nothingforpomegranted's reviews
486 reviews

The Fig Tree by Goran Vojnović

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I bought this book from a bookstore in Ljubljana on my trip with my dad. It was fascinating to read about the region and the politics while traveling here, and I loved references to Plitvice and Mostar and so many other places we visited. That said, I was pretty lukewarm about this until about three quarters of the way through, when it finally clicked and I connected to the characters and Jadran’s story and actually found myself quite emotional. Unfortunately, I think the translation had a negative impact on this one. There were weird wording choices and typos that really took me out of the story, which was a bit of a tricky story to get into in the first place, but I really believe it could have been immersive. 

The story is written from the perspective of Jadran , whose wife has left him and their young son just before the death of his grandfather, which he suspects may have been a suicide. As he tries to accept both of these realities, Jadran explores the relationships of the generations before him: his parents and grandparents. He questions the significance of love and leaving, and he rediscovers his own passions as he untangles and invents these stories. This was a quick read and an emotional one, once I finally got my bearings. 

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I loved deedireads summary and review of this, though I didn’t have exactly the same reflections. Almost certainly, she is a deeper reader than I am, but I did struggle a bit with this one as I tend to with most books that include a lot of world-building. 

I loved the Author’s Note at the beginning of this book and the footnotes throughout. The plot, though, was a bit too windy for me. Essentially, translation and silverworking are intrinsically connected and power the world’s industry. Because it is impossible to complete a perfect translation from one language to another, the space between words powers the silver which, in turn, powers  trains, lights, and entire cities. The unbelievable strength and power of this system requires significant education and protection. Enter: Babel, the literal ivory tower at Oxford University, where international students and scholars are sequestered (including eerie and mysterious blood ceremonies and fierce punishments for anyone who trespasses). This world was complex and curious, and Kuang did a fabulous job of creating it, but I did have a hard time absorbing all of it. 

Eventually, Robin (a hand-picked scholar from Canton who is brought to Oxford by his silent father) and his cohort become disenchanted with the seclusion and exclusivity Babel, pushed along by his half-brother and the Hermes society. They begin to steal the translation texts and bars to make them more accessible to those in colonies and throughout the empire. This, of course, leads to the major (violent) conflicts of the book. These also became a bit extreme for me, and I couldn’t quite accept the drama. 

I appreciated these characters and their studies and their knowledge, but I wouldn’t say I connected with them or felt especially pulled into their stories. This book was clever and intelligent, but not especially emotional, which is a shame because I was really looking forward to it and I expect an emotional punch from any book this long! 

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

adventurous funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

I was expecting this book to be a bit more academic, and I think I would have enjoyed it more had it been. Instead, this was pop science to an extreme with lots of repetition and direct address to the reader. Nonetheless, I found the anecdotes interesting and I was intrigued and surprised by several of the examples of cultish language. I am curious to explore the possibilities of cults within my own life, particularly looking for code words and thought-terminating cliches. It’s interesting to come to this book from the perspective of religion because I try to be aware of the things I have learned as I’ve become more religious, but I know that I have already begun to take certain things for granted in different audiences, which isn’t quite a cult but is significant. 

Overall, I enjoyed the exploration of language but didn’t love the writing, but I’m still interested in reading Wordslut. 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

This is the first book in a long time that kept me up for hours at night just immersing myself in these characters and their relationships. 

Yes, this book was devastating and filled with triggers and traumas. Yanagihara’s writing was sparse and beautiful, which perhaps made the story even more heartbreaking. These characters felt completely human with untold depths, and seeing their relationships ebb and flow and grow over forty years was so powerful. 

I don’t feel the need to summarize elements of the book or review the characters I fell in love with.

Simply Sinful by Kate Pearce
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.

taking a hiatus from romance novels while I invest in my own love and sex life

Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.

taking a hiatus from romance novels to invest in my own love life

On the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galapagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden by Elizabeth Hennessy

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

This well-researched book opens with a parable that claims that the world stands on “turtles all the way down,” a conception of the ever-increasing depth and complexity of our understanding of how the world works that finds a parallel in Hennessy’s exploration of conversation in the Galapagos. Indeed, Hennessy emphasizes the countless contradictions and overlapping impulses of those drawn to the Galapagos and, specifically, to the tortoises that live there. Hennessy’s narration begins not with Darwin’s evolution epiphany, but with earlier tortoise hunters and explorers in the 1530s. 

I was expecting this to be a bit more historical and certainly more about Darwin’s experience in the Galapagos. Rather, the storytelling was a bit spiraled and repetitive, reviewing the ways that conversation approaches have shifted and the reality that conservation has never been (and still is not) the only motivation for people who live in and love the Galapagos. 

My favorite chapter included Hennessy’s interactions with and descriptions of Galapagos residents and the modern-day tensions between fishers and laboratory conservationists. In contrast to the repeated claims about different approaches to conversation (as natural laboratory, evolutionary Eden, or restorative project), which felt a bit esoteric to me, this tension felt distinct and meaningful, and I resonated with the challenge of determining the relative values of human and non-human residents of the Galapagos. 



I look forward to discussing with dad and adding some book club notes to my review: 

Simply Sexual by Kate Pearce

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

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

4.25

Well-written erotica that I wholeheartedly enjoyed. The allusions to Val’s history as a sex slave were powerful without overpowering the story, and Sara’s willingness to explore was incredibly sexy. Mostly, this was just porn without plot, and the slight references to plot just moved us from one bedroom scene to the next. 

There were definitely a few moments that didn’t make sense if I thought about it enough, but there was no need for that in this fun, escapist read. 


I loved the concept of Madame Helene and her house of please, and I am excited to read the rest of the series.

The Hotel Riviera by Elizabeth Adler

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

I liked the first few chapters of this, and then it just felt a little pointless. I didn’t feel particularly to any of the characters, and I didn’t believe their relationships with each other.

Lola marries Patrick after a whirlwind Vegas romance. They move to France to reconstruct his inherited hotel, and Lola falls in even deeper love. When Patrick abandons her, she continues to develop the hotel, working as manager and chef and developing meaningful relationships with the guests.

Then, Jack Farrar appears and Lola finds herself in the midst of another fierce attraction, but this one seems positive. Unfortunately, his appearance coincides with the dramatic re-entry of Patrick, along with his murderous mistress and her wealthy husband, who decides to enforce his claim to the hotel as repayment of Patrick’s debts. 


If you liked…
exploration of relationships and finding new loves in Recursion
the early 2000s writing tone and location-based mystery in Heading Uptown
moving forward from a deep love with complications in One True Loves

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

A beautiful book about family, love, identity, and happiness. Laurie Frankel’s writing is simple and engrossing, honest and incisive, with occasional reflective metaphors that add depth to the story. 

I fell in love with this family and their clear appreciation for each other. The refrain of familiarity was powerful and had me constantly reflecting on what it means to be queer and all the ways that everyone has something. I loved that this book treated gender identity as something incidental (but with great power) and spent more time focusing on family dynamics. 

The latter portion of the book was a bit less appealing to me. I didn’t like the marital tension or the spontaneous trip to Thailand, though I really appreciated the pervasive sense of love that drove the entire story in every relationship—the parents, the siblings, the friends, and the tiny taste of romance.