theunrealyoung's reviews
7 reviews

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

holy shit tbh
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

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dark lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

look, I really didn't like the narrative voice. the use of language was too modern and there was no poetry to it. also for such a short book, they sure fit in a lot of infodumping. but it was short and I adore The Fall of the House of Usher and also fungi horror, so I stuck with it. I wish it had been scarier to make up for the blah writing, but outside of some good spooky imagery here and there, it didn't do much else for me.
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

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dark funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

a delight, as Link's work always is.
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Solid narrative and I enjoyed the character writing. That said, there was too much exposition dumping (especially at the end, especially for a short story) and the twist ending felt a bit over the top--clearly played for laughs, but not successfully so. I think I would have liked this short story better with less overt attempts at humour.
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Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

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dark emotional funny informative sad medium-paced

5.0

truly an exceptional book
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Just stellar writing in terms of character voice. Brilliant pacing. Incredibly misogynistic, but super self-aware. The (equally excellent) film is an incredibly close adaptation and if you are wondering whether it's worth reading the book after seeing the film, probably not. But if you prefer a textual medium and have never seen the film, go for the book, because you're in for roughly the same experience.
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Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

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

2.0

there's a lot of cleverness here, but not a lot to actually enjoy. I admire Rhys' reframing of Jane Eyre's love interest via the lesser told but utterly familiar tale of a man rejecting a woman because he cannot successfully mould her to his ideal. but I disliked most of her choices in prose, her iffy exploration of racial oppression, and the decision to make Rochester a viewpoint character.
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