chelsealouise's reviews
342 reviews

3/5 Stars: ‘Goth’ is a New Adult, Horror Mystery by Otsuichi and translated by Andrew Cunningham; ‘Goth’ is psychologically and emotionally wrenching, a compelling story that depicts the darker side of humanity. ‘Goth’ comes at you with relentless awe, and the taste for the twisted; following two high-school sociopaths - fixated on serial killers - but rather than trying to prevent and solve the murder, their obsessions grow, taking them on a descent into a maniacal darkness. It is a collection of short-stories, an anthology if you will, connected by an over-arching plot; sadly, the main plot could have been more fleshed out. The atmosphere is dark and foreboding, that is skilfully crafted; Otsuichi created a fantastic story from the perspective of two sociopaths, detached from the world. This novel is mysterious and unsettling.

3.5/5 Stars: ‘Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982’ is an Adult, Feminist Fiction by Cho Nam-Joo and translated by Jamie Chang; ‘Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982’ is the South Korean story of one young woman born at the end of the twentieth century, raising questions about endemic misogyny and institutional oppression. This witty, disturbing book deals with sexism, mental health issues, and the hypocrisy of a country where young women are ‘popping caffeine pills and turning jaundiced’ as they slave away in factories helping to fund higher education for male siblings. As a treatise and a howl of anger; it describes experiences that will be recognisable everywhere. Its slim, unadorned narrative distills a lifetime’s inequities into a sharp punch. The book demonstrates the unfairness of the female experience and the sheer difficulty of improving it. It may be fiction, but Cho fills it with real-life examples and data about the state of gender equality in South Korea. While the message-driven narrative will leave readers wishing for more complexity, the brutal, bleak conclusion demonstrates Cho’s mastery of irony.

4.5/5: ‘Death Note: L, Change the World’ is a Young Adult, Mystery Light Novel by M; L, the ace detective's name has been placed in a Death Note. With twenty-three days to live; he must bring a Terrorist Group to justice, or they will unleash a deadly virus, eradicating humanity. In an alternate continuity to the Manga series ‘Death Note’ by Tsugumi Ohba; the unidentified author ‘M’, novelised the original Movie, poignantly detailing the events in a lighter, and fast-paced style. The given name of the author is 'M', which suggests that Mello wrote it. It is in his font and it is his pseudonym. But this can't be the end of the story. Mello might blaze from the Death Note pages, larger than life and twice as bold, but he's still fundamentally a fictitious character. He patently had some help in the penmanship in the structure and word choice. Unfortunately, the light novel is either a ‘hit or miss’ with the audience; fortunately, I adore the literary format, along with the whole collection of story-formats. Keeping this review short maintains the mystery; I highly recommend reading the original Manga before delving into the Movie adaptations, Anime and essentially the light novels – Classic!

3/5 Stars: ‘Star Daughter’ is a Young Adult, Mythological Fantasy by Shveta Thakrar; ‘Star Daughter’ is an intriguing fantasy that uniquely blends Hindu Mythology and Astronomy with a protagonist on the cusp of adulthood. Thakrar has talent for descriptions that evoke a vivid, dazzling array of sights and sound, drawing the reader into a richly conceived and wildly imaginative world. Some of the writing is almost poetic, though at times, it struggles to maintain it creative and colourful counterpart – the fantasy world. The pace is rather slow, with twists being easily predictable; that said, it is an entertaining exploration into Hindu Mythology. Hinduism is rich of culture, and how the myths are woven into the plot is phenomenal – potentially having a glossary for key-terms would have been beneficial for those with little insight knowledge into the religion.

2.5/5: ‘All the Lonely People’ is a Young Adult, Contemporary LGBT+ by David Owen; Kat Waldgrave is the subjected target of an alt-right trolling campaign. After deleting her online presence, her physical body begins to fade from existence too. Owen explores the experience of loneliness in a connected world and the power of kindness and empathy over hatred. The novel dives into what happens when the age-old scourge of many a teenager enters the anonymous arena of the world wide web. It isn’t pretty. Often works of fiction that deal with the dark side of the internet can get too attached to that dark side. Authors get so obsessed with all the dangers that lurk in those anonymous depths that they write as if cowering in fear. They treat the internet as the most dangerous invention since the atom bomb, just waiting to attack any poor innocents who have the misfortune to wander into its deceptive embrace. Owen avoids this oft-tread path. Although he doesn’t shy away from its dangers – doxing, revenge porn, men’s rights activists – there are as many passages here that celebrate all the good it can do, the outlet it can provide to all those lonely people. An escape for when the real world gets too bleak. A place to communicate with other isolated souls. Owen’s balanced approach is commendable and nuanced. The nuance of his approach also extends to his novel’s villains – the men’s rights activists. To call him balanced in this regard would be unfair, however; he’s not arguing that those nameless misogynists have valid points to make. Instead, in All The Lonely People, he demonstrates how easy it is for most young men to get caught up in that world, spewing vitriol that they don’t believe to impress their strong-seeming heroes. Owen doesn’t let Wesley off the hook for his behaviour because he has a miserable life, but he does extend him empathy. I highly praise the relationship between two females as this often unseen in literature; it brought light to the topic and was achieved successfully. The ‘fade’ that Kat experiences – the slow degradation of her ability to engage with the world – is intriguingly cinematic. While some aspects could do with more of an explanation (it’s hard to fathom how the Lonely People gang know so much about the process of disappearing without having gone through it themselves), there has clearly been a lot of consideration and imagination put into working through the practical process. Besides the visual elements, it’s an evocative metaphor for the isolation felt by so many teenagers today – Important!

2.5/5 Stars: ‘The Damned’ is a Young Adult, Historical Fantasy by Renée Ahdieh; ‘The Damned’ is decadent escapism, continuing in the sumptuous footsteps left behind by ‘The Beautiful’. Ahdieh certainly has a way with words. ‘The Damned’ continues the thematic elegance and glamour found in ‘The Beautiful’ and manages to take it up another level. Never heavy handed with description, but each scene in the novel has a presence that is easily built in the reader’s mind. There is a deep and seductive ambience that weaves throughout the story and leaves you feeling like you are reading the novel while lounging in a richly appointed New Orleans drawing room. Much of the story focuses on Celine trying to remember the events that lead to her current predicament. And while she remains as strong willed and sassy as ever, there is very little actual character growth for her in ‘The Damned’. Sébastien however, struggles with his complex feelings over being turned into a vampire and having the love of his life lose all memory of him. While he may not be a shining paragon of good decisions, Ahdieh focuses a lot of good emotional energy on building his character. While the majority of the story is told from the point-of-view of Celine and Sébastien, other points-of-view are scattered throughout the story. And while these other points-of-view helped get certain plot points established, the constant switching can lead to a bit of confusion.

2.5/5 Stars: ‘This One Summer’ is a Young Adult, Contemporary Graphic Novel by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki; ‘This One Summer’ is a frank and engaging exploration of how friendships and family connects can change over the course of one season. This graphic novel expertly captures what it feels like to be on the cusp between childhood and adolescence; capturing the awkwardness of the transition. Both Mariko and Jillian are perfectly attuned to each other, with the expressive blue-washed artwork conveying both the unfocused energy of the protagonists and the subtlety of their story. The narrative is not action-packed, but the creators achieve somewhat of a powerful effects with economy and grace. A heavy note: An unwanted teenage pregnancy is an integral part of the story, as do a miscarriage and a suicide attempt. The delivery of said themes lacked, nevertheless it is also gratifying to find a graphic novel that speaks directly and realistically to the lives and dreams of girls in their early teens.

2/5 Stars: ‘Sawkill Girls’ is a Young Adult, Horror Mystery by Claire Legrand. Disclaimed: As of 2020, I shall no longer be reviewing 1-Star novels. Please do not let the low star-rating affect your decision to pick-up ‘Sawkill Girls’.

2/5 Stars: ‘Ronit & Jamil’ is a Young Adult, Contemporary Retelling by Pamela L. Laskin. Disclaimer: As of 2020, I shall no longer be reviewing 1-Star novels. Please do not let the low star-rating affect your decision to pick-up ‘Ronit & Jamil.’

2/5: ‘Every You, Every Me’ is a Young Adult, Contemporary Mystery by David Levithan; Evan (?) is dealing with the guilt surrounding best friend, Ariel (?)’s, psychotic breakdown; the guilt is enhanced by a mysterious photographer, leaving strategically placed photographs for Evan to find. Levithan constructed the novel around photographs that Jonathan Farmer sent him. It started out really well. The first few pages were angst-filled, unsettling to the point of claustrophobia. The photographs were so haunting they added a degree of atmospheric tension and the way Evan reacted to them psychologically was extremely distressing. It is really clear from the get-go that Evan has problems, that Ariel had even bigger problems and their relationship is not exactly healthy. One of the most interesting things about the novel was the idea of what one never truly really knows another person completely even when there are love and closeness. Furthermore, as the story progressed, I found myself growing tired with the excess of strikethrough words as it turned out to be extremely repetitive and confusing. There were entire paragraphs and even pages that were entirely crossed out. Although usually, I find that this can be an interesting and effective way of providing extra insight into the mind of a narrator, here they happened all the time and to a point where I wasn’t sure what they were supposed to signify. At times, the crossed-out words disclosed uncertainty; at others, it seemed that Evan was trying to hide feelings. Sometimes they were memories he seemed to want to suppress, sometimes entire made-up dialogues – it is confusing because all of these are different thought processes and signify different things – at least that’s how I see it. Although there are some commendable things about the book (David Levithan is a good writer after all), I didn’t feel it lived up to its promising start – Unfortunate!