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chichio's reviews
170 reviews
Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro
So short yet so impactful. Of course I enjoyed the exploration of a mother-daughter relationship fraught with tension and, at times, genuine hatred, but I especially enjoyed the discussion throughout the book that is concerned with the human body and the many ways someone can lose agency over their own flesh. We see this in religious thinking that criticises promiscuity and suicide, we see that in the way society treats those with disabilities and the way said disability robs a person of their control of their body, we also see it in the way women are oftentimes used as mere wombs in spite of what their actual thoughts on motherhood may be. Really happy that I picked up Pineiro's work again. This was great.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
People confuse thinking with knowing, they let themselves confuse the two.
So short yet so impactful. Of course I enjoyed the exploration of a mother-daughter relationship fraught with tension and, at times, genuine hatred, but I especially enjoyed the discussion throughout the book that is concerned with the human body and the many ways someone can lose agency over their own flesh. We see this in religious thinking that criticises promiscuity and suicide, we see that in the way society treats those with disabilities and the way said disability robs a person of their control of their body, we also see it in the way women are oftentimes used as mere wombs in spite of what their actual thoughts on motherhood may be. Really happy that I picked up Pineiro's work again. This was great.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Hm. Genuinely don’t know how I feel about this because, on the one hand, the writing on a line level is so beautiful and the character work done for the narrator-protagonist is so thorough (despite her not having a history for us to latch onto). We literally sit back and watch the narrator develop a personality which was interesting to read. Still, this “bleak” read oftentimes felt boring, repetitive and uninspired. What sucks about me saying that is that I quite literally understand that that’s the point. Can I acknowledge that all while saying that I didn’t love the book? Yeah.
I did, however, enjoy how this book explores personhood and what components work together to make someone a person, to make someone human. I enjoyed how the book asked and vaguely answered the question of what makes someone who they are. Is it our culture? Is it our memories? Our thoughts? Our secrets? Is it our passions—creative and/or sexual? Is it who we choose to enter into companionship with? Or, do we only exist when someone is around to see us doing so?
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I told myself that I’d been hypocritical and, since I had no one to lie to, I discovered that you can lie to yourself, which felt very strange. Was I missing companionship more than I thought and making myself into another, a witness, if only to deceive her?
Hm. Genuinely don’t know how I feel about this because, on the one hand, the writing on a line level is so beautiful and the character work done for the narrator-protagonist is so thorough (despite her not having a history for us to latch onto). We literally sit back and watch the narrator develop a personality which was interesting to read. Still, this “bleak” read oftentimes felt boring, repetitive and uninspired. What sucks about me saying that is that I quite literally understand that that’s the point. Can I acknowledge that all while saying that I didn’t love the book? Yeah.
I did, however, enjoy how this book explores personhood and what components work together to make someone a person, to make someone human. I enjoyed how the book asked and vaguely answered the question of what makes someone who they are. Is it our culture? Is it our memories? Our thoughts? Our secrets? Is it our passions—creative and/or sexual? Is it who we choose to enter into companionship with? Or, do we only exist when someone is around to see us doing so?
Perhaps I have tried to create time through writing these pages. I begin, I fill them with words, I pile them up, and I still don’t exist because nobody is reading them. I am writing them for some unknown reader who will probably never come–I am not even sure that humanity has survived that mysterious event that governed my life. But if that person comes, they will read them and I will have a time in their mind. They will have my thoughts in them. The reader and I thus mingled will constitute something living, that will not be me, because I will be dead, and will not be that person as they were before reading, because my story, added to their mind, will then become part of their thinking.
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
lighthearted
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
2.5
This was fun in the sense that I enjoyed the exploration of kink, but as I kept on reading I started to notice that that’s… really the only thing that Lukas and Scarlett seem to have in common. Sure, they’re both on the swim team and they both like science and blah blah blah but I couldn’t really understand or see how they had a believable relationship past that, especially since they seem to have very silly miscommunication issues outside of their sexual scenes. At the exact same time, this is a romance book where the male love interest is barely even around on the page and maybe that’s why I find the progression of their relationship even hard to believe. The relationship development between Scarlett and Penelope seemed richer than that of the apparent main couple lmao. It’s a shame because I was really feeling the book throughout the first 40 or so percent, but it just kept on dragging on with no real tangible relationship progression and, as a result, the book just felt bloated with shit we didn’t need. A romance book that’s longer than 400 pages needs to prove to me why it needs to be that long, and I'm afraid this failed.
Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda
Unfortunately, this fell into the whole “some stories were excellent, others forgettable” issue that so many short story collections fall into. It was made abundantly clear when I’d read an excellent story that I’d have to leave behind for a story that was well written (on a line level) yet felt somewhat unfinished. I feel like the stories at the very beginning of the collection were far stronger than the ones near the very end.
Favourite stories were:
- Breastmilk
- Contributions
- Hollow (absolute favourite)
- Things Boys Do
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The details of your family history are only now beginning to fill in with color, but the colors are harsh, severe, and you’re tempted to look away.
Unfortunately, this fell into the whole “some stories were excellent, others forgettable” issue that so many short story collections fall into. It was made abundantly clear when I’d read an excellent story that I’d have to leave behind for a story that was well written (on a line level) yet felt somewhat unfinished. I feel like the stories at the very beginning of the collection were far stronger than the ones near the very end.
Favourite stories were:
- Breastmilk
- Contributions
- Hollow (absolute favourite)
- Things Boys Do
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Peter’s chapters literally made me feel sick. The portrayal of passive suicidal ideation is almost too on the nose. It’s 3AM. This is as detailed as this review is going to get.
Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia
Maybe it’s a little unfair for me to read a book with less than 100 pages and leave it wishing that the author went further but… here I am, doing just that. Edgar’s psyche is dark and deeply troubled and I would’ve liked to sit with that for a little longer because I ended up finding his relationship to death a little hard to believe. He’s apparently unsettled by killing cows but… he tells that student that he knows exactly who he is, and he’s also a murderer of humans? The jump between the two wasn’t explored enough for me.
I did appreciate how this book looked at the Brazilian livestock industry and the poverty in the communities that surround these businesses. Very bleak and upsetting how the lines between desperate humans and desperate animals blurred and then, eventually, became nonexistent.
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There is no one to stop him, for men like him, slaughterers, are few and far between. Those who eat are many, and they are never satiated. They are all men of blood, those who kill and those who eat. No one goes unpunished.
Maybe it’s a little unfair for me to read a book with less than 100 pages and leave it wishing that the author went further but… here I am, doing just that. Edgar’s psyche is dark and deeply troubled and I would’ve liked to sit with that for a little longer because I ended up finding his relationship to death a little hard to believe. He’s apparently unsettled by killing cows but…
I did appreciate how this book looked at the Brazilian livestock industry and the poverty in the communities that surround these businesses. Very bleak and upsetting how the lines between desperate humans and desperate animals blurred and then, eventually, became nonexistent.
All Fours by Miranda July
Somehow this was BOOOOOORINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Feel like I’ve been pranked by all of the solid five star reviews that I’ve been seeing from people that I trust on all the bookish platforms of the internet. This book gives you a pathetic, unlikeable, horny female protagonist battling with menopause and a slight disdain for motherhood and you spend the first half of the book totally into it, totally down for the messy ride and then you hit the 60% mark and you’re flipping pages upon pages just wondering when the bloody hell the book is going to end. I was bored. Bored out of my mind. The promise of this being funny was just… not met. I don’t even particularly think the prose was interesting enough to keep me going; every now and again July would drop a pretty solid one liner but that wasn’t often and it wasn’t enough for me to hail this as some amazing literary fest. There was nothing meaty to dig your teeth into; every metaphor felt very literal, very on the nose, very (drumroll, please) boring.
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I put my hand to my mouth. Sometimes when a cock was in my mouth or pussy I touched my lips, just to feel how tautly stretched they were, how tight the fit was. This was like that, but with happiness. I knew I was smiling, but how big?
Somehow this was BOOOOOORINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Feel like I’ve been pranked by all of the solid five star reviews that I’ve been seeing from people that I trust on all the bookish platforms of the internet. This book gives you a pathetic, unlikeable, horny female protagonist battling with menopause and a slight disdain for motherhood and you spend the first half of the book totally into it, totally down for the messy ride and then you hit the 60% mark and you’re flipping pages upon pages just wondering when the bloody hell the book is going to end. I was bored. Bored out of my mind. The promise of this being funny was just… not met. I don’t even particularly think the prose was interesting enough to keep me going; every now and again July would drop a pretty solid one liner but that wasn’t often and it wasn’t enough for me to hail this as some amazing literary fest. There was nothing meaty to dig your teeth into; every metaphor felt very literal, very on the nose, very (drumroll, please) boring.
Goal for the rest of year: ignore books that are very hyped because you’ll almost always be let down.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is one of those books that I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed outside of the audiobook but, damn, the audiobook was so entertaining. Genuinely had so much fun listening to this while doing my daily chores and I enjoyed everything about the acting done by the voice actor. He really breathed life into the characters (human and otherwise) and the lengthy scientific explanations that my eyes definitely would’ve skimmed over had I been reading the text physically.