natashak1's reviews
249 reviews

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Volume 1 by Eiji Otsuka

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

It's a classic, I've had these for years and every now and again come back to them because they're just so well done (and manage to do gore without being silly shock value). Incredible.m character design too, no other book could make me so obsessed with a hand puppet.

Black Country by Liz Berry

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

Mixed bag in here and I mostly wanted to give this a go because of the use of regional dialect which I usually find works well. That said I didn't find myself preferring the standard English poems or the dialect ones, there just seemed to be a handful that clicked with me and a bunch that didn't.
Will probably revisit to spend a bit more time digging into specifics because it is definitely a collection with a lot of worth, just not necessarily something that personally resonates too much.

The Fool and Other Moral Tales by Mark Hutchinson, Anne Serre

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Each story has its own strengths and weaknesses, but altogether they do work well and have a fairly coherent thesis going on.
Not sure I'll come back for any more serre but it was definitely worth a try.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Insomnia reading - nostalgic but not much more to say really.

The Murder Bag by Tony Parsons

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Quick trashy read. Admittedly started off quite strong but the ending was quite messy and felt not very well thought out. Not the worst police thriller I've ever read but it's certainly nothing special either.

Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

Honestly there seems to be a lot of mixed feelings about this and I really get it. That said, while it isn't my sort of thing, I also think this book is incredibly well crafted and contrary to a lot of other people I do think it will age well. Think time capsule rather than dating itself. There is some risk of losing the audience with so many character, but the book is more than long enough to let you grow familiar with them all and genuinely feel (positive or negative) for them and have strong opinions on what happens to each of them.
Not my thing, but I can still clearly see that its a fantastic piece of storytelling.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I don't think I'll every be a huge fan of the serialised style, but you can very much see how this influenced everything that came after it. The stories in this one flow together well too, and it balances the magical and the realism nicely. Sweet and a fun read but not something particularly standout for me

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Withered Hill by David Barnett

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Honestly I really struggled with the start of this and it felt quite male-gaze-y. But (and this is very much me giving the author the benefit of the doubt) I felt that the style of writing evolved a bit through the book and the male-gaze-y stuff could have been an intentional thing given the character context at the start of the book. 
Other than that, I did feel the style didn't have any particular personality behind it, but I did very much enjoy the folk horror side of the story and the plot felt very coherent. Definitely not bad, just not great either.