clovetra's reviews
208 reviews

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thank you netgalley & fairlight books for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review!!

now, this story follows smidge, a teenage runaway, as we follow her friendship with violet, a fellow runaway, and their new residence at a local circus. we learn about why smidge is on the run, her past, as well as the secrets of the circus they’ve joined.

this book had such incredibly unique prose i fell in love. the way this book was written kept drawing me back in to smidge. speaking of smidge, she’s the real draw to this book. i’ll say it right off the bat - if you can’t bond to smidge, this book isn’t for you. this book hinges on your interest into smidge, as there is kind of not really a plot? so if you can’t love books where the draw is the main character, this isn’t for you. but smidge was so well written, i fell in love with her. she’s so witty, and by <10% into this book i fell in love with her. violet was characterised strongly as well, but like i said, smidge is the focus, and jennifer love pulls smidge’s characterisation off so flawlessly.

the world building is also established incredibly early on and immersed me well. obviously compared to fantasy books not as much was needed seeing as this is a contemporary novel, but establishing smidge’s life on the run prior to violet and THEIR world was done so fast i was hooked by the second chapter.

the structure of the book was also a standout, as its nonlinear structure kept the story going with flashbacks, even when it was slow at points.

finally, i adored the rep in this book. like hello???? nonbinary and trans characters????? sapphic character?????? SIGN ME UP!!!!!

now i’ll admit i did have some small issues with this book, but honestly they’re just an issue of personal preference, not the actual novel’s fault. like i said earlier, this book kind of doesn’t have a plot. it does loosely, but the book more so follows smidge and her character development as well as her inner thoughts. if you’re someone who needs a strong plot, this book isn’t for you. as much as i loved smidge, i do need something grounding me, and although the circus kind of fulfils that role, it doesn’t feel like it. it’s hard to explain unless you’ve read this how the plot actually works — this book is unlike anything i’ve ever read.

speaking of the circus, it felt like missed potential and almost kind of pointless? the whole cult aspect was barely touched, making me feel like it’s role in the story wasn’t edited or written well. it very much felt like something smidge was passing through (which is the case) but then everything going with the circus felt like a waste of time as a reader. and that point can kind of apply to the ending as well (iykyk).

in the end, this was a great story about abuse, exploitation, and guilt. if you love stories where the characters are the main focus, and love stories with nonlinear structures, this book will meet all your needs 🫶

Content Warnings

Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Griffin, Jason Reynolds

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emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

i mean… i don’t really have that many thoughts. i didn’t realise it would be a “stream of consciousness” poetry book, or else i wouldn’t have picked it up.

i liked the prose, and the illustrations really tipped this over to the 3-star rank, but idk this style of poetry always feels incredibly surface level to me. i expect you to go beyond basic concepts in poetry and to me it didn’t feel like this did.

the writing style really evoked a 2020-feeling in me tho. don’t ever do that again 🙏

Content Warnings

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

hmm. i really don’t know what to think about this book. this is one of the rare times where i read other reviews simply because i don’t know how to describe my thoughts on this.

i really think my expectations for this were set incredibly high, and this book didn’t meet them. i mean it’s in NYTs top 100 books of the 21st century (voted by the public) so i expected something….. More. i mean the author won a nobel prize! i expected to be enthralled but instead i was mildly interested.

the main character felt one-note. after a while, her only talking about animals or astrology became frustrating. there felt as though there wasn’t much to her, until the penultimate chapter, but even then it couldn’t save my opinions of her throughout the story.

the plot seems to meander, not really doing too much. there’s a death, then the mc yaps about eccentric topics, a death occurs, and wash rinse repeat. i’m not really too big a fan of stories without a driving force, and it really just felt like i was reading one of those recipes online where the author writes 45 paragraphs before the actual recipe. like homegirl i don’t give a shit about how animals are murdering everyone… i just want you to be solving this shit! i was expecting this to be a real mystery, but it felt like the ‘plot’ of the deaths took a back seat, which was really odd. i did find some things the mc talked about interesting philosophically, but then it was peppered with the words of a mad man. idk i didn’t find i had any feelings towards the mc, therefore i wanted to rip my hair out every time she rambled.

this book felt like it was ‘stream of consciousness’, and sorry i can’t fucking stand books like that!!! i at least need SOMETHING to connect the book. although the deaths were that link, and the book is marketed towards the mystery element, it felt as though they were brushed past instead to focus on the 7th paragraph about how the mc hates animal cruelty. like i’m with u girl but at the same time you have no discernible personality outside of that.

i really tried to like this, and at times i was tangentially intrigued by the book, most of the time i was just like “….meh”. i really hope this is just an issue of this plot and not of the actual writer because if it’s the latter…… girl.

Content Warnings

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

i remember discovering this book after the debacle that was c*** c****** review-bombing fellow authors. i was super excited to read this, but i think for me it fell flat in some places.

first tho lemme say what a GREATTT character elara is. god i loved her, her chapters, and what her plot followed. she seemed cool yet down to earth, and as a fellow lesbian ofc im gonna root for my homegirl! i also really liked the characters who followed elara’s story, as they all felt fleshed out with believable personalities and character developments.

however, i didn’t like faron at ALLL, and i think that’s the main issue of this book. the book felt like it was flip flopping between her or elara being the MC…. except i really didn’t care about faron. and it’s not even like “oh i didn’t like her”. i know her character is meant to be unlikeable to some degree. i just felt nothing for her. emotionless. i did not care about her plot line, her character development, her highs and lows, none of it. ok maybe her progression with reeve but that’s because dude seems cool. shout out reeve ur not getting ur own paragraph but youre in my top 3 of characters from this book. anyways back to the topic of faron — girl irritated the hell out of me. and not in a quirky way. like i adore protagonists who are unlikeable and evil and shitheads. man i just came off the poppy war in love with rin. i just couldn’t find energy to CARE about her when all this cool interesting shit is happening with elara! especially when faron’s plot is very predictable whereas elara’s had a twinge of mystery the entire way.

and then there’s the issue i have with the plot…. everyone’s motivations feel fucking stupid. aside from reeve, elara & signey, nobody’s goals long term make any sense. i felt like when reading this i was in crazy town. like why are yall literally going scorched earth over something so inconsequential. and the “plot twists” were foreshadowed well, ill give this book that. except the plot twists themselves felt…. Lacking in emotional investment. like i know i was supposed to be going “😧” at every reveal but i was just like “…..😦…..😐”. i really didn’t care long term. idk maybe the plot points needed more time to cook? but in the same vein it felt like faron’s story was flopping around for like 60% of the book where elara was the only one getting shit done until faron’s story goes from 0-100. idk the pacing of the plot as well as the moving parts of the plot felt….. Odd! i can’t really put my finger on what issue i’m having dont sue me im on a new antidepressant my brain is full of rocks.

i defo will be tuning in for the other book because i love my girl elara!!! i need to know what happens to my homegirl!!! and reeve!!!! my boy!!!! but if it weren’t for them sorry i wouldn’t be picking up the next book. anyways im gonna go drool at some signey and elara fan art.

Content Warnings

Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo

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adventurous challenging tense 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

3.0

oh this was super interesting and not what i was expecting at all!

seeing as this is a novella i’m not gonna have…. too many thoughts honestly.

i really enjoyed reading a book about academia and neuroscience research!!!! i’ve pondered going into that field quite a bit, either in neuroscience or research, so seeing them mashed together was a little bonus point from me. sean writing her emotions into academic speak…. chefs kiss. “academia is devoid of emotion” YUP!!! YUP!!!!!!!

also side note but i love the fact the female mc is named sean. idk i love the idea of ungendering names. fuck it names shouldn’t have a gender. also sean is COOL for a woman. we as a society need to name more women sean methinks.

speaking of sean…. whoo she was a doozy protagonist! i mean im reading this for sapphic septemberand its prompt was “disaster sapphics”, so i wanted to see how the sapphics were disasters and…… oh it defo fit that prompt! sean is somehow so incredibly unlikeable and an awful person, yet simultaneously incredibly empathetic. i love a protagonist who is awful and everyone calls them out on their shit, but honestly an awful protagonist can only go so far when the reader wants to gouge the protag’s eyes out. but this book teeters the balance of empathy yet disgust towards sean. god she sucks.

the actual plot itself felt a tad… anticlimactic. idk i expected more…. Horror. this did not feel like horror to me…. defo seems to be more so speculative fiction & thriller rather than scifi horror… but that’s just me. and the whole story itself felt…. idk. boring isn’t the right word. but although i could see the descent into madness, what i was reading wasn’t matching the emotional response sean was producing if you know what i mean. like it made sense… but it also seemed like homegirl was being a bit dramatic. yeah that’s the point but as someone who will sit thru movies going “this shit is dumb why didn’t they do xyz”…. i kinda was just sitting here at times being like “…..why is this bitch going from 0-100 over that”. like her responses were disproportionate even for someone going through what she was. it didn’t make sense logically based on what was explained. and then the climax built up instantly fizzled out… i was just kinda sat there getting excited and then the plot flatlined.

i really think this book described isolation incredibly well, and anything even adjacent to psychology or neuroscience will get my little brain buzzing with excitement. i won’t say this book was a flop because it wasn’t! but i wasn’t itching to read this book because the plot was good, or i was intrigued. i was waiting for something batshit to happen… and then it didn’t… and then because it’s a novella i might as well finish it.

apologies if this review makes no sense (like my reviews ever do psh) homie is on day 5 of cymbalta 😀 i have slept 16 hours every day i am fried.

anyways don’t read this book if animal cruelty upsets you 👍

Content Warnings

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

i really don’t know what to say about this book. i don’t think it is possible for me to convey my thoughts surrounding this book. it was breathtaking.

ocean vuong’s prose is unlike anything i’ve ever read before and is incredibly addictive. the form in which this book takes only adds to the brilliance of this story, and made me keep coming back for more.

the only “downside” in my eyes of this book is that the story’s nonlinear structure made it hard to follow at times, and the main character felt devoid of personality. it’s highly likely that those features are a metacommentary on the main character themself, but it doesn’t make me like the book any more when the reason behind choices are explained.

i quite enjoyed the characterisation of lan & rose, and seeing the effects of generational trauma was handled amazingly. i especially liked reading about lan and her relationship with little dog.

i don’t really think there’s more i know how to say. i have a lot of feelings about this book that are stuck in my head (question of the century: is it because the book is that good it’s rendered me speechless or is it because i’m on day 2 of cymbalta.. the world will never know). but this book is legendary, and deserves all the hype it has surrounding it.

Content Warnings

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmen Maria Machado

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

easily out of all the classics i’ve read from before the 1900s, this is my favourite.

yes technically this edition is modern as it was edited by carmen maria machado but SHUT UP.

also shout out to carmen i loved her editing!!!! her little end notes plus her prologue? honestly without her editing i don’t think i would’ve enjoyed this as much. so happy i chose to read this edition. the fact that carmen doesn’t add the additional letters simply to spite the author for hiding just HOW DOWN BAD laura was???? god her prologue was so fun. usually prologue’s for classics are a snooze fest where it’s literally just them recounting the authors life, but carmen somehow managed to breathe life into a short summary? plus i don’t know if the original edition has this or if carmen added it, but the images!!!!! did not expect them, and honestly it added to the story quite nicely, especially the images where laura is so incredibly down bad. she’s so me coded (falls head over heels in seconds without checking for concerns and becomes absolutely infatuated with someone she knows jack shit about). i love stupid lesbian rep in my 1800s gothics.

god what can i say. this book immediately gets bonus points because i am infact a lesbian who loves vampires and horror. like this book was set up for me to love it. plus carmen’s editing made all the fanciful 1800s english actually coherent! cuz im sorry english pre-1900s is so hard for my brain to comprehend. sorry booktwt im not smart enough for classics sue me. but this? this made so much sense and i loved it.

i also loved that the classic vampire traits we’ve grown to know don’t come from this. i mean this was literally the blueprint of vampire tales. i love that carmilla is just a sleepy girl who wakes up at 1pm and is moody. me and carmilla are one in the same. she gets me fr. like fuck that shit about garlic give me an enchantress who happens to be perpetually tired. like my girl has CFS/ME and is goth she’s literally me!!!!!!!! plus she turns into a cat!!!!! all lesbians love cats!!!!!! carmilla is the same as modern day lesbians i said what i said.

also props for the lesbianism being so explicit! in other classics there’s a lot of subtext…., nah in here we see carmilla and laura kiss and laura has a sleep orgasm cuz she dreams about carmilla. she’s so down bad.

i wish i got a bit more time with my homegirl carmilla and saw her be more explicitly a vampire but im not too mad about it. i like the fact her vampirism is more of an undertone and is less explicit honestly. fuck lesbianism being in the subtext let’s make the fact she is an ancient supernatural being the subtext 🔥

anyways this might actually be my favourite classic. I LOVE LESBIANS!!!!

Content Warnings

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

for a book with such a place in the cultural zeitgeist….. this was mid NDKMDKFKG

like especially considering a lot of ppl regard this as one of their favourite classics, i was expecting something…. more.

one major let down of the book for me i think was the book’s focus on viktor and neglect of the monster. yeah that could be a metacommentary on viktor’s neglect of his creation but.. im sorry i didn’t care for viktor. bro was having pity parties because he created something ugly, abandoned it, and then was shocked his creation was pissed! bro why are you getting on the bad side of a mf who essentially can’t be killed? bro can survive siberia and guns and you’re deciding to get on your high horse and then be upset ur monster said what he was gonna do (kill ur family). viktor isn’t unlikeable in a way you’re rooting for his failure so the book is interesting; he’s unlikeable because he’s a dumb bitch who whines for 280 pages yet there is supposed to be ambiguity whether the monster or viktor is in the right…. there was no ambiguity for me #Team Monster.

what else is there to say…. i found the chapters with the monster’s perspective the most interesting by far. i would’ve loved if he was the protagonist instead.

also this book pisses me off because all of this anguish could’ve been avoided if viktor wasn’t a cunt to his creation. bro YOU MADE HIM BE THAT UGLY. WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED HES GROSS? and then he straight up abandons the monster and pretends he doesn’t exist. yeah i’d kill viktor and his entire family if i was the monster too.

the plot most of the time was incredibly boring, but i did enjoy the prologue about mary shelley, as without it i fear i would’ve given this a lower rating. the allegory for childbirth and the maternal relationships coming through viktor, as well as the general themes of children and motherhood relating to mary’s life made this book somewhat enjoyable, as it gave the story some depth. without those explanations into mary’s life and how it relates to plot points, this would’ve been a major flop.

um anyways i think this book is extremely overhyped but hey at least i know the true story of frankenstein and i can be insufferable and go “erm actually the monster isn’t called frankenstein its the dude who creates the monster whose name is frankenstein 👆🤓”

Content Warnings

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

and just when i thought yellowface was r.f. kuang’s magnum opus. i was pleasantly WRONG

ok so easily, EASILY, the best part of this book is rin. sorry i love female protags who take no shit, are in the military/fighters, cause chaos and do shit no other dreams of. she’s such a likeable protag in the sense of personality, and god i just wanted to root for my girl. i love when women commit crimes and rin is no exception!!!!!!

altan can get it fr, as well as the rest of the

cike

, i really enjoyed all the side characters!!!! special shout out to nezha

i liked the mini redemption arc he got!!! hopefully homeboy and the rest of the sinegard sluts are kicking

i’ll be real i did not like the whole…. Spiritual aspect of this book. it certainly grew on me by the end, but throughout most of this book i was read to give this 4-stars simply because i didn’t like the Lore portion of the story (lore in the sense of this book not lore as a component of a story). like i said by the last 100 pages i’d finally wrapped by head around the concepts so i was enjoying them, but i can’t tell if it’s because im dumb or it wasn’t properly explained until the last third of this book.

anyways i cant explained how addicted to this i was. like i was an hour late to uni because i didn’t want to stop reading this. i was so immersed not only did i forget when my class was, but when i did realise i was gonna be late….. i just didn’t care. because i wanted to read this.

the worldbuilding at times was weak, but when it was good…. god it was good!!!!! some of the best worldbuilding i’ve read in a fantasy novel (minus the lore concepts that were beyond me). i was so down for whatever was happening, and i was along for the ride. i felt every emotion. every shift in story. god just this book is great RF KUANG YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN

Content Warnings

The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way

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adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

this was cute!!!! defo fills the hole in my heart left after the tomfoolery that was s4 of netflix’s the umbrella academy.

there were some cool moments and funny dialogue, but i wish the cast was fleshed out more !!!

also ew i can’t believe gerard wrote the allison & luther plot. Why

um anyways i don’t have too many thoughts because honestly if i ranked this how i truly felt it would be 5-stars but that’s simply because i miss the s1 cast’s personality. bring back this klaus and five. Please.

um anyways can’t wait to read the next volume at some point :3

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clovetra's reviews 208 reviews

clovetra's reviews
208 reviews