whittaker's reviews
216 reviews

It was okay and i think it has good commentary on content moderation and desensitisation but the lack of clarity on the unreliable narrator was a bit disappointing… it felt like it wasn't a twist but a let down because it built up to this climax that wasn’t there.

Silence is Also a Lie by Tracey Mathias

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challenging emotional fast-paced

3.75

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

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4.5

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

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adventurous mysterious 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

4.0

The Year of Magical Thinking: The Play by Joan Didion

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reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book blew me away. I knew it was well loved, but I still didn't expect it to be as good as it was. Brit Bennett writes so eloquently, with lines that felt like gentle truths, and others that felt so raw. I loved it.

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Irina is the pinnacle of unlikeable female narrator. But her story is gripping. Part of it is: did any of it happen? And then the second part, completely dependant on the answer to the first part, an answer we will never get: is she a psychopath or is she traumatised? There's parts that argue she is a psychopath, she is not crazy, but rather cold, calculated and this may all be a product of her trauma. And then there's parts that appear to show how unreliable and unreal her account is that implies she is traumatised, and whilst the events didn't happen - she has convinced herself they have. I don't think anyone in this novel was likeable - but it's proof that a book does not have to be likeable or palatable to be outstanding. This book is infinite shades of fucked up, and I think it should be marketed as such. And it drops from 5 stars because I don't think it /is/ what it boasts to be, with the blurbs and quotes on the cover. It does explore gender, especially female psychopathy, but it isn't stressed upon enough how disturbing this book is, and how it isn't a novel that explores misogyny the way Convenience Store Woman and countless other novels do.

This book kept me gripped, truly, and I enjoyed it so much, whilst enjoying it not at all. It is not necessarily a book I would recommend to the masses, but I would recommend it to people who enjoy horror, especially female driven horror. That is what I think this book is, a psychological horror, and I don't know who the victims are: if they're in the book or if they are us.

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whittaker's reviews 216 reviews

whittaker's reviews
216 reviews