m4rtt4's reviews
376 reviews

Twisted Love by Ana Huang

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

2.0

the spicy scenes were good (albeit a bit degrading), but they obviously couldn't carry the whole plot... Ava deserved so much better than Alex Fucking Volkov!! I've never understood why male love interests are made so unlikable, abhorrent even, and Alex was no exception — he was aggressive, possessive, controlling, violent and rude as hell. Yeah, the sex scenes can do without one's personality, but the rest of the plot and the so-called love story in its center were totally ruined for me by Alex.
Hell, he even turns out to be a murderer, and I will NOT excuse murder as a means of revenge; that's the worst thing anyone can do, and it just made him the very person (a killer) he originally detested for doing so. ON TOP OF IT ALL he even got away with it with his money and connections, because obviously an asshole love interest must also be filthy rich and talented and manipulative and immoral and hdhfhr yeah you can probably sense my anger towards him lol

ALSO I can't believe I'm saying this, but for the aforementioned reasons this book was at some moments WORSE THAN COLLEEN HOOVER (and that really is an achievement).
why must every tiktok romance have protagonists with dead parents AND deep traumas AND abusive parents AND bloody murder — is it just that you can't write a story interesting enough without all that sensationalism? this really was soooo sick and twisted *SICK AND TWISTED*

ALSO him buying every single piece of Ava's art in London is NOT romantic, it's just another manifestation of his possessive behaviour and fucking selfish as it prevents Ava from
being recognized by any actual art people who would be relevant to her career :)))) he literally does not want her to advance in her career so that he can keep her dependant on himself FUCK HIM
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Kainin tytär by Pirkko Saisio

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

3.0

kaunista kieltä, mutta iso osa meni yli hilseen... tää vaatisi monta lukukertaa ja jokaista kappaletta vois purkaa ikuisuuden, mutta sitä vertauskuvallisuutta oli joko vähän liikaa tai sitten koko teksti ois saanut olla sellaista, ei niin että seassa ihan arkisia keskusteluja — tai mistä mie tiedän, en mie näin upeasti osaisi kirjoittaa? siis näen tän teoksen potentiaalin, mutta tää on sen tason juttu että haluaisin perehtyä sana sanalta ja kirjoittaa esseen ja siihen ei ole aikaa, joten arvioin sen perusteella, miten paljon yhdestä lukukerrasta sai irti, ja se oli valitettavasti aika vähän.
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Kukkia Algernonille by Daniel Keyes

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

3.75

incredibly thought-provoking AND heart-breaking; I wish the mouse had been in a bigger role but overall very interesting and an important read.
it was scary how he became possessive and aggressive and expressed his male sexuality and masculinity through those means after "gaining intelligence"
, really makes you think what should even be called intelligence and how easily we exclude emotions and kindness from it.
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Jäähyväiset aseille by Ernest Hemingway

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

3.0

Hemingway is one of those "must read" authors, whom I personally have never been interested to read, but I couldn't base my opinion on just prejudice and so I decided to read this — and yeah, it was awfully average. What annoyed me the most was the protagonist's lack of interest in his surroundings, he was very passive about everything and we didn't get to hear his inner voice, feel his emotions — anything much at all — so how was I supposed to care or cheer for him? If I wanted to read an objective war story, I'd much rather read non-fiction! 
kinda spoiler but
I thought the name Farewell to Arms had a deeper symbolic meaning, something around how war is bad and violence is never the solution, but no, it was just about this American man leaving the Italian army because as a foreigner there will be no negative consequences to him or his own home country. bruh.
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Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

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dark emotional sad medium-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

4.5

A Glaswegian version of A Little Life. So sad, so painful, almost cried and had it been longer I probably would have cried — then again the book felt a bit dragging at times, so I'm glad it wasn't longer (and honestly my heart wouldn't have been able to take it either).
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We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

very little plot and mostly just vibes, but I'm glad I liked the atmosphere — something so eerie yet still very heart-warming. I also liked the execution of Merricat's anxious rituals, I could both relate and feel bad for her :( A perfect autumn read for the vibes, but if you want action and answers, this might not be the book for you.
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Vaxdukshäftet by Edith Södergran

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inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

it was interesting to see where and how her writing journey started.. obviously her poems have evolved and I didn't like this collection as much as her 'professional' ones — though it wasn't bad either, and many of the poems reminded me of those I wrote myself when I was 15 years old.

svenska är mitt tredje språk så jag hade några svårigheter med dikter som skrevs över 100 år sedan — det var också min första gång jag läste dikter på svenska och där fanns många ord jag aldrig hade hört om, men jag ändå njöt av boken och lärde mig mycket nytt :) ung Ediths dikter är också enklare än hennes senare dikter och jag tror att det hjälpte mig förstå de här dikterna?
Hävitys – tapauskertomus by Iida Rauma

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

5.0

en yhtään ihmettele sitä, että tää ansaitsi Finlandian. Kyllä miussa heräsi jos jonkinlaisia peruskoulutraumoja, "taas se tietää", vaikkei minua juurikaan edes kiusattu — ja vaikkei traumoja olisikaan, sitä suuremmalla syyllä tulisi lukea tämä. Pidin erityisesti Turun (rakennus)historiaan liittyvistä nippelitiedoista sekä siitä, miten päähenkilö A jäi anonyymiksi, niin pieneksi kaiken keskellä ettei nimelläkään ollut merkitystä — ja toisaalta päähenkilön nimettömyys tekee hänestä kenet tahansa meistä, näin voisi tapahtua kelle tahansa, vaan ei tapahdu kuin joillekin onnettomille — ei, vaan onnettomiksi tehdyille — tässä on koehenkilö A ja jossain on henkilö B ja kun aakkoset loppuvat, ne voidaan aloittaa alusta koska sillä nyt on vähiten väliä, saavatko heidän omat persoonansa erottua ja selviytyä.
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Edith: runoilijan elämä ja myytti by Jaana Nikula, Agneta Rahikainen

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Kovin perinpohjainen ja vanhentuneita (+ miesten näkökulmasta kirjoitettuja) myyttejä murskaava. Tietoa oli niin paljon, että ihan kaikkeen en jaksanut 100% keskittyä eikä todellakaan kaikki jäänyt päähän, mutta tosi mielenkiintoinen, piti otteessaan, ja jos kaipaa mitä tahansa tietoa Södergranista, en suosittelisi lukemaan mitään muuta.
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Minun Marttani by Arvid Järnefelt

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dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

3.0

Miulla oli tän lukemiselle kaksi syytä; nimeni (Martta) lisäksi pidin paljon Järnefeltin Isänmaasta, ja alkuasetelma olikin pitkälti samanlainen, mutta tarina ei kuitenkaan yltänyt sen tasolle — paljon traagisempi se kuitenkin oli kuin mitä olin odottanut.
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