hornygoldfish's reviews
12 reviews

Paradise Lost by John Milton

challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

Satan realizes that God's love and his own chance at redemption were the true Paradise he Lost along the way, 10/10 experience

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and War

The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic by Nick Joaquín

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

V. by Thomas Pynchon

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The Insufferable Gaucho by Roberto Bolaño

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

There's a police rat investigating serial rat murders.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

The blurb and the plot jacket is pure literary clickbait lmfao this is one of the most misery inducing books I've read. Not that it doesn't have literary merit though, it's just very different from what the novel's jacket told us it was about, and I blame the publisher for that. Kind of coming of age, VERY complex and a really ambiguous ending with no comforting resolutions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense

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

4.5

It's funny how almost throghout the entirety of the book you're like "naww this book aint that sad huhuhu" and then the final few pages of the book happen

First Love and Other Stories by Ivan Turgenev

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

Surprisingly readable and entertaining. Filled with grotesque caricatures who are nonetheless imbued with psychological realism, it makes for a read that is deeply uncanny 

ചെമ്മീൻ | Chemmeen by Anita Nair, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai

adventurous sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0