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bratatouille's reviews
204 reviews
Brutes by Dizz Tate
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.5
This is the peak of what I would call “crooked girlhood.” It’s a stark reminder of being 13 and loving things so desperately, so destructively, they turned to ash. This sort of warped adolescence is often forgotten as you progress through adulthood. Tate does a stunning job at bringing back into the possessive and questioning minds of the guilty and blameless. It’s told partially in memories of the disappearance and partly in current consequences. The writing has a foggy, dreamy, detached quality that shrouds the story in a thick fog. I enjoyed this a lot tbh. I found the end a bit confusing, but I do think this is something that would benefit from multiple reads.
Sign Here by Claudia Lux
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
This was a book. It was fun and silly and an interesting concept in some parts. In others, it was convoluted and unnecessary. There’s a huge tone shift towards the end of this book and honestly a lot of character decisions are unrealistic. It wasn’t awful, but there was much more setup than the story strictly needed. Some of the hell rules and lore were fun and certain characters were interesting to learn about, but overall I would label this as messily executed.
The Country Will Bring Us No Peace by Matthieu Simard
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Holy shit this was stunning. For being such a short story, its impact is. Dang. It’s unsettling and lyrical. It handles grief in a way I haven’t seen depicted. This is the sort of book that grabs hold of you quickly. It’s incredibly foreboding and there is a darkness steeped deeply into every character. It has mild aspects of surrealism which, as we’ve all learned by now, is kinda my jam. However, it’s not the level of having to heavily suspend your disbelief. It’s a speculative, weird, ominous jewel hidden in the corners of indie publishing. I am docking it like HALF a star because I thought one of the reveals was lackluster. Although, I am not mad about it. I seriously am not going to forget this book I might reread it again soon just to reprocess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide
Minor: Violence and Alcohol
How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is a book I’ve always loved so it gets five stars. Realistically, I might give it four or four and a half if I subtract the comfort factor from its existence. The characters in this are dynamic and so human. Everyone is quirky, odd, and incredibly flawed, but you can really feel the heart in all of them. Even the worst ones. It’s incredibly difficult for me to read YA as an adult but something about this makes it a wonderful exception. There are incredibly few tropes (in my opinion) and I think there’s should be more YA that isn’t romance focused. The only mediocre/poor reviews I’m finding on this book are those who say that the characters are impossible to relate to, but I don’t think that’s an issue of the story itself. It’s a letter to the weird, lonely, and detached. It’s about strong and impossible connections that don’t make sense even to you. I seriously adore it and am glad I can continue to claim its brilliance. The only reason I would possibly lessen the rating is due to a mildly clunky beginning and the overall spats of cringe that any book about teenagers is bound to have.
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.5
I’m a big fan of Jennifer Saint’s approach to storytelling. This was my first novel of hers and I can safely say that I’ll read more. Her voice feels honest and perceptive. I do, however, have a large gripe with this book. For being the titular character, this book isn’t about Ariadne. Basically none of this is her story. It’s the story of the men in her life as well as her sister. She plays a supporting role in all these other tales and recounts them to us through her perspective. From the beginning she takes a backseat to her brother, the Minotaur, and even Daedalus or Theseus. This continues throughout. Even experiences singular to her like pregnancy and grief are mostly glossed over. However, they’re described in more detail regarding her sister. I did enjoy this, it just wasn’t what I thought I signed up for.
Rouge by Mona Awad
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is a truly surrealist gothic fairytale, and, therefore, SO Mona Awad. The story creeps slowly, making the descend more horrifying through the sheer inching pace. I’ve found that all of Awad’s books have, in some way, themes of loneliness tied to self-perception and this is no exception. She touches gorgeously on the feminine experience and mother/daughter conflict while dancing you through a grotesque display of the horror of beauty. Her light but firm hand on Eurocentrism stays constant throughout the story. Tom Cruise is a big thing in this book? I know next to nothing about the man but I’m choosing to believe it’s his involvement in basically-cult-activity that makes him relevant. This takes place somewhere I spent a lot of my youth which would occasionally throw me out of the story, but that’s no fault to the text itself. My only real gripe is that we don’t experience much time with the initial personality of our protagonist, making her decent less impactful than it could’ve been.
To those who are looking for Bunny: This book is slower than Bunny. It is more understated than Bunny (although, this means little. It’s overt as shit, Bunny was just absolutely insane). It is not as violent as Bunny. However, it possesses that same murky, milky, dreamlike uncertainty that I adore in both texts. Incredibly read.
Happy Place by Emily Henry
4.0
Emily Henry has my whole heart. Truly, everything she writes is adorable and makes me sob. This was second chance romance, forced proximity, fake dating, found family. I HATE second chance romance AND fake dating and was so anxious for the first half of this book but holy SHIT!! Is this world changing literary prose? NO!!! But she! writes! characters! I love! They’re so witty! They’re so flawed!! I want to scream and cry!!! Amazing, stunning, incredible.
Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by isthisselfcare
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You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
3.0
Interesting, incredibly like Gattica. The character work is impeccible. The second half of the story gets a little muddy and the concept feels overdone.