alf_read's reviews
113 reviews

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

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dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

Devastatingly heartbreaking and full of memorable conversations between fully-realised characters. It’s a quintessential modern classic.
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

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

3.25

I was disappointed by how easily they defeat HAL 9000. This book has some of the most surreal visuals from the neolithic primates to the dark monolith to the space baby. The ideas are all there but I did find the execution somewhat lacking.
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

While there are better outings for Poirot, the cast of characters is memorable, it’s an exciting tale on location, and there’s some fun ideas at work. Overall iconic if a little uneven.
Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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

3.0

This was my introduction to Hemingway and personally I don’t love his style. The book had perfectly adequate storytelling but the stripped back nature was a little jarring for me.
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

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dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

It’s an anthology based on subverting fairy tales but I didn’t find any of the twists particularly clever or interesting.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

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slow-paced

1.0

As the progenitor of the self-help book epidemic, you can expect all the tired and unhelpful grandstanding that we’ve come to expect from a genre that’s designed to make the rich richer.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

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

3.25

This book was such a headache. While I can appreciate that motherhood is challenging, as an outsider the book doesn’t invite you into that world so most of what our MC goes through felt inaccessible to me. The ending was so blah as well, the book basically forsakes all the freaky magical realism for a lukewarm message about women’s lib. 
Songlight by Moira Buffini

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.25

I’m so excited for this trilogy! I found this book to be a breath of fresh air in a genre that has felt rather stale to me for a while. 
Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin

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

2.75

This book was so incredibly obnoxious. It desperately wants you to view it as a sophisticated discourse on psychology but instead it’s a snooty American butchering French while indulging in pseudo-liberal platitudes. 
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.75

A beautiful book that packs a lot of brilliance into such a small package. The use of second person vacillated between unique and annoying for me but as a South-East London native this story felt so real and perfectly portrayed the struggle of being so careful not to do the wrong thing that you’re inadvertently doing the wrong thing.