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chichio's reviews
165 reviews
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You could always recognise an art student anywhere in the world, he thought. The quest for individuality had resulted in the opposite: complete predictability.
This book genuinely reads like television and, as someone trying to pry themselves out of a reading slump, this was exactly what the doctor ordered. The writing was very easy to follow, very easy to see in my mind’s eyes. Coco Melores crafts characters that seamlessly move between being understated to being blown-up caricatures of the archetypes that you would find if you ever caught yourself partying with New York City’s creative elites.
I actually really enjoyed how Melores used Cleo and Frank’s whirlwind relationship to create a ripple effect on all the people in their lives; I enjoy ensemble casts with lives that brush up against one another, that overlap, for better or for worse.
Still, I couldn’t help but want more of Cleo and Frank. Frank, in particular. His ending is far too neat and convenient for me. We don’t see him go through the thick of his recovery, instead we just hear about it from Eleanor (a character I never felt any real interest for… she’s very “not like other girls” and that was a yawn fest when put up against all the other points of view). He’s a drunk, has been a drunk for decades and then suddenly he’s in AA meetings, only ordering sparkling water and he’s in love… again? Sure thing, man. That makes rating this book a little difficult for me because the ensemble cast is what I had fun with all while feeling like the changing perspectives took away from the titular characters. You can’t give us so much detail about the characters’ mess but not let us see the extensive work they need to put in in order to clean it all up.
Still, I couldn’t help but want more of Cleo and Frank. Frank, in particular. His ending is far too neat and convenient for me. We don’t see him go through the thick of his recovery, instead we just hear about it from Eleanor (a character I never felt any real interest for… she’s very “not like other girls” and that was a yawn fest when put up against all the other points of view). He’s a drunk, has been a drunk for decades and then suddenly he’s in AA meetings, only ordering sparkling water and he’s in love… again? Sure thing, man. That makes rating this book a little difficult for me because the ensemble cast is what I had fun with all while feeling like the changing perspectives took away from the titular characters. You can’t give us so much detail about the characters’ mess but not let us see the extensive work they need to put in in order to clean it all up.
Sakamoto Days, Vol. 7 by Yuto Suzuki
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Sakamoto Days, Vol. 6 by Yuto Suzuki
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Sakamoto Days, Vol. 5 by Yuto Suzuki
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Sakamoto Days, Vol. 4 by Yuto Suzuki
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Sakamoto Days, Vol. 3 by Yuto Suzuki
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The new day is almost here, but the old one is still dragging its heavy skirts. Just as ocean water and river water struggle against each other at a river mouth, the old time and the new time clash and blend. Takahashi is unable to tell for sure which side—which world—contains his centre of gravity.
Murakami’s writing style is actually gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. His use of first-person plural perspective is stellar. He uses this omniscient camera lens to symbolise us, the reader, and he speaks about our inability to influence the story we’re reading. We’re observers, voyeurs, nothing more. What an interesting narrative voice to use!
This book, at its core, is about duality. Darkness within light, light within darkness, people and behaviours existing within perpetual grey areas. When dark things happen to people, who do they become as a result? How can darkness be used to shine a light on who people really are? When the majority of the world is sleeping, what parts of you wake up?
Using the liminal space of a singular night in Tokyo, Murakami explores the way people expose themselves under the safety of darkness. This whole book is full of conversation, of vulnerable interactions between strangers who—verbatim—mention that they don’t know why they feel this sudden urge to spill their innermost secrets. More than once, Mari is described by other characters as being easy to talk to. I found that very interesting, mostly because she spent a lot of the first three quarters of the book not being an active participant in many of the conversations. Very often she’d be talked at and would often only hum or nod her head in response. She was a void, almost; she was a darkness that people felt led to pour their own darkness into. However, as the book progresses, Mari starts to open up about what she’s dealing with but, even then, her own stories always seem to be in response to someone else’s. Darkness for darkness.
Sakamoto Days, Vol. 2 by Yuto Suzuki
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Sakamoto Days, Vol. 1 by Yuto Suzuki
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The Bus on Thursday by Shirley Barrett
Hm. I don’t know how I feel about this book. Actually, that’s a lie. I do. It starts off strong… really strong… then it kinda devolves into this mess that you can’t quite look away from. It feels like you’re reading the diary of a very destructive woman and that’s exactly what you’re doing because Eleanor, understandably, hasn’t been herself since she lost a breast to breast cancer. That being said, I’ve never been a fan of first person narratives where the character is knowledgable of the dumb decisions they make. That whole “I know it’s a dumb idea, but I’m going to do it anyway” thing. I kind of hate it… feels like lazy writing to me. I’d prefer it if Eleanor made “dumb” decisions but the author put the work in to make the decisions at least seem logical from Eleanor’s viewpoint. It got to the point where Eleanor was constantly doing dumb things that she, herself, openly called dumb and I was just sitting here thinking “fuck… stop fucking doing them then!”
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Am I so despicable a person that even my own body can’t stand me?
Hm. I don’t know how I feel about this book. Actually, that’s a lie. I do. It starts off strong… really strong… then it kinda devolves into this mess that you can’t quite look away from. It feels like you’re reading the diary of a very destructive woman and that’s exactly what you’re doing because Eleanor, understandably, hasn’t been herself since she lost a breast to breast cancer. That being said, I’ve never been a fan of first person narratives where the character is knowledgable of the dumb decisions they make. That whole “I know it’s a dumb idea, but I’m going to do it anyway” thing. I kind of hate it… feels like lazy writing to me. I’d prefer it if Eleanor made “dumb” decisions but the author put the work in to make the decisions at least seem logical from Eleanor’s viewpoint. It got to the point where Eleanor was constantly doing dumb things that she, herself, openly called dumb and I was just sitting here thinking “fuck… stop fucking doing them then!”