pkc's reviews
397 reviews

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, Walker Percy

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dark slow-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? Yes

2.0

Simply didn’t enjoy this book. Had a couple of titters but that earned it two stars. I can’t be bothered going through the entire triggers list, because I’d probably tick all of them. It’s pretty damn offensive.
All My Mothers by Joanna Glen

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was such a charming but sad book, in the end. A gorgeous story of friendship, a celebration of found family and never giving up on what you want. Keep some tissues by you though. It is SAD at times. It’s also really funny in places too.
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The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

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

3.0

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Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I bought this on a bit of a whim in 2021 thinking “why not indulge in another subversion of the Cinderella fairytale?” but I guess…like there’s no other subversion worth consuming. This is it. 

Holy crap I LOVED this story.

The protagonist was so engaging, so strong but proudly showed her vulnerabilities. The villain made my skin crawl. The love interests were fully formed characters in their own right who didn’t just serve to enhance the protagonists story. Representation was incredible (a POC MC, very queer).

Around the tail end of last year, I saw someone do a list of reading icks that they’d hope might be left in 2022. One of them was adults reading young adult books, as if it was somehow a lower class of read that shouldn’t be indulged. It really rankled me when I saw it as a 33 year old lover of YA and books like this beautifully explain why. 

This a story, aimed at young adults, that is absolutely about using your voice to speak out against oppression. It’s not the manic pixie dreamgirl or feelingsy guy that you find in the stereotypes that the genre is wrongly thought to comprise of exclusively. 

Sophia is a strong, ferocious human being who is guided by and intently focused on the right thing to do.
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Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

What a frickin’ trip.
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Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

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funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Common Ground by Naomi Ishiguro

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

This is such a gorgeous story. Charlie and Stan are two excellent co-protagonists and their story is in turns funny, devastating and rapturous. The only critique I had is that the final moment is so hard fought. I’d have loved to have seen a little bit of a win in the middle. It was also a fascinating insight into the traveller community with Charlie’s family. I’d give this book a read if you want something heartwarming with some peril and frustrating character choices that come good in the end.
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Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephenie Meyer

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

3.0

I think for the first half of the novel, I really enjoyed the swapped gender and it felt like a dynamic careful shift, but as the pace picked up, it got sort of more formulaic and unbelievable (well…more unbelievable). I thought that the end where
they let the venom run its course was a really interesting way to contain the story and rule out sequels. It did make it slightly more melancholic though in terms of the impact on Charlie and Renee. I maybe would have rather seen that play out as an alternative end to the original Twilight.
 

It’s still a really flawed mythology, but I really love that world and the possibilities of the characters. I seriously hope there are more novels to follow (but no more Midnight Sun, if’n ya please)
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Billionaire Boy by David Walliams

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

1.0

I am pleased that these books get kids reading, but this was pretty grim. I think he thought it was giving Dahl, but it didn’t.
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Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And other concerns) by Mindy Kaling

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

The first half of this was excellent and Kaling’s style is so unique and hilarious. There was a lot of troubling conversation around weight right from the get-go that I didn’t expect and it did that thing that a lot of celebrity memoirs do - it descended into lists when the author had run out of things to say and I really dislike that. I will say, even the lists had moments of hilarity. One section while she described revenge fantasies that came to her while jogging had me cackling, as did a very brief anecdote on ponchos. 

I was shocked to see that the book came out in 2011 and elements of it haven’t aged well at all. The aforementioned fatphobia is quite grim, and there’s a transphobic slur in there too. To that point I’d say that I don’t think this word would be used today and nor do I think it would have been as jarring 12 years ago upon publication.

Overall, not the best comedy memoir, but most certainly not the worst!