kylethewild's reviews
93 reviews

A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories by Mariana Enríquez

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked The Dangers of Smoking in Bed more, but still really enjoyed these short stories. Each one had me saying "what the fuck" at least a couple times, sometimes out of disgust, sometimes from being creeped out, sometimes both.

Our Long Marvelous Dying by Anna DeForest

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This felt like a good convincing look at the life of a palliative care physician and how tough that job can be, especially in a pandemic. 

Tiger Chair by Max Brooks

dark fast-paced

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

3.75

Not something I'd usually read, but I liked this. It was cool that it was written as a letter from the main character. A good quick read.

Passing by Nella Larsen

reflective 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

3.25

I thought this was going to be more similar to The Vanishing Half. The concept is pretty similar at surface level - two light-skinned black women, one decides to live her life passing as white and the other does not. This definitely seemed more woman-loses-her-mind-esque though, definitely not the story I thought I was going to get. 

Off the Air by Christina Estes

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

It was interesting to see the mystery from the perspective of a reporter (rather than the usual law enforcement perspective), but there was quite a bit to this book that didn't feel like it added anything to the story. I think I'd have enjoyed this a lot more if it was a little more cleaned up in that sense.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• 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

This was a nice change from the usual sad stuff or thriller that I typically read. I really liked how we'd jump around in time and place to follow Addie's life, it was really cool getting little glimpses into how she spent the last ~300 years. I would have loved to get more stories about all her experiences like

being a spy in the war or flying a plane

.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

I really liked this up until about the last third or quarter of the book. Some things just straight up didn't make sense to me. It felt like that last part of the book was an old draft that didn't match up with the rest of the book.

Majority of this was great, but the ending kind of soured things for me. Doesn't feel right to say it was either amazing or terrible, so I think a solid 2.5/5 will do.

Things I Know to Be True by Andrew Bovell

emotional sad fast-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

5.0

This was perfect, literally the exact kind of stuff I love. About a regular family dealing with regular life stuff. The parents had certain hopes and dreams for the kids lives, the kids had other plans. Everyone means well, but emotions run high and things sometimes come out in not the best way, and everyone’s hurting. 

I’d love to see this performed as a play or turned into a movie. If just reading the script was this good, I’m sure acted out it would be even better. 

The Rise by Ian Rankin

mysterious fast-paced

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

1.5

I liked the concept of the story but there were way too many characters and way too much going on for such a short story. It felt like we would jump from topic to topic every couple lines or so, just so all these characters and things could be squeezed in. 

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

This did a really good job of showing and not telling. There were a few things that would get casually mentioned that would leave me like "wait, what??" and needing more information (

like when "lifted" kids were first referred to, or Rick's mom seeing Sal

), but rather than interrupting the flow of the story to give a blatant explanation, things were allowed to progress and reveal the information in what felt like a more natural way. 

Maybe I'm being greedy, but I wish we got more info on

what happened when AI started taking jobs from people. Josie's dad's living situation sounded extreme, so I feel like that would have been interesting to get more background on. I also would have liked more on everyone turning on the AFs and no longer wanting/liking them.