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cheesebagel's reviews
218 reviews
Bonjour Tristesse and A Certain Smile by Françoise Sagan
5.0
adding this to my fantasy high school english syllabus
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
4.0
maggie o’farrell is a master of her craft and one of the most talented storytellers alive
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
3.0
ok here are my thoughts. this book is basically your typical NYT bestseller, and honestly after a rocky start I started to kind of enjoy it. it was pretty fast paced, the writing was relatively good quality, and overall it was fun and easy to read.
my main criticism is actually of the material. the story is marketed as a kind of 2nd wave feminism female triumph, which it pretty much is. my issue is more that this isn't a text that has anything useful to offer or sparks any productive critical engagement.
it reads sort of like a parody of reality. every character is really caricature-esque. Elizabeth Zott is, and I quote, "the most intelligent, insightful, intriguing - and yes - the most alarmingly attractive woman" which, combined with some pretty unrealistic dialogue, makes her precisely the unattainable ideal for a woman that this book is meant to be against.
in the end, it's really just your typical heteronormative and relatively gender and social norm conforming story. I suppose it would have been outrageous in the time period in which it's set, but certainly not now. (probably why it's been a hit with 60+ y/o women).
anyway, like I said. it was a fun read if you get over all the cringey bits in the beginning. just not a very serious one.
(oh also. haven't read any trigger warnings for this book, but there should be one for rape).
my main criticism is actually of the material. the story is marketed as a kind of 2nd wave feminism female triumph, which it pretty much is. my issue is more that this isn't a text that has anything useful to offer or sparks any productive critical engagement.
it reads sort of like a parody of reality. every character is really caricature-esque. Elizabeth Zott is, and I quote, "the most intelligent, insightful, intriguing - and yes - the most alarmingly attractive woman" which, combined with some pretty unrealistic dialogue, makes her precisely the unattainable ideal for a woman that this book is meant to be against.
in the end, it's really just your typical heteronormative and relatively gender and social norm conforming story. I suppose it would have been outrageous in the time period in which it's set, but certainly not now. (probably why it's been a hit with 60+ y/o women).
anyway, like I said. it was a fun read if you get over all the cringey bits in the beginning. just not a very serious one.
(oh also. haven't read any trigger warnings for this book, but there should be one for rape).
In the Woods by Tana French
2.0
I picked up this book hoping for something that would be simple and fast-paced to get me out of a reading slump, and I sort of inadvertently succeeded by choosing a book I disliked so much that I wanted to finish it as quickly as possible. Honestly, a lot of this can probably be read as criticism of the entire genre of crime fiction, which I already knew I didn't like so I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, grain of salt and I'm going to be quick.
As far as I know, Tana French is a woman, but it seemed for some reason that she tried to make this book feel like it had been written by a man by adopting classic gender tropes ie. making every woman tiny and delicate and small and beautiful (but never wear makeup). overall Not Like Other Girls. It was very annoying in the first solid chuck of the book.
I thought the plot was really slow and not very suspenseful. It was really just a lot of boring conversations with people interspersed with moments of self-indulgent melodrama on the part of the protagonist. Every major plot point was literally him just being like And then I remembered!! and it Hit me like a Ton of Bricks!!!!! super boring.
As far as I know, Tana French is a woman, but it seemed for some reason that she tried to make this book feel like it had been written by a man by adopting classic gender tropes ie. making every woman tiny and delicate and small and beautiful (but never wear makeup). overall Not Like Other Girls. It was very annoying in the first solid chuck of the book.
I thought the plot was really slow and not very suspenseful. It was really just a lot of boring conversations with people interspersed with moments of self-indulgent melodrama on the part of the protagonist. Every major plot point was literally him just being like And then I remembered!! and it Hit me like a Ton of Bricks!!!!! super boring.
Voices in the Evening (with an introduction by Colm Toibin) by Colm Tóibín, Natalia Ginzburg
5.0
who else is writing like this? my god…
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
2.0
2.5 started off pretty chill and honestly was mostly fine I just really don’t think sci fi is for me. got really technical and weird. writing was adequate at best. kinda lost the plot in some areas and crammed a lot into the last few chapters.