casstalksbooks's reviews
254 reviews

* this is more like 1.5 stars.

firstly, please check trigger warnings before reading this book, the content is quite heavy.

secondly, here are the trigger warnings for this review:
mentions of sexual assault & relations between a minor and an adult

okay. this was the first Murakami book i’ve ever read and honestly, i was so disappointed. i am aware that it was written in the 80s and set in the 60s, but that is not an excuse for some of the content in this book.

the only reason i did not give this 0 stars and DNF it is because Murakami’s style of writing and certain sections of his prose were really well done.

now, this book discusses sexual assault SO CASUALLY, almost without a negative connotation whatsoever. also, the scene between Reiko and her 13 year old student (when Reiko was 31 YEARS OLD) was predatory and disgusting and when the whole town found out, they did nothing except give Reiko dirty looks. she faced no consequences except for the mental strain it put on her, rather than the actual minor????? Murakami disturbingly wrote this section really well as if it was meant to be a “spicy” scene, rather than something that is totally not okay which only made it 1000000x worse.

i also did not like any single character in this book. the way Murakami writes his female characters is misogynistic, extremely over-sexualising, and almost fetishising. this book was also SO SAD, reminding me of certain unnecessary plot points in A Little Life.

anyways, i was disappointed and i don’t think i’m ever going to read another Murakami book :)

the setting? brilliant.
the plot? brilliant.
the romance? brilliant.
the characters? brilliant.
the writing style? brilliant.

THIS WAS SO AMAZING AND I AM SO EXCITED TO PURCHASE A PHYSICAL COPY OF THIS BOOK

check trigger warnings before reading this book <3


oh. my. god. that was a roller coaster!!!!!!

i have officially decided that david thewlis is good at everything.

i read this in one sitting and oh my. this thrilling, darkly funny, mystery kept me on edge the entire way through! i did not know what would happen next.

david, i love you. this was brilliant.

When the gates open at last, Herr Friedrick Thiessen feels as though he is returning home after an extended absence

And that was how I felt reading this book, at home.

Erin Morgenstern's writing and world-building are phenomenal, and I always feel absolutely transformed upon finishing her novels. No other author writes prose like she does, like WOW!!!

anyways, i love her and i love this book and i love the starless sea and i love the characters in this book and i love the plot and i love the setting and i just UGH i'm in love.

These heirs think themselves kings and queens, sitting on a throne of gold and overlooking a glittering, wealthy empire.
They are not. They are criminals--criminals at the top of an empire of thieves and drug lords and pimps, pretending to inherit a broken, terrible, defeated thing that looks upon them in sadness.
Shanghai knows. It has always known.
This whole damn place is about to fall apart.

Sorry for the long quote but wow, that's how good Chloe Gong's writing is!
This book, a 1920s retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in Shanghai, delivered everything it intended to.

I am absolutely obsessed with the plot, the characters, the romance, the rivals to lovers trope, the queer & trans rep, EVERYTHING!

Nine days until the sequel (i think) and i cannot wait UGH

this book is so beautifully written, everything Schwab writes seems so realistic. the story was beautiful and tragic and ugh

the reason i’m not giving this 5 stars is because the start was really slow for me and idk why but the ending disappointed me a bit

trigger warning for this review: brief mention of self harm

okay look,
was the romance cute? yes.
was the spice good? yes.
was the plot good? yes.

BUT there were so many instances of unnecessary slurs and problematic language?????

the fatphobia? yuck, i thought we were past comparing someone’s beauty and worth with their weight.

the g and r slurs? unnecessary. added nothing to the plot. did not need to be there whatsoever.

this one, which may not have impacted anyone else but personally irked me, was referring to the colour of her red lipstick as “slit-wrists red”. ew why was that necessary? made me so uncomfortable.

ANYWAYS if there had been no slurs and disturbing language, this would probs be like 4.5 stars but alas, it’s only 3.

firstly, a thank you to Carina Press & NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.

OMG this was so cute! the representation (primarily of black, lesbian women) was absolutely fantastic and covered so many different groups in the lgbt+ community!!!

the romance was so cute, the spice was good, & overall it was just an easy, feel-good romance book! loved it!

DNF’ing this. i just don’t really care about the plot or the characters

just want remus to be happy