kaceyyy's reviews
367 reviews

I just did not like the main character one bit and i sort of lost it when she went skinny dipping in her dead mums pool 

Book club came into a club for 1 so waiting til that starts up again :)

I get the hype.  All the characters were so vivid, I was rooting for Elizabeth and Jane so bad and I found the book so funny?? Lovedddd

I didn’t really enjoy this, it was sort of mysterious and fantastical and had elements that I would like, but they weren’t pushed any further so it just felt very surface level.  I did like the bit on the tyger by William Blake and liked how it ran through the story bc that’s a really influential poem for me

I really enjoyed the world building and I think the characters were all illustrated fairly well.  But while I enjoyed all of this I sort of guessed what was going on around halfway through, also the sort of magical element didn’t make sense given the science and method which was woven through the whole book,

and why piranesi was seen as enough of a threat to even be in the labyrinth let alone this obsession with young men there didn’t make sense, oh and also the motivation of him being kept there and not just killed didn’t make sense to me

But I sped through this and I really enjoyed the setting and sitting with the characters 

This was a perfect, beautiful, warm, wholesome, inspiring, and comfortable read and I honestly don’t know how to describe it any better.  It was what I needed right now and it arrived at the perfect time for me.  Loved!!!!

The audiobook ran out at the library lol 

This felt like wattpad fanfic that was edited by someone on a bender - it was good?? But in the way that it was compelling and I wanted to know more and the characters were strangely addictive … but it was so weird and strange and uncomfortable I kept thinking about it … I feel like the entire thing was one of their workshop stories … and parts of it were too vague and unexplained like the bit w the lion and foscos whole character arc and how Samantha even graduated and wtf was going on w Jordan and all those guys … but it was a fun ride?  Idk I’m still processing 

I don’t want to really rate this bc all the stories stood out to me at the time I read them or later on during the course of my bday - so here are my reviews from reading it on the plane 

The Moor - russell banks 

Good story - a product of its time which needs to be kept in mind.  Liked the twist to it and it was a very bitter sweet but full short story.

Dundun - Denis Johnson 

Dark - a lot darker than I was expecting.  This gave me similar energy to In Cold Blood, and made me feel quite uncomfortable.

Timothy’s birthday - William Trevor

Quiet and sad birthday story - it made me feel rlly deeply for Timothy’s parents and their situation.

The birthday cake - Daniel Lyons

This is my favourite story from the collection so far - the story arc made a lot of sense and I really got to feel for all of the characters and their individual situations - everything was so concise and tightly packed but carried so much feeling.

Turning - Lynda sexson 

This was such a weird and wonderful story - it sort of felt like what I expected and wanted angela carters short stories in the bloody chamber to be like.

Forever overhead - David foster Wallace 

Liked the more contemplative sections, but the bits on the diving board and the holiday just showed me the bits I don’t like from holidays lol

Angel of mercy, Angel of wrath - Ethan canin

Half of this felt unexplained with me and I can’t tell if it’s because it was the style, whether I’m missing context or whether it just went over my head.  So I wasn’t the biggest fan of this.  Murakami wrote that the reader should compare the birthday cake to this story - I much prefer this one.

The birthday present - Andrea lee 

Oh no, no, no, no.  This made me feel icky and weird and uncomfortable and sort of self conscious.  It felt like it was written purely for men who think women just want to exist for their gaze.  Really didn’t like this.

The bath - Raymond carver 

Um this was just weird and dark and I feel like the baker being so on it about the cake made the story tense and the lack of resolution on the end just made it feel quite eerie.  But like, it was an interesting story to read.

A game of dice - Paul Theroux 

Again this story was just weird and sexual and it sort of just made me think all the men in it were perverts in some capacity - it was just quite uncomfortable 

Close to the waters edge - Claire keegan 

I rlly enjoyed this story - it was a good balance of symbolic and deep but also keeping the characters true to their name and the flow of the events going.

Ride - Lewis Robinson 

This story was just a bit too bland for my liking - and at parts it felt a bit too much like a stream of consciousness

Birthday girl - murakami 

One of my favourites and I’m not surprised.  Especially with it being centred around your twentieth birthday and what you wish for at that point - it felt very relatable.

Even tho it’s all about Korean women of the generation above mine, I’ve heard the same story over and over again in my own culture too - it made me rlly angry (esp the end) and definitely think it’s mandatory reading esp for people who aren’t exposed to Asian culture