scruffie's reviews
111 reviews

Normal People by Sally Rooney

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Hit me like a ton of bricks. It's probably not for everyone, but it really resonated with me.

PS. I found the blurb to be misleading/non-representative of the vibe of the book, best ignore it.
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The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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

4.5

Didn't feel slow-paced to me. Then again, I have been getting used to Ishiguro's writing style. Very predictable story, but quite an emotional journey. Never Let Me Go was the first of Ishiguro's I read and I'm already looking forward to reading a third one.
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No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

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

3.0

I really wanted to like this book, but now that I've read it I can't say that I did. I found the tropes in it interesting, but the writing style got in the way most of the time, making it very hard for me to follow. I understand that the style was supposed to match the narrative, but its chaotic structure combined with the numerous internet references made the book very inaccessible to me. Almost a DNF. For what it's worth, I think this is a good book, but I'm certainly not in its target audience.
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Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

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

5.0

I can't begin to explain how disturbing I found this book. However, I connect with Murata's choice of topics and writing style, and this book—no matter how tough it was to read—was a gem, in my opinion. I couldn't stop reading it, even if some parts of it I feel will haunt me for life. 5/5 from be, but beware of the (infinitely many) content warnings (I probably missed some).
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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

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challenging sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This is a very sad book. It was clear to me that it's a sad book from the beginning, but I didn't expect it to be this sad.
My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun by Emily Dickinson

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challenging dark reflective

5.0

Many of Dickinson's poems resonated with me; I'll certainly look for more of her work. For the linguistically challenging ones I found the  Emily Dickinson Lexicon (https://edl.byu.edu/lexicon) to be very handy (though, I admit, my favorite poems were mostly not in that category).
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

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dark reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This (translation of the) book is a clear 5/5 from me. 

However, keep in mind that the book is plastered with all those "reviews" calling it funny. I don't see what's funny about a story of a person having such a hard time navigating through life in this horrible, normativity-obsessed society of ours. I wish the marketing crew had read the book before designing the cover.
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The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

An absolutely remarkable book. Loved the plot, loved the writing style, couldn't stop once I started reading it. Five stars from me, without any reservations whatsoever. I hope the second book in the series is just as good!
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