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redvelveting's reviews
46 reviews
Desiderium by Julie Furxhi
3.0
Overall, it was interesting to follow the three different generations and see how their timelines would eventually connect, however, I found that some parts were very abrupt which made me confused as to how or why things happened. It also became a bit cheesy at the end with the romances, particularly with that of Dita’s, which I felt took away from her story.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
5.0
I don’t typically read books like this but this came as a recommendation from a friend and I certainly don’t regret it.
The author, Isabel Wilkerson, did an amazing job conveying all the different aspects of caste in the history of humanity; I was personally a fan of all the analogies and anecdotes she used to drive her points home. It can be a challenging read with all the depressing or infuriating content, but it should be — it’s a reminder of how toxic the disease of caste is.
The author, Isabel Wilkerson, did an amazing job conveying all the different aspects of caste in the history of humanity; I was personally a fan of all the analogies and anecdotes she used to drive her points home. It can be a challenging read with all the depressing or infuriating content, but it should be — it’s a reminder of how toxic the disease of caste is.
Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.5
I read this thinking it was the second in the series lol. The writing style is the same — cheesy, almost fanfic-like, which isn’t entirely negative as I do like a lighthearted book every now and then — but compared to the first, the grand reveal wasn’t so grand or shocking. I thought it was a lot more obvious who was behind the crime, perhaps more could’ve been done to make those characters less ostracized.
China Dolls by Lisa See
3.75
This book was a wonderful glimpse into Chinese American life during World War II and even more interestingly, the history of Asian American performers and clubs. Such a fascinating part of American history that I would never have known about. It’s clear that a lot of research went into creating this book and capturing the Chinese American experience at the time.
The book is told from three different perspectives and the author did a fantastic job of distinguishing them. I think the climax was dissatisfying (resolved quite quickly), but overall, I enjoyed the book.
The book is told from three different perspectives and the author did a fantastic job of distinguishing them. I think the climax was dissatisfying (resolved quite quickly), but overall, I enjoyed the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Abortion
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
4.0
Again lots of different Greek myth references with just the right amount of tweaking. Titan’s Curse is definitely not my favourite of the PJO series but serves as crucial setup for the final two in the series.
Bumped up to 4 stars because bb Nico is introduced 🥺
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
This book is written so beautifully. While the plot may not be the most thrilling at times, I loved Klara’s characterization. I thought the author did a wonderful job portraying how someone like her would see the world. Typically, the vagueness would annoy me but somehow it worked really well in this book; it didn’t need all the nitty gritty details to make the characters compelling. The language and style were just so dainty and pretty.
Additionally, the human characters just felt so real. They all had their highs and lows and were full of so many different emotions and behaviours; there were even some that were more destructive or problematic and even illogical but still realistic and understandable. The author gave the characters a lot of dimension in this way.
I also loved the idea ofa solar-powered artificial intelligence basically worshipping the sun. Not only did it make a great allegory for religious devotion and faith, but it just made sense.
Honestly when I was approaching the end I was originally going to rate this lower but the ending really sold me.Klara is content in the life she was able to live but it made me so sad to see her just thrown away like that after everything she did; a hard truth in real life I suppose.
Additionally, the human characters just felt so real. They all had their highs and lows and were full of so many different emotions and behaviours; there were even some that were more destructive or problematic and even illogical but still realistic and understandable. The author gave the characters a lot of dimension in this way.
I also loved the idea of
Honestly when I was approaching the end I was originally going to rate this lower but the ending really sold me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, and Classism
The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.5
The aunties of this book are reminiscent of my own and even my mother lol. Not a read to take seriously, complete with cheesy and sometimes trashy comedy; not everything needs to be sophisticated anyhow :) My biggest issues with this book were with the number of characters (we constantly switch between subplots, making it hard to keep up sometimes) and the frequency of sentences along the lines of “and you’ll never guess what happened next!!!!” It’s fine occasionally but damn sometimes I just want to find out myself without needing it to be announced beforehand.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein — The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
2.75
I imagine I would’ve enjoyed this more had I been more familiar with the original campaign and material, but I suppose that’s the risk of IP writing.
For me, this book started off very slow. There were definitely intriguing points, but for the most part, the first half wasn’t much of a page turner. Things started to pick up in the second half, but by then I wasn’t too invested in the story.
Additionally, Roux’s prose is artistic but I found it made it harder to follow the story (combined with or perhaps contributing to my stunted interest).I liked the use of fonts and different sizes to represent different voices and conversations , but the actual wording itself I found to be too long-winded. I think it would’ve been a lot more enjoyable for me had I listened to the story its in original form as a campaign or even if I had listened to the audio book—I could imagine that her writing style would be lovely to listen to (especially because the narrator is Robbie Daymond) .
All in all, while I found certain plot points interesting and can appreciate the writing style, I definitely can’t say I enjoyed it as much as a real Critical Role fan or anyone else familiar with the IP would’ve.
For me, this book started off very slow. There were definitely intriguing points, but for the most part, the first half wasn’t much of a page turner. Things started to pick up in the second half, but by then I wasn’t too invested in the story.
Additionally, Roux’s prose is artistic but I found it made it harder to follow the story (combined with or perhaps contributing to my stunted interest).
All in all, while I found certain plot points interesting and can appreciate the writing style, I definitely can’t say I enjoyed it as much as a real Critical Role fan or anyone else familiar with the IP would’ve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Yellowface is a thought-provoking social commentary while being wildly entertaining. The perspective is absurd but does well to make Kuang’s points on racism, privilege, tokenization, and social media. And honestly speaking, it’s been a while since I’ve read a book this fast. The sheer audacity in this book is nuts but honestly it unfortunately isn’t that far-fetched and I think that’s part of what makes this such a well-written satire.
And to be clear, both June and Athena are terrible people in their own ways, which I believe ti be intentional :)))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Gaslighting
Minor: Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War