Adin
starts off a little heavy handed, like what she's trying to convey is so obvious (esp when it's a courtroom drama murder mystery), but the pieces are interconnected in a way that people's lives invariably are. and everyone is so understandable, even when they fuck up. it made me cry a bunch. and want to smoke a cigarette.
extremely well-written, i mean Arundhati Roy is a master of many languages. Refreshing to hear someone talking at length about the atrocities in Kashmir and the daily violence against Muslims and Dalits. It relies on pathos a bit much for my taste as someone who's ignorant of a lot of the facts, but still stirring
I found this book pretty tedious to read and unnecessarily repetitive in its message about humans our big brains. You'll get what he's saying in the first 3 chapters, but he makes the same point about 2 dozen times over the book. Still give it 4 stars because Vonnegut's prose is stellar, and the webs of stories and the motif of genealogy/evolution are masterful. Simple sentences in the story brought me to tears. That's vonnegut I guess.
Fresh retelling of a an underrated character's myth. Miller's prose is really soothing, and does the elegance and naturalness of Greek mythology justice. There are some harsh turns in the story, that make it more than a cliche myth, and Circe's growth because of it is really apparent. Overall a really nice read during a fucking terrible era of history.
It's not perfect but 4 stars is inadequate. The structure of the book is really cool and you know certain things are gonna happen, but when they come, they're still enthralling. The detail and precision of the first two acts are so beautiful that it comes as a disappointment when our lovers meet. They fall into traps that supposedly they've eagerly avoided from their parents' misfortunes, and it's pretty unclear why they're so perfect for each other. While the unraveling is everything you suspected and hoped it wouldn't be, it's still a little hard to empathize with Campbell. I don't fall in love with Donovan so I'm not heartbroken when he leaves. That's the critical statement and really my only issue with the book. Besides that, just breathtaking. Be ready to cry.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I would definitely recommend it to people who don't understand the fear, frustration, resignation, the complexity of emotions that can erupt out of Black people in the US. I've experienced some of the things Coates explain so effortlessly or begrudgingly at times. There's a lot of history, social trends, and deeply personal issues in this book. It's not something you see often. I finished it in a weekend, so I think this will be a book I come back to often.
Ifem can definitely be a frustrating character to follow around because she so often thinks she can distill people down to a simple characterization. Nonetheless the book as a whole is filled with insight about race but also friendship and relationships in general. It explores nuance in a lot of different scenarios, giving the topics that it takes on the time that they deserve.
Heartbreaking read honestly. I have only glimpsed these worlds in India from afar, but Boo makes them come alive in all their terror and hope and injustice. I'm glad I read this book because I often wondered what it was like to live in some slums in Mumbai. I have relatives who know people who survive on peanuts and I thought that that was terrible. But the wondering never turned into anything. I never learned more. I never felt any desire to help besides in the general way. The police brutality, racism, corruption, lack of job opportunity – I mean those are just problems perpetrated by the institutions that are supposed to help the people of Annawadi. There's a lot to be done and I think about this book often when I think about how I might help the world.
This book was really incredible. It really made me contemplate things that I had assumed to be true and forced me to evaluate the world based on what is known rather than what is indoctrinated. That said, some things in this book are in themselves assumptions. It's important to criticize every word in a book such as this and understand that what should be taken as advice (because there is a lot of wisdom in these pages) and what is unnecessary (it's hard to sell a book unless you have certainty that you're right and in a subject such as this, there can never really be certainty).
This book was solidly incredible. It was very “teenage girl romantic” which might not be up every one's alley, but it also attacked some incredibly heavy existential insecurities. I think every teenager should read this book. It's funny and doesn't feel like a textbook, but it's just as self-actualizing.
Very intensive book. Great writing style and ability. Read for the journey, not the destination.