kaceyyy's reviews
357 reviews

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

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5.0

I don’t think anything has ever scared me more. Broad daylight, on a Sunday, in my house, and I was literally scared of my own reflection and the noises from next door.

Banging book.

I need to recover and sleep with the light on for the next week.

This scared me way more than most movies have.

I think this is the best psychological horror I’ve ever encountered.
The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
I loveeeee a good history book, but this was a drag and the timeline jumped around so much it was difficult to keep track.

Sometimes a narrative and line of reasoning only makes sense in your own head, and whilst this was clearly well researched, trying to write up this research in an engaging way can sometimes 1) negate the quality of the work being presented, 2) mean that the actual information does not quite fit the narrative and therefore feel awkward and clunky.

I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get further than this, but I just don’t see the point in pushing further through when one of the comedians on girl historians read it and presented the information on the episodes on the Salem witch trials anyway. So I already know most of what’s in the book.
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami

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4.0

Spooky, weird, tense, and drew together the missing threads from the other books in the series. Wasn’t without its murakami weirdness, but as far as stories and final books in series go, I really enjoyed this.
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

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3.5

Interesting, heavy in themes, and rich in language and storytelling. I’d honestly recommend this book to a lot of people in my life.

The only reason why this isn’t getting the full 5 stars is because of some stylistic choices and character choices that I think could’ve been done in a way that leant more into the magical and heartwarming element of the story.
The Ice Factory by Philip Gross

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1.5

The poems were alright - but the only ones to my taste (which is the only taste that matters!) were the ones based in nature and natural symbolism.

The poems I liked were:
  • Blind-Worm
  • Still Life
  • The Site of the Crystal Palace
  • Facing the Sea
  • The October People
  • The Displaced Persons Camp
  • The Gift
  • First Encounter
  • Geminus 
  • A Plague of Jellyfish
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

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4.0

Not to say I could write anything better than this, but I did feel like this was overly intellectual in a way that the people Fanon was arguing for, were in a way excluded. Also, I felt it would’ve been beneficial to have consistent case studies and examples, rather than a little here and there and a long chunk at the end.

However, this was dense, informative, and inspirational in the way it made me angry at the world and the coloniser. I can definitely appreciate how it was and still is a good mechanism for movement and change.
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

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4.0

Fun, cosy, and a comforting short story
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

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2.5

I liked how this tied in the other books, and some elements of this were interesting and dream-like, but god the monologues and passages on sheep were just so boring
Wind/ Pinball: Two Novels by Haruki Murakami

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4.0

WIND - 4.5 ⭐️
PINBALL, 1973 - 3.5 ⭐️

(This was two novels in one physical book, but the average rating is 4.)
Babel by R.F. Kuang

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3.5

Overall, this was super enjoyable and I loved the vibes. The plot was good, and it never went too slowly, which i appreciated.

I liked the elements on translation, and honestly the ending was pretty good too, but some errors with interpreting decolonial literature annoyed me a little, and the footnotes were sometimes quite distracting from what was actually going on (I feel like they should always be added sparingly or for reference).

But also, I do feel like some of the characters were a little half baked, and that naturally can happen when you have such a big cast of characters, and I feel like it would’ve hugely improved the book.