scruffie's reviews
111 reviews

Normal People by Sally Rooney

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Hit me like a ton of bricks. It's probably not for everyone, but it really resonated with me.

PS. I found the blurb to be misleading/non-representative of the vibe of the book, best ignore it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Blood, and Vomit

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

Didn't feel slow-paced to me. Then again, I have been getting used to Ishiguro's writing style. Very predictable story, but quite an emotional journey. Never Let Me Go was the first of Ishiguro's I read and I'm already looking forward to reading a third one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Death and Grief

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I really wanted to like this book, but now that I've read it I can't say that I did. I found the tropes in it interesting, but the writing style got in the way most of the time, making it very hard for me to follow. I understand that the style was supposed to match the narrative, but its chaotic structure combined with the numerous internet references made the book very inaccessible to me. Almost a DNF. For what it's worth, I think this is a good book, but I'm certainly not in its target audience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical content, and Grief

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I can't begin to explain how disturbing I found this book. However, I connect with Murata's choice of topics and writing style, and this book—no matter how tough it was to read—was a gem, in my opinion. I couldn't stop reading it, even if some parts of it I feel will haunt me for life. 5/5 from be, but beware of the (infinitely many) content warnings (I probably missed some).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Sexual harassment

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

challenging sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This is a very sad book. It was clear to me that it's a sad book from the beginning, but I didn't expect it to be this sad.

My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun by Emily Dickinson

challenging dark reflective

5.0

Many of Dickinson's poems resonated with me; I'll certainly look for more of her work. For the linguistically challenging ones I found the  Emily Dickinson Lexicon (https://edl.byu.edu/lexicon) to be very handy (though, I admit, my favorite poems were mostly not in that category).

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This (translation of the) book is a clear 5/5 from me. 

However, keep in mind that the book is plastered with all those "reviews" calling it funny. I don't see what's funny about a story of a person having such a hard time navigating through life in this horrible, normativity-obsessed society of ours. I wish the marketing crew had read the book before designing the cover.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Stalking

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Cursing, Death, Sexism, and Vomit

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

An absolutely remarkable book. Loved the plot, loved the writing style, couldn't stop once I started reading it. Five stars from me, without any reservations whatsoever. I hope the second book in the series is just as good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Medical content