katherineellen's reviews
35 reviews

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

“People can't, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say yes to life.”

Enigma Variations by André Aciman

challenging emotional 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

3.0

“I've lost you. You now rank among the things I'll always regret: opportunities lost, children never had, things I might have accomplished or done far better, lovers who have come and gone.”

Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

“Sometimes when I hear someone say something about how a person “let herself go,” I wonder if she just got tired of the pressure and wanted a break, and instead of passively letting herself go, began to actively choose to leave herself alone.”

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

“Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with.”

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

“Life is just one small piece of light between two eternal darknesses.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder

M Train by Patti Smith

emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

“It’s not so easy writing about nothing.”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked.”

The Most of Nora Ephron by Nora Ephron

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl

adventurous inspiring reflective fast-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? Yes

3.0

“Some people when they have taken too much and have been driven beyond the point of endurance, simply crumble and give up. There are others, though they are not many, who will for some reason always be unconquerable. You meet them in time of war and also in time of peace. They have an indomitable spirit and nothing, neither pain nor torture nor threat of death, will cause them to give up.”