chelsealouise's reviews
342 reviews

4/5 Stars: ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’ is a New Adult, Gothic Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’ explores the role of women in America around the 1900s; expanding upon issues such as the lack of a life outside of the home and the oppressive forces of the patriarchal society. In particular, Gilman portrays the narrator’s insanity – her diagnosis of ‘Neurasthenia’, otherwise known as ‘Post-Partum Depression’ today – as a way to protest the professional and societal oppression against women. Whilst under the impression is that husbands and male doctors act with the woman’s best interest in mind; despite depicting them as mentally weak and fragile. Women’s Rights advocates of the era believed that the ‘outbreak’ of mental instability was the manifestation of their setbacks regarding the roles they were allowed to play in a male-dominated society. Therefore, women were even discouraged from writing, because it would ultimately create an identity and become a form of defiance. 'The Yellow Wall-Paper’ is interpreted by Feminist critics as a condemnation of the male control of the 19th-century medical profession.

4.5/5 Stars: ‘The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy’ is a Young Adult, LGBT+ Historical Fiction by Mackenzi Lee; ‘The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy’ is an empowering and energetic adventure that celebrates friendship between women. This entertaining sequel does not quite have the wit and wackiness of the first book, but its more serious tone still leads us on an exciting adventure. ‘The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy’ shifts narrators so that now we follow Felicity in her quest to take her rightful place in a male-dominated world. She fights for equal access to education and against being constantly underestimated or seen as valuable only as far as she makes herself desirable to men. Felicity is a strong, girl-power role model who embodies themes about how women deserve to occupy space in the world and how their value is not related to how desirable they are, about studying and learning for its own sake to deepen your own understanding, and about finding your own way instead of trying to shove yourself into pigeonholes others have made for you.

DNF/5 Stars: ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ is an Adult, Historical Fiction by Heather Morris. Disclaimer: As of 2020, I shall no longer be reviewing DNF’d novels. Please do not let the low star-rating affect your decision to pick up ’The Tattooist of Auschwitz’.

4.5/5 Stars: ‘Between Shades of Gray’ is a Young Adult, Historical Fiction by Ruta Sepetys; ‘Between Shades of Gray’ illuminates an often-overlooked chapter in History, drawing comparisons to the misery inflicted by the Nazi Regime. This is a moving fictional story of extraordinary loss that nevertheless thrums with hope. ‘Between Shades of Gray’ is based on the stories of survivors Sepetys (Daughter of a Lithuanian Refugee) met whilst researching the deportation of Lithuanians under Stalin. Sepetys uses a light touch when describing the cruelty and violence suffered by our protagonist and her fellow travellers: these passages are brief and to the point, which make them all the more heart-breaking. The horrors described are staggering, but it's an effective and sensitive way to bring history to life. Readers will readily identify with Lina, who is abruptly ripped out of her comfortable life. At the book's end, readers may want to learn more about what happened in the Baltics.

4/5 Stars: ‘Through the Woods’ is a Young Adult, Horror Graphic Novel by Emily Carroll; ‘Through the Woods’ is a sure winner for any reader with a yen to become permanently terrified. Carroll’s talent is immense: the mood of these stories is Brothers Grimm by way of Patricia Highsmith or Stephen King, while her drawings, so fluidly lavish and atmospheric, seem to channel Edward Gorey (like Gorey, many of her narratives are set in the past, her heroines struggling not only with ghouls and ghosts but with long skirts or, in the case of Bell, the clipped, superficial manners of the flapper 20s). ‘Through the Woods’ is more an anthology book than a singular work. It collects several of Carroll's web comics along with some new material. Five short stories are included in all, along with an introduction and conclusion that are, essentially, two additional tales in their own right. Even if there's no direct connective tissue among the stories, the whole book is unified by a consistent sense of style and thematic approach. All of these horror stories are period pieces. All of them have a distinctly fairy talesque approach. All of them deal with the fear of unknown and unseen monsters lurking in the wilderness. So, though this may be a collection of individual tales, ‘Through the Woods’ has a very cohesive feel.

3/5 Stars: ‘The Black Cat’ is an Ageless, Gothic Horror by Edgar Allen Poe; ‘The Black Cat’ follows a murderer who carefully conceals his crime and believes himself unassailable, but eventually breaks down and reveals himself, impelled by a nagging reminder of his guilt. The story is presented as a first-person narrative using an unreliable narrator, one of questionable sanity. He is a condemned man at the outset of the story. ‘The Black Cat’ includes Poe's strongest denunciation of alcohol. The narrator's perverse actions are brought on by his alcoholism, a ‘disease’ and ‘fiend’ which also destroys his personality. The use of the black cat evokes various superstitions, including the idea voiced by the narrator's wife that they are all witches in disguise.

5/5 Stars: ‘My Dark Vanessa’ is an Adult, Dark Contemporary by Kate Elizabeth Russell; ‘My Dark Vanessa’ offers a creepy account of abuse and an overwrought teenage girl’s love story at the time; one is superimposed on the other. It toggles between two parallel timelines as it meticulously tracks the eponymous narrator’s affair with her New England Boarding School English Teacher, which began in 2000, when she was 15 and he was 42, and her painstaking, reluctant recognition 17-years later - in the midst of the #MeToo movement - of the devastation it has wrought on her life. Russell offers a nuanced portrait of why some women refuse to view themselves as victims of abuse: ‘He loved me, he loved me,’ Vanessa insists. This upsetting novel, of which I place a heavy trigger warning upon, powerfully unpacks so much about the trauma of abuse, victimhood, silencing, misplaced guilt, power, consent, and wayward desire, is a significant addition to the necessary reassessments and conversations sparked by the #MeToo movement.

5/5 Stars: ‘The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue’ is a Young Adult, LGBT+ Historical Fiction by Mackenzi Lee; ‘The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue’ is Austen, Wilde, and Indiana Jones converged into a deliciously anachronistic bonbon. Lee is a firecracker writer; from script, to story, to character, everything was fun, heady, and enchanting. The plot was full of twists and turns without it being overly complex or overpowering. The villain just wicked enough, the action just dangerous enough, and the supporting aides, interlopers, and antagonists textured enough to feel real in the moment. Sexual Preference, Racism, and Gender Inequality are all issues raised throughout. As a Historical Fiction, none of the characters ever describe themselves as ‘Disabled’, ‘Feminist’, or ‘Queer’. Lee does not let the restrictions of Georgian etiquette limit her characters, however. Our main protagonist Monty is not an easy character to like by any means. On the surface he has more negative qualities than good; but what makes Monty a great character is his capacity to learn from his many, many mistakes. In particular, when Percy or Felicity challenge him on things where his white male privilege has blinded him to other perspectives, he shuts up and listens. It doesn’t matter that he can’t always relate to what they’re dealing with; he listens to their complaints, accepts them as truth, then does his best to use his privileged position to improve theirs, just like a good ally should. In terms of Racism, it would have insightful to see a little more on the perspectives of ‘Race’ from Monty; slavery is still going strong at the time of the novel, and the abolitionist movement in its infancy. The Slave Trade would not be outlawed until 1807 and Black Slavery not until 1834. Monty’s understanding of ‘Race’ and Racism in Great Britain needed fleshing out a little. As it could be wrestled whether or not Monty is acting ‘Colourblind’, choosing to overlook in Percy what society defines as ‘flaws’ based on his racial heritage, or accepting Percy’s ‘Blackness’ as part of his identity.

3/5 Stars: ‘The Tulip Touch’ is an Ageless, Horror by Anne Fine; ‘The Tulip Touch’ grapples with the topical question of what turns children into criminals. The peerless vigour of Fine's writing, and the provocative question of whether our society is even trying to catch its 'evil' ones as they fall, make this an extraordinary, and powerful novel. Tulip is the violent child about to crack; the child who echoes famous cases in recent news. What elevates this subtle telling is that Fine manages to convey, sympathetically, the probably reasons behind why Tulip is the way she is. Singing simple prose to create great effect; the language is dramatic and economical, rather than descriptive. Every sentence is precisely constructed, to ensure clear meaning.

4.5/5 Stars: ‘The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree’ is a Middle Grade, Contemporary by Paola Peretti; ‘The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree’ is a quiet, philosophical story about a nine-year-old girl suffering with Stargardt disease, which causes gradual vision loss and eventual blindness. ‘All children are scared of the dark’, reads the opening line of this heartfelt and moving novel, and before the story ends, young Mafalda will find herself forced to contemplate all of her deepest fears and anxieties. It not an easy one to read. The unflinching honesty of Mafalda’s plight contributes to an oppressive atmosphere that is quite hard to take. It is to Peretti’s credit then that this ultimately becomes an inspiring and hopeful story, and this is down in huge part to the wonderful friendship crafted between Mafalda and Estella, a Polish caretaker who works at Mafalda’s school. Estella knows better than anyone how the frailties of one’s own body can be turned against them, and together the two characters begin to focus less on what they cannot do, and more on what they might be able to encourage and inspire in each other. A challenging, but incredibly honest book.