oatmilktea's reviews
118 reviews

Richard not reflecting enough on his own actions may be the point of the novel but it didn’t do it for me and had no right to be this long.

Such a fantastic premise, and I liked how it made me think, but it couldn’t hold up to its potential.

If We Were Villains is entertaining enough, I’ll give it that. But at the end of the day, it's a pretentious, overhyped mess with bland characters and a “twist” that is neither exciting nor shocking. The blurb says there’s a shocking twist and IWWV certainly didn’t live up to it. Unlike with other works that are simply not my cup of tea, I truly don’t understand why so many people seem to love this book. Weaving Shakespeare into your story is all well and good (Purcell does a great job in The Whispering Muse) but come one, give me a break!

A fun read, absolutely no regrets, but I’m not compelled to read the sequels.

Bottom line: Zeus is the absolute worst. (Who would have thunk??)

This was an enjoyable and informative read, and a good introduction to Greek mythology, especially when you're new to it.

Very well written, but the prose is too purple for my taste, and the lack of plot (you know, because it's autobiographical and life has no coherent plot) made it difficult for me to truly enjoy. This is one I might have to reread to be able to fully appreciate it (it's been a while).

A little bit more about the language: if you're a fan of poetic language, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous might be perfect for you. I do like poetic language but it was just overdone (understandably, because afaik Vuong is a poet first and foremost). There's something to be said for a beautiful linguistic image. But when that's every second sentence, or like 5 times on a single page, it's too oversaturated for me and I can no longer relish the writing or the story.

A fantastically written, thought-provoking and chilling tale that absolutely lives up to its reputation.

I really wanted to like this. Everything about the novella captured my interest, initially. I wrote my BA thesis in English literature about memory (personal, collective, generational) in Jackie Kay’s work, including The Lamplighter (look it up!), so The Deep should have been right up my alley. It’s been a while since I read this so I can’t go into detail. I just remember thinking that the characters and the actual story itself could not live up to the amazing premise. Nevertheless, The Deep has merit and I can appreciate that.