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sinceremercy's reviews
45 reviews
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography by Graham Robb
adventurous
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
Invaluable for anyone interested in the history and geography of France beyond Paris. Comprehensive and informative but not dense-feeling.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
Beautiful and mysterious. I'm compelled to think about the juxtaposition between the Other's perspective on the House (a puzzle to be solved) and Piranesi's (inherently valuable in its own right) when thinking about the book itself. It does a lot in a short time; even though I wouldn't describe it as fast paced, exactly, I read this in a couple hours and struggled to put it down. Has interesting things to say about identity as well. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
The Scottish Boy by Trungles, Alex de Campi
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really enjoyed the first section of the book (of four). I loved Iain; Harry, while notably flawed, seemed like a good guy and like he was ripe for character development throughout the story. Unfortunately, after the first part I was gradually disappointed.
I really didn't mind the modern style of writing. However, the portrayal of the attitude towards gay men bothered me from a historical-cultural standpoint. What really bothered me however is that Harry didn't get the character development he needed. Continually, he would do something terrible to Iain, they would be distant for a while, but then when they got back together they would essentially rush to a sex scene to break the tension instead of communicating, resolving the problem, and becoming a stronger character and relationship for it. This was the worst when they have their biggest falling out, are separated for a long time, and then things are solved by Harry asking a third party to tell Iain he still loves him. When Iain comes back, Harry is not interested in apologies; he just wants to have sex. But I, as the reader, wanted an admission of wrongdoing and a sense that they had actually grown stronger for it, not for the situation to be resolved off screen by a third party. From the second part on, there's a heavy tilt towards erotica, to an extent I found a Little bit excessive but really wouldn't have minded except that it comes at the expense of actual character development.
The fourth part of the book was draining to read because it was incredibly obvious what was going to happen, but it took ages to get there while skipping past everything that happened which to me felt extremely significant— to the point that, although they get their happily ever after eventually, it doesn't feel earned to me. Alys as a character felt abandoned by the author, not just Harry. And Harry spends a large portion of the fourth section doing things he would have found morally repugnant at the outset, but now that he's found Iain again it's all fine and everyone can just pretend it didn't happen?
Frustrating read, because it seemed like so much wasted potential.
I really didn't mind the modern style of writing. However, the portrayal of the attitude towards gay men bothered me from a historical-cultural standpoint. What really bothered me however is that Harry didn't get the character development he needed. Continually, he would do something terrible to Iain, they would be distant for a while, but then when they got back together they would essentially rush to a sex scene to break the tension instead of communicating, resolving the problem, and becoming a stronger character and relationship for it. This was the worst when they have their biggest falling out, are separated for a long time, and then things are solved by Harry asking a third party to tell Iain he still loves him. When Iain comes back, Harry is not interested in apologies; he just wants to have sex. But I, as the reader, wanted an admission of wrongdoing and a sense that they had actually grown stronger for it, not for the situation to be resolved off screen by a third party. From the second part on, there's a heavy tilt towards erotica, to an extent I found a Little bit excessive but really wouldn't have minded except that it comes at the expense of actual character development.
The fourth part of the book was draining to read because it was incredibly obvious what was going to happen, but it took ages to get there while skipping past everything that happened which to me felt extremely significant— to the point that, although they get their happily ever after eventually, it doesn't feel earned to me. Alys as a character felt abandoned by the author, not just Harry. And Harry spends a large portion of the fourth section doing things he would have found morally repugnant at the outset, but now that he's found Iain again it's all fine and everyone can just pretend it didn't happen?
Frustrating read, because it seemed like so much wasted potential.
Never Anyone But You by Rupert Thomson
emotional
reflective
medium-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
4.5
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This review contains spoilers.
The first act of this book is very slow, but I found a lot to like about it. The concept of the central romance appealed to me, as did the setting which was well brought to life.
As I got through the second act and then the third, it became clear to me that I really dislike the main character (Frances). I took some issues with her to begin with, and I really disliked the first sex scene between the main characters; Lilian asks her repeatedly to stop and Frances tells her she "can't" which I just didn't like, but honestly was willing to overlook it because romance genre can Be Like That... Except that she continues to be extremely pushy with Lilian in other ways throughout the book. At one point in the third act after Frances lashes out at Lilian unjustifiably, Lilian tells her "you always bully me" which struck me as being extremely true and extremely uncomfortable given that that's basically the same problem Lilian has with her husband.
Frances bullies her into deciding to leave him, then bullies her about her decision to terminate her pregnancy, makes the decision to out their affair to her husband, bullies her a bit about the aftermath of that, bullies her into deciding to come forward, then bullies her into staying silent again, then bullies her repeatedly for staying silent... It's kind of overwhelming.
Almost worse than that is that Frances has a consistent lack of faith throughout the relationship. Essentially any time she's apart from Lilian for more than a day she starts to wonder if she even ever liked her at all. And at a certain point her lack of faith rubbed off on me; I'm not confident actually that they will be happy together or that Frances will be constant to her, especially given what happened to her earlier relationship with Chrissy, which she doesn't appear to have actually learned anything from— she just overwrites her own memories to say that it's different with Lilian and that she never actually felt as strongly for Chrissy as she does for Lilian. ...But her feelings for Lilian, while strong in the moment, don't seem to hold a lot of staying power after all when anything comes between them.
All in all I just feel bad for Lilian. I was compelled to finish this book but I liked it much less by the end than I was expecting to by the beginning.
The first act of this book is very slow, but I found a lot to like about it. The concept of the central romance appealed to me, as did the setting which was well brought to life.
As I got through the second act and then the third, it became clear to me that I really dislike the main character (Frances). I took some issues with her to begin with, and I really disliked the first sex scene between the main characters; Lilian asks her repeatedly to stop and Frances tells her she "can't" which I just didn't like, but honestly was willing to overlook it because romance genre can Be Like That... Except that she continues to be extremely pushy with Lilian in other ways throughout the book. At one point in the third act after Frances lashes out at Lilian unjustifiably, Lilian tells her "you always bully me" which struck me as being extremely true and extremely uncomfortable given that that's basically the same problem Lilian has with her husband.
Frances bullies her into deciding to leave him, then bullies her about her decision to terminate her pregnancy, makes the decision to out their affair to her husband, bullies her a bit about the aftermath of that, bullies her into deciding to come forward, then bullies her into staying silent again, then bullies her repeatedly for staying silent... It's kind of overwhelming.
Almost worse than that is that Frances has a consistent lack of faith throughout the relationship. Essentially any time she's apart from Lilian for more than a day she starts to wonder if she even ever liked her at all. And at a certain point her lack of faith rubbed off on me; I'm not confident actually that they will be happy together or that Frances will be constant to her, especially given what happened to her earlier relationship with Chrissy, which she doesn't appear to have actually learned anything from— she just overwrites her own memories to say that it's different with Lilian and that she never actually felt as strongly for Chrissy as she does for Lilian. ...But her feelings for Lilian, while strong in the moment, don't seem to hold a lot of staying power after all when anything comes between them.
All in all I just feel bad for Lilian. I was compelled to finish this book but I liked it much less by the end than I was expecting to by the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Minor: Homophobia
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James
5.0
C.L.R. James paints an informative and compelling picture of the Haitian Revolution. I especially enjoyed the first half of the book; James takes care to describe the revolution as a thing effected by the masses, and keeps the people themselves front and center in this history. If the second half falls perhaps a little more into simply a biography of Toussaint himself, it's still extremely well-written and informative.