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alexture's reviews
948 reviews
Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James
Now − I've read a few queer crime novels recently, so clearly there's more and more going on, between A Calculated Risk and Where the dead sleep.
Last night at the Hollywood canteen is less of a thriller, although it's very far from a cozy mystery. It doesn't focus on the crime quite this much, adding a depth of character which is rare for this kind of novel. Also, it's nice to not have the narrator be a (former) cop: she's just a normal crazy ex-girlfriend, moving across the country to spite her famous exes and possibly vaguely stalk them, making friends with absolutely vile socialites, and immediately getting accused of murder while abusing the pills that her employer gives her to make her more productive. Very normal and relatable stuff here.
This novel took me out of a reading slump and I'm very grateful for that. It is definitely one of the best thrillers I've read in the past years, and I recommend it to people who want to read more polyamorous fiction that's not about being poly, more queer fiction, or more crime novels.
A polyamorous, bisexual murder mystery set in 1940s, pre-Singin' in the Rain Hollywood?
Do I need to say more?
Here is my original draft for this review:
do you know how rare lgbt thriller mysteries are? do you????
Now − I've read a few queer crime novels recently, so clearly there's more and more going on, between A Calculated Risk and Where the dead sleep.
Last night at the Hollywood canteen is less of a thriller, although it's very far from a cozy mystery. It doesn't focus on the crime quite this much, adding a depth of character which is rare for this kind of novel. Also, it's nice to not have the narrator be a (former) cop: she's just a normal crazy ex-girlfriend, moving across the country to spite her famous exes and possibly vaguely stalk them, making friends with absolutely vile socialites, and immediately getting accused of murder while abusing the pills that her employer gives her to make her more productive. Very normal and relatable stuff here.
This novel took me out of a reading slump and I'm very grateful for that. It is definitely one of the best thrillers I've read in the past years, and I recommend it to people who want to read more polyamorous fiction that's not about being poly, more queer fiction, or more crime novels.
Holly by Stephen King
Holly est un Stephen King sans fioritures. Il refait ce qu'il sait faire, proprement, sans surprise, et avec son talent habituel.
Holly, c'est un thriller horrifique sans éléments surnaturels, mais avec des anti-vaccins et du COVID à chaque page, et un petit côté « eh mais ce tueur en série est Jordan Peterson » qui saura ravir les amateurs.
Si vous trouvez que c'est très cringe de donner son avis comme ça sur la politique américaine, et d'avoir certains personnages qui ne servent qu'à faire passer un message… ben vous avez raison, mais il le revendique et l'explique dans l'excellente postface du roman, où King explique que s'il n'utilise pas ses romans pour parler de ce qui lui tient à cœur, alors il n'a pas fait son devoir. Je recommande de lire cette postface même si le roman ne vous intéresse pas, la démarche m'a fasciné.
Quant au reste, c'est du Stephen King habituel, avec plus de critique littéraire et de théorie poétique que d'habitude peut-être.
J'ai aussi noté dans mon brouillon « ok j'ai toujours échoué à être une femme alors c'est ptet juste moi mais de carrie à aujourd'hui je me suis rarement senti aussi seen que dans les bouquins de stephen king, il écrit si bien les femmes alors qu'il écrit si mal les femmes jsp », je vous laisse en tirer l'interprétation qui vous sied.
Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates by Katie Barnes
Focuses a lot on individual stories and fails to find the bigger picture.
Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener
Did not finish book. Stopped at 53%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 53%.
I'm sorry I'm just really bored
Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
That is one overarching message I choose to take at the end of my doppelganger journey: time to loosen the grip on various forms of proprietary pain and selfhood, and reach toward many different forms of possible connection and kin, toward anyone who shares a desire to confront the forces of annihilation and extermination and their mindsets of purity and perfection. Faced with the ultimate doppelganger threat—the flip into fascism that is already well underway in many parts of the world—this ability to melt some of the hard, icy edges of identity, however well earned those defenses may be, will be important to any hope we have of success. It will not be enough to protect “our” people; we will need to have the stamina of true solidarity, which defines “our people” as “all people.”
L'Information est un bien public : Refonder la propriété des médias by Benoit Huet, Julia Cagé
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
Lu le début et la fin, les feux étaient tres bien mais j'avais la plupart des infos du bouquin et ca m'embête de le marquer comme lu juste parce que j'ai lu les conclusions.
La vérité sort de la bouche du cheval by Meryem Alaoui
dark
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia