afi_whatafireads's reviews
589 reviews

How is it that Ali Mother Hazelwood manages to write something so short but so meaningful.

The way she writes her MEN in insane 😭 I was bawling my eyes out . Does she have a type with her male mcs? Sure. But her female MC’s are always the thought daughters and eldest daughters can relate to. The way I felt so validated and seen and just GAAHH because Hazelwood writes books like this so well. The YEARNING. The constant WANT AND NEED. Gosh I love this book. Short and sweet i might combust crying again.

Straightforward yet subtly layered on the issues of poverty, socioeconomics and the realities in the rural life.

Best believe I BAWLED my eyes out towards the end.

Secara keseluruhannya, aku suka cerita ni banyak menampilkan unsur budaya yang agak dekat dengan masyarakat kita, terutamanya yang duduk di kawasan kampung. Plot dan storyline yang agak santai, tetapi padat, membuatkan pembaca tak senang duduk. Secara keseluruhan, cerita digarap kemas oleh penulis. Ada unsur lucu dan ada juga yang menyentuh hati, terutamanya sebab POV cerita adalah daripada budak lelaki 11 tahun bernaama Ayie.

Masa baca, aku stress juga. Salah satunya, sebab nak memahami dialog dengan loghat Kelantan. Tetapi, baiknya pula, ia menjadikan cerita lagi realistik dan kita seperti berada di sana juga untuk menyelami apa yang dirasai oleh Ayie. Prolog cerita sudah cukup untuk menangkap pembaca dan terjerat hingga ke akhir cerita.

Sesantai penceritaan penulis, aku suka that its layered subtly with issues of poverty, jurang sosio-ekonomi dan juga hal budaya dan perbezaan pandangan politik. Ia memberi impak kepada penceritaan tentang hal kemasyarakatan dalam sebuah kampung. Kes yang melibatkan unsur spiritual yang dibawa juga menjadikan cerita penuh dengan saspens dan pembaca jadi tidak senang duduk.

Honestly, its best to go into the story blind. You will definitely enjoy it more. But overall, it was a read that made me think about a lot of things, especially that the issues are quite close to what I've encountered in real life as well.

4.5🌟 for this particular one! Highly recommended!

How do you define the term horror? Is it only something of the unknown, unseen and can't be touched? Or is it a strong feeling of disgust and terror that you've witnessed that can send tremors through your whole body?

This collection of short stories at first to me was marketed as such; the kinds of horror of the supernatural - the fear of the unknown. And when I went into some of these stories, it felt lacking at first, mostly because (1) I think I'm pretty desensitised, so there's a certain level of disgust that will be needed for me to actually 'feel' something and (2) I went in this book with the wrong mindset.

But when I started to ask myself back again, what does the horror entail, and I look back at the title of the collection and only then it clicked to me. These stories are not just a collection of supernatural beings coming to haunt us. Its a collection of terror, inflicted by various entities - be it a person, a community or even your own self - of the horrors that one human can face. And it is mostly resulted not by supernatural beings, but by humans themselves.

Not to say that all of the stories here fit my fancy. Some were really disappointing at best, mostly I feel is to act as fillers to just fill in the curation. With authors that had made a name for themselves like Mariana Enriquez and Bridget Collins their stories were spectacular, and if not , lived up to their name. And I loved that I have found new authors - POC at that - to explore. Its a mix that might not go with everyone, but for me, as a collective, it fits the title of the book.

The stories range from the ghost of the wife of the guy you've cheated on coming on to you for vengeance, to body horror, slavery, lore, abuse of women and even racism. They've also included one graphic short story in here, Sketchy (Lewis Hancox) which questions how humans can enact acts of terror to someone but when inflicted back to them, its frowned upon. This one in particular was one that I loved very much. Other stories like Daisies (Mariana Enriquez) , The Fruiting Body (Bridget Collins) , Apples (Emilia Hart) , The Smiling African Uncle (Adorah Nworah) and Carcinisation (Lucy Rose) was among the stories that simply checked and ticked every aspect that I love in a story. The mix of realism with body horror and just the whole story in itself makes them such memorable ones.

Others like Mouse (Louisa Young), Waffle Thomas (Ainslie Hogarth) and Bob-a-Job (James Smythe) are some that I would love if its given a slight more few pages, then the story would be whole.

If you're looking for a collection to try out, especially with authors that you're not too familiar with, try this one out. I would say, its best suited for those who wants to venture into the 'weird-unhinged-books' but didn't want for it to be too hardcore, then this book is a perfect entry and start for you.

4🌟 overall!

Thank you to Times Reads for the copy :)

Fuck me sideways ishiguro.

Chapters in volume : Ch 1- Ch4.5

A great opening for me. I loved how Itsuomi has that RIZZ :')
In some ways, on the surface, he might look like he would play your heart, but in some other ways, I kind of get that he is being genuine with his actions.

I also liked how the mangaka revel on the expression of the sign language itself. It felt intimate and beautiful, and the perspective of Yuki's world, making the panel one that felt whole.

Definitely a great start. I've been meaning to catch this manga for a long time, but I do love that I get to read it now when I feel that I would appreciate it more.

3.75🌟

Dazai did it again, and I think, anything written by him is something that I will like.

The thing about his books, as desolate and helpless we would feel after reading it, there is always the mere fact that at the end of the day, he had tried to live as a human - or the version of a human that he understands and deems worthy.

The beggar student was published a few years before his death but was written a few years after his first attempt of suicide, in which he enrolled in a university and later quit, and to me, nothing in his books are a coincidence, especially the books written in the dawn of his suicide. Whilst we see a more humorous side of Dazai in this book, the feeling that it gave me was the same as when reading No Longer Human. It is despondent. It is bleak. It felt that he was grasping for things that he wish to gain but ended up not being able to achieve it.

Books by these authors will be more understandable when you understand the story behind its writing. The chronology of his death, the state of mind that he wrote, of the mockery of an author in the book who happens to carry the same name as him.

4.5🌟

I aspire to be as nonchalant and as confident as this woman when im 54 :')

And me choosing to listen Ernaux's sordid affairs on a Friday morning on my way to work after a week not going into the office really sets off the mood of the day (haha)

But the thing with Ernaux's books, with even a book about an affair 30 years with a man younger, her observations through the stages of life and in self-discovery is one that I always find myself going back to her books. Ernaux's writing always gave me that sense of validation (that I didn't even know I needed).

The question of morality in a world of dominance, gender and power dynamics.

As slim as this book is, Ernaux wrote through the lens of a woman who holds power. In the age of dominance of a man who is only starting to live his life in his 20s, in which challenges the social norms of power dynamics in a relationship used to people at the time. She gave an air of nonchalance but its also how with this particular relationship, she gained back a sense of herself that was lost.

I have come to a conclusion that whatever that Ernaux writes, she will always succeed in reeling me in her stories. Its in the small details of what she feels at the time, present, and what she reminiscene of the past that makes up a story that will hook you in to the very end.

4.25🌟

The world of Akutagawa is always fun to go back in again, and I'm glad that I made this my first read of 2025. Its definitely sets a precedence to my other reads of the year, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Akutagawa is a master of its craft and Kappa is written through the lens of Patient 23, a psychiatric patient that fell down into a hole and went into the world of Kappa, where the monsters from Japanese folklores are living as similar to humans. The absurdity that is written on the surface with the subtle but very loud criticism on the society made this book such a pleasant one to read.

A gem on its own I definitely love it!
Wrote my full unfiltred thoughts on my substack. The rabbit hole that I feel into made me almost spiral at best, but goes to show- Akutagawa is an authors of his own league.

Read my Full Unfiltered Thoughts of Kappa on my Substack here :)

BURGESS.

JUST.
BURGESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
I am on my KNEES for this man good lord :')

Mother Bailey is back with a full swing, and I kid you not, this one was such a treat.

We get:
✅ Divorced , single, grumpy dad (who's only a sunshine to the people he loves)
✅ A ray of sunshine female character that is sassy, smart and also a fighter
✅ THE TENSION. OMFG THE ANGST.
✅ LEWSER MEN WHO IS HEAD OVER HEELS FOR THIS WOMAN
✅ AGE-GAP

Yes, that checks ALL of my boxes. And what's not to love with this one :')
I actually really liked how realistically well the friendship between Tallulah and Burgess went. They didn't just went dive in straight ahead, but instead, they sort-of became friends/employer-employee and then becoming a pair.

And good lord did Burgess checked in every list that I want in a man. Man knows his boundaries, is a family man and my gosh ... again... the ANGST :') I can't. It was a treat reading this.

One thing that made me a bit icked was the second half of the book. It got me to a point that I wanted to scream to both of them cause how..... sudden everything was. I would've preferred if the conflict was more about the daughter dynamics because that would've made a more probable conflict for a second chance per say.

But other than that? Burgess and Wells. And I get to see Wells and Josephine from Book 1 get married so that's a plus. AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR SIG'S BOOK TOO!!!

Bailey should keep on writing like this cause its sooooo fun. Besides the conflict part, I'm giving this book a 4🌟 for my man Burgess alone <3 Man's gone up to Top 5 of my romance character books list.

Thank you to Times Reads for this copy! I really appreciate it :)

This was a big, big book. And after two years, we finally had gotten the sequel, after the novella that came out last year. Shadowstitch was the sequel that was okay, but it was more on, I kind of wished this could end up as a duology instead.

This book started right off where it left from the first book. The aftermath from what had happened with Anna's aunt from the first book, to Effi returning with Attis and how Anna will need to pick up the pieces again. I would say, for the overall of Cari Thomas writing, I actually liked the way she slowly build up the world, the foundations in Anna's magic and how she is coming in terms to using them and the way it is affecting what was going on in their world now. Since its in an urban magical setting, we are brought back to the school and how they blend again with the people without the magic.

My favourite character in this book will always be Rowan. Her antiques and the way she livens up the book and Anna especially makes it bearable, to say the least. I honestly don't really care about Attis at this point. The Effie-Attis-Anna thing for me, just feels so unnecessary, I kind of wished there is another character that Anna can make as a love interest, because I'm just icked with Effie.
And, altho its a big big book, I kind of flew through the pages. Thomas's writing is one that is easy to read, and her magic system is not a 'in your face' thing, but more on lets build the world seamlessly.

I enjoy some parts more than not, but I do feel there's a major chunk of this book that can be cut off. It got really draggy at times, but I do enjoy the magic system (blood magic is always fun). Love seeing Anna's growth from her being sheltered to her embracing her powers. But even after all that, I still would read the third book (the cliffhanger....).

So, don't get intimidated by the length of this book. I feel like, it was worth waiting for the sequel, but again, just wished they could've combined it into a duology instead. Would still recommend this book if you're a beginner to fantasy and would like to delve into something not too heavy but still makes up an experience a fantasy book can provide.

3.75 stars for this one!

Thank you to Times Reads and the publisher for this copy! I truly appreciate it :)