging subplot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Sexual assault and Grief
Minor: Homophobia
她属于我 by 妲婴
lighthearted
slow-paced
2.25
I feel like this book could have been 50-70% shorter? Love that the women are both competent, but apart from the general romance and Wen Nian, not a single storyline is justified... It feels more like snippets about someone's OC than a full novel. Scenes are perfunctory, abruptly dropped as soon as their purpose is served, and there's no sense of continuity or thematicness. The author doesn't seem actually interested in the characters—all the side characters are props and even the main characters themselves don't feel quite like people. Jiang Ci is a piano tuner and a scuba diver but you don't really see any of this affect her worldview in any way so everything feels superficial.
Confessions by Kanae Minato
dark
mysterious
tense
4.0
PLOT: Following the death of her daughter, middle school teacher Ms. Moriguchi talks about the law leaving major crimes unpunished, and gives her students one last message before she resigns. Mayhem ensues.
This was a twisty and unhinged revenge/psychological thriller that really committed to its premise. As the title suggests, the story is a domino effect of consequences structured as confessions from different characters. There's a good mix of social commentary and varying cynical worldviews that reveal the darkness of human nature and failures of society. The fragmented, slightly unchronological and incongruous, information that you get, gives it some reread value. The revenge stops being cathartic because the circumstances it presents are so complex, but it still doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger, and I love that about it.
I really loved the PoV writing in this!!! So many different grievances, so many different senses of justice.
This was a twisty and unhinged revenge/psychological thriller that really committed to its premise. As the title suggests, the story is a domino effect of consequences structured as confessions from different characters. There's a good mix of social commentary and varying cynical worldviews that reveal the darkness of human nature and failures of society. The fragmented, slightly unchronological and incongruous, information that you get, gives it some reread value. The revenge stops being cathartic because the circumstances it presents are so complex, but it still doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger, and I love that about it.
I really loved the PoV writing in this!!! So many different grievances, so many different senses of justice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
dark
2.5
Grooming and sexual harassment/assault framed in a missing persons case and told in the PoV of teenage girls who have daddy issues and are navigating school and sexual experiences. It' more interested in the psychology and the emotions than the crime and mystery, except the psychology and feelings aren't very interesting and the final twist is quite standard. The prose is attractive and the scenes of girlhood would be nice in a coming-of-age novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
3.0
Quirky and intermittently bleak historical fiction that follows (and critiques) the trajectory of the Russian Revolution. Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is tried and sentenced to a lifetime of confinement in the Metropol for being a class enemy, but he opts to embrace what life has to offer. Life embraces back.
For most of the novel you follow him through his routine from his little room in the attic to the fancy restaurant, barbershop, etc etc, and he gets to grow emotionally and find family among the hotel staff and some of the guests. Over the course of thirty years, the various effects and undulations of the Revolution trickle into his little life.
I'm generally pretty blind to history so I guess it was useful for me to have this contextualized in fiction (even though I skip-read a lot of the early bits ^^;). Rostov's that type of wish-fulfillment Gary Stu that is mostly inoffensive but I simply don't care about. He's a ~gentleman~, one of the last true ones in Russia, which means all the cool people like him and are impressed by him. There are some found family beats I found touching, but I'm not a fan of fatherhood fantasies where the daughter is precocious and emotionally well-adjusted. Again, I don't think this is one of the worst offenders since the daughter figures are still characters in their own right and it's very sweet that they change his life and his priorities. I just think it shouldn't be this convenient, especially with one of them going through a lot of trauma.
For most of the novel you follow him through his routine from his little room in the attic to the fancy restaurant, barbershop, etc etc, and he gets to grow emotionally and find family among the hotel staff and some of the guests. Over the course of thirty years, the various effects and undulations of the Revolution trickle into his little life.
I'm generally pretty blind to history so I guess it was useful for me to have this contextualized in fiction (even though I skip-read a lot of the early bits ^^;). Rostov's that type of wish-fulfillment Gary Stu that is mostly inoffensive but I simply don't care about. He's a ~gentleman~, one of the last true ones in Russia, which means all the cool people like him and are impressed by him. There are some found family beats I found touching, but I'm not a fan of fatherhood fantasies where the daughter is precocious and emotionally well-adjusted. Again, I don't think this is one of the worst offenders since the daughter figures are still characters in their own right and it's very sweet that they change his life and his priorities. I just think it shouldn't be this convenient, especially with one of them going through a lot of trauma.
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
3.5
Historical fantasy novel that reflects the state of Japan's economy from 1980 to 2012: a magical mailbox creates a bubble in time that connects past and present with letters. As more letters appear, you see how the characters' lives intersect. The convergence point is very moving!
Content notes: contains themes of death, suicide, aging parents
Content notes: contains themes of death, suicide, aging parents
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
5.0
*still processing how I feel about this*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Self harm
Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B. Cooney
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A retelling of events leading up to the Trojan War. It's largely driven by fate. I didn't find the main character (Anaxandra) particularly compelling, but I thought she was an effective POV character. The world felt tangible in her eyes, and it made sense to me how, throughout the series of childhood separations, she always tried to grasp and hold on to love.
Liked the Medusa bits + theCassandra twist towards the end
Liked the Medusa bits + the