strabbyfieldz's reviews
63 reviews

The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

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adventurous emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

my head hurts too many of these characters had similar names and also idk sometimes it was really good and interesting and sometimes it felt like me DMing a game of DND and opening in a tavern for the 5000th time. and ofc, there had to be all the usual isms for the time period... britomart I had feelings for you until I realised you're a glorified figurehead for the british empire okay peace out
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Metamorphoses by Ovid

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dark funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

this shit slaps tbh, Ovid wrote the Aeneid in a more interesting way than Virgil even though it was summarised... my favourite story was probably the one about Hecuba, or Medea because who doesn't love a girlboss. nobody does storytelling like Ovid. 
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The Aeneid by Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg

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adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

2.0

virgil looked at homer and said 'okay but what if I did that but worse' sorry I know that's probably a common complaint / comparison but cmon... there WERE good bits but they were kind of lost in a sense of deja-vu and lots of like... just pointless bits idk I didn't care abt Aeneas that much, nor Turnus right up until the end that WAS a solid ending.
Pallas existed for like one book and then died rip lol.
 
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The Iliad by Homer

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

this shit was wild my head is so fried rn, I like that Homer included a talking horse for about two lines and then immediately retconned it
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Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory

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emotional informative 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? Yes

3.25

shout out to @eksplaine on Instagram for giving me some pre knowledge on Margaret, it was a fortunate coincidence to read this after watching her live blog Margaret's journey!!! go check her out 

meh my brain is really melted from reading this over the course of two days, I feel like Margaret was presented in an interesting light but the ppl complaining that she was super unlikeable feels like a bit of a double standard - ofc she kinda sucked she was a member of the British Royalty lol and her brother was a looooot worse but her story was overall pretty interesting!! it was just very long,, qnd things flipped and changed so much my mind got bundled up in a knot but I get that is reflective of the time period and my issue of keeping up haha
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Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems by Wanda Coleman, Terrance Hayes

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I don't think I've ever read a poet so fervently, so intensely. Coleman's work is absolutely unlike any other because she expresses herself so fully, entirely. I am so happy to have access to such works and it is a crime that I have never heard of her lyrical mastery until this point. 
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Loveless by Alice Oseman

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

this book was an average-ish YA novel but the asexuality and nuanced discussions around being ace really elevated it!!! I learned a lot. my one gripe was that Sunil's pronouns were he/they but the narrative only ever referred to them with he/him pronouns??? maybe I'm missing something there idk. 
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This Is Shakespeare: How to Read the World's Greatest Playwright by Emma Smith

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funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Emma Smith is the only Shakespeare critic I actually enjoyed reading during a level, a trend she has continued with through this book.
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Little Witch Academia, Vol. 2 by Yoh Yoshinari

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

3.5

that whole mouse chapter felt off to me somehow??? it was very random lol, but lwa always is to an extent. the art style fuckin slaps!!!! I loved the comedic timing of the panels and the expressions and the full page spreads of moments for emphasis even if it was a bit crowded at points it freaking slapped 
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Handbook of Japanese Mythology by Michael Ashkenazi

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informative slow-paced

2.75

had some very fun and interesting passages (foxes have jewels of tax evasion, who knew) but while the repetition and backtracking was useful, alongside the very light touch given to most of the stories and myths discussed it did become fairly frustrating. 
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