berratrixie's reviews
12 reviews

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

sometimes the floweriness is really nice and makes the book feel like it actually is delivering enormous profundities. but then there's also the other ~70% that, while charming in its aimlessness, does feel a bit uninteresting at times. once you get past the initial shock from the profane and verbose sections of the book, there's really not much this book has to offer other than some (very) few delightful paragraphs. while i do like the fact that this book celebrates life's lack of purpose or meaning through the characters' actions and interactions, i'll only remember it because of what it set out to do rather than what it actually is.
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Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? by Mark Fisher

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funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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

4.25

Socrates' Defence by Plato

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challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

3.5

they really tryna cancel socrates, gen z him bruh
1984 by George Orwell

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

orwell absolutely peaks as a writer in 1984, an absolutely thrilling read from front to back. the three-act structure works in the book's favor and helps unravel the plot in an enhanced way. 
near the end it is already evident how the story will inevitably end, but reading it, feeling the emotions of our protagonist as
he is put through unimaginable horrors before meeting a death he's been desiring since the beginning of the book
, proved to be a crushing yet rewarding payoff. 
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Forrest Gump by Winston Groom

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

the adventures forrest enbarks on are improbable and thus hard to really believe (something that is acknowledged in the book itself funnily enough), and the language may be vulgar and offensive at times, but it's what makes this book heartfelt and its characters charming in their own unique way. 
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All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

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

5.0

no denying that it's not only one of the best war-related novels but also one of the best books of all time in general. i read it in the original german version, and the way remarque uses language, metaphors or mental imagery to drive a point home is astonishing. it's a book that i've returned to several times after feeling like i didn't really appreciate or look into it well enough the first time i read it. every single re-read was more uncomfortable, moving, spine-chilling than the last.
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Das Wesen Der Religion by Ludwig Feuerbach

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challenging informative slow-paced

3.25

one of the books that paved the way for future critiques on religion. as a historical piece it's astonishing, as a literary one it's far less entertaining tho. 
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

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adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

the extremely slow pacing of some parts in the book make it a slog to get through, but the catcher in the rye is overall still an intriguing story with lots of memorable and emotionally impactful highlights.
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13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

accessible and easy-to-read yet still absolutely crushing and difficult to stomach.
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