le_lobey's reviews
344 reviews

Uzumaki by Junji Ito

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Incredible art, stories inconsistent. I liked the beginning a lot more than the final arc, though the reveal in the final chapters was effective.
Very Lovecraft


I really enjoy the format of episodic short horror fiction set in a consistent world. A rotating cast of characters let's you show how terror/hauntings manifests in different ways without having to keep a protagonist around to see the end. It can be more horrifying, the characters more helpless. And you can slowly introduce elements that connect events which build a sense of overwhelming odds in the reader. The best of the stories in Uzumaki did that.

Other elements successfully evoked profound discomfort.
Body horror/transmogrification/cannibalism
These aren't my preferred style of horror media, but I guess there need to be stakes? And it made for highly imaginative and expressive illustrations.
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Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

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challenging mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

A weird little book. Very confusing and playful read that feels hyper local even as it gestures at us from a veil of myth and absurdity. I struggled to follow the dialect and sing-songy fae riddles, and there was not a lot of exposition. The action moves quickly between dream and waking, through reflections of reflections where the characters meet themselves and run alongside and from figures of legend and tabloid comics. I enjoyed feeling lost in this world though, and the characters' actions resonated deeply with meaning, particularly as the book reached its climax in the meeting of Joe, Treacle Walker and Thin Amren. A meaning I couldn't hope to grasp on first reading, but I'm sure it's in there! — or out there?

 *Borrowed from BPL* 
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts down about this one. There were a lot of moving parts both conceptually and plot wise, and I'm so impressed that he was able to wrap things up so well. A lot of that I think is because the protagonist, Klara, has such a singular perspective on the world and the events of the book. Exceedingly observant, but hopelessly naive; a marvel of technology who practices a kind of superstitious sun worship of her own devising. She is so fundamentally concerned with the beauty of the world, and in her role as an AF, that she constantly overlooks her own alienation to ensure the people around her aren't lonely. She's often more human than the people she serves.

Ishiguro is a master of tone, and Klara's voice is one of the novel's high points. Her inextinguishable optimism in the face of the broken world steeps the book in a tragic and beautiful melancholy. The events have a sense of nostalgia that veils the horror and dystopia. It was so beautifully written, and really tightly constructed. A marvel!

One thing I never fully understood was the purpose of Klara's "geometric" vision. There were moments of stress where she described the way that she saw as being fractured and kaleidoscopic. Objects in the world would appear multiple times and in different orientations to her, all separated by sharp black borders of varying shapes. Maybe this was just to remind us that she isn't human, or to emphasize that she was built and can malfunction. It was very tense after
she and Paul sabotaged the Cootings machine. I was worried that the story was going to pull an Algernon based on Klara's anxiety about her limitations vis a vis the B3 generation. I'm glad it didn't
Other Shepherds: Poems with Translations from Marina Tsvetaeva by Nina Kossman

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

This collection had some real standout poems, both from Marina Tsvetaeva and Nina Kossman. Tsvetaeva is so precise — and concise — in her poems. I worry that something was lost in translation. Perhaps my favorite poetry lies at a different level of specificity. Often it felt like the poems were either so abstract that I couldn't follow what they meant, or they were too literal and the word choice felt ham-fisted. Of hers, I really liked "It Smelled of England" (p. 34) "God" (p. 52) and "Sahara" (p. 74). I think "I am paper to your pen..." (p. 61) would make a great anthem. Might try composing something.

Nina Kossman's poems connected with me more. Her poems "Psyche" "Orpheus" "Awake in Me" "I will grow myself quiet leaves" and "Time of Return" were all stand outs. 

Kossman's poem that effected me most was "Denial won't help." The horror of it was so moving, and incredibly effective. The gender dynamic wasn't overstated, and I loved the way that the woman's perspective on her humanity was so obvious. It made the ending so surprising and shocking, and sad. The line "a swallow with a woman's face and swallow's soul" really got me. This poem blew me away.

*Purchased at Troubled Sleep in Park Slope on the recommendation of a bookseller*
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I chose to read it during a challenge where I logged pages every day — I'm amazed I got through it in only two weeks! A trope-tastic fantasy masquerading as space opera. I really enjoyed the world(s), all of the vivid settings, and the tastes of political intrigue.

I think Ruocchio found a good balance of action and reflection. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the first-person narration which usually turns me off. That device gives us a decent look into Hadrian's mind both as a young man and as an author much later in his life. I appreciated that the story knew when to give play by play narration and when to skip over months or even years, though there were a few times where this felt like it could have been handled more deftly.

It was a bit over-written at times, and I didn't love the romance plot. Hadrian's inability to communicate with Valka was understandable, but inconsistent with the rest of his characterization. I'm excited to see where the series goes from here.

 *Borrowed from BPL* 
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The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

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adventurous hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Overall I really enjoyed this. The settings were vivid, and I enjoyed following the scientists unravel the mystery of what exactly they'd uncovered in Con Dao. Many of the plot twists caught me by surprise, and I think a reread would be necessary for me to really unpick whether or not all of them were truly earned. In the back half it got a little preachy, and the dialogue at times felt like info dumping the author's research.
Self-Portrait with Nothing by Aimee Pokwatka

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This was ok. For me, the book was at its best towards the beginning when it was a personal drama focused on Pepper dealing with the absence of her mother. As the stakes rose and the action escalated, it began feeling more contrived. And the constant repetition of "In another universe...." was rather tiresome. I loved the last image though! Noticing how the departure of the geese remakes the field felt like a very artistic thought that was also super on theme.
Mortal Beauty, God's Grace: Major Poems and Spiritual Writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins by Gerard Manley Hopkins

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challenging reflective slow-paced

5.0

I only read the preface and poems in this collection. The best of these are simply revelatory. I love how Hopkins uses rhythm as an expressive and dramatic tool. I'm amazed by his syllabic ingenuity. He plays with language and rhyme the way the best rappers do. This book has bars. 

The best of the best:

As Kingfishers Catch Fire
The Wreck of the Deutschland
Spring and Fall — "By and by, nor spare a sigh/Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;"
The Bugler's First Communion — "Then though I should tread tufts of consolation/Days after, so I in a sort deserve to/And do serve to God to serve to/Just such slips of soldierly Christ's royal ration."
Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson

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dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

I loved how delightful, weird, and achingly normal these were. I'm not sure that the interlocking worked for me — I preferred the individual stories to the puzzle.
The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75