venusinlove's reviews
343 reviews

something is pushing me away from giving this book a full 5* but i don't know what it is.

it's one of the saddest books I've read but somehow it didn't make me cry? which was weird since i'm a big crybaby especially when it comes down to lgbt+ tragic stories. 

the themes of the book very much reminded me of the tv show Pose, which definitely made me love it even more. the themes are really heavy aka HIV, it's a thing you have to learn about and not be ignorant towards it. the book gives a great perspective from a few sides - the protagonist, his sister and his mother. that really made the book feel more real - we get different views of people reacting to the sickness but also from their eyes we also get other characters' opinions and beliefs. it's so hurtful and honestly heartbreaking to think that there was a time and people (even now) who are so goddamn homophobic and vicious towards gays. i think that's the first book about AIDS that i've read but it really felt so close to me. in my country that theme is very(!!) taboo and we never hear about the gays in the 80s or 90s out here simply because there were different times, times of communism. i'm saying that because i can't exactly relate or feel THAT close to the topic but this book opened my eyes a little more to it. i can't also say that i am completely ignorant about HIV (i blame that on my queerness throughout the years) but as i said, not a thing that is common or known here so it was good for me to read/hear a very realistic point of view of Brian and his pretty shitty family (except Letty. ily, Letty, mwah!).

it's really a book that EVERYONE should read, queer or not. it's simply human nature to be nice to people no matter what their sexual orientation is. just read the book, take notes and be better towards other people. especially the gays!

 i honestly thought that this was gonna be a magnificent 5* book! but then the second half hit and i was so disappointed by it. :( archie and samad's stories were so good, so intriguing but once irie's one came up i couldn't focus on any of it, it wasn't as good. and don't let me get started on that futuremouse thing... I was so annoyed by it. the story felt so good just by itself being historical with no technology needed (since the time it was circulating was before the 2000s) and i seriously was enjoying my time out here. girlie, zadie, you didn't have to ruin the book with that mouse stuff... 

the whole idea of the Bulgarian cover is phenomenal tho! and zadie smith's teeth explanation throughout the whole book was really well thought out and made so much sense. actually genius! the roots and the canals and everything, really - amazing! 

one thing i liked about the ending was the doctor thing! that was such a good plot twist!!!! it changed the book's whole energy even if it was towards the very end.

if it wasn't for the last part i would have given it 5* without even considering anything else. it just got too political and religious all of a sudden and i got a headache every time i picked the book up. for a book that is that heavy though, the comedy aspect was really good! there were many parts (mainly in the beginning, sorry) where i was snickering and kicking my feet up in the air, lol. interestingly enough, unlike other literature about culture and religion, this one didn't feel offensive or vile (although i can't really speak up on that since i am not Muslim or deeply involved in other cultures rather than my Eastern European one). one thing i loved(!!!!!!!!) was how

Archie and Samad both missed the ending of the war while being stranded in a small village in Bulgaria(!!!).

that was literally so fucking funny to me! political humour will always be my favourite one no matter what. it's too good but you have to be very precise with it to be even slightly funny. i don't even think "funny" is the right word. it needs to make you smile and let out a little breath through your nose. it's not a ha-ha funny but a niche-type. not everyone should get it. it needs to be specific and zadie smith did a great job of doing exactly that with this book!

i know my review is a bit backward but looking back on it (lol, that's funny) i think that's the best way i can "review" this book. 

ah, such beautiful details! loved the illustrations and the different styles of hair represented in it, haha. the colours too! pure magic!

I'm just a sucker for gay stuff, okay? I needed something light to read while i was on my camping trip and that was perfect. That's all! 

i don't think american comedy is quite for me, although that being said this one was lovely - the comedy wasn't too "americanised" and i really liked the witty jokes here and there. it kind of reminded me of Just by Looking at Him but Calypso didn't have that many sexual tones, lol.

honestly, i expected to get more into it but it was lacking a bit of storyline which i sometimes need in a memoir. i enjoyed the short chapters, they were easy to read but where was this going to take me? it was a bit chaotic but somehow i think every queer is like that so that's cool, i guess. i could relate to some of the chapters (even if i don't have a bigger family). his relationship with his dad described very well how i am with my own father which was kind of surreal, i didn't expect that. here are a few of the chapters which i liked most:

♡ Your English Is So Good
♡ A Modest Proposal
♡ The One(s) Who Got Away

one thing i did not get was the chapter where Sedaris lists the different types of swearing. as a Bulgarian i am very confused since nobody here says something even remotely close to "May you build a house from your kidney stones.". i mean, it sounds fun and quirky but i think the author has been lied to (which is not that unbelievable since most bulgarians who immigrate out of our country tend to lie just to sound more interesting(?). we might just swear the fuck out of somebody's mother but kidney stones is way too far.)

sadly, i think this book might fly over my head and i'll have to read it again in a few months because there just wasn't a kick to it. i know it has some heavy topics in it but i kind of felt relaxed while reading it, lol. it's nice, funny and weird. that's all you need from a book, right?

p.s. the cover is absolutely stunning and i love love love it! 

okay, i got recommended this book quite a few times, including the lady in the bookstore, lol. i admit i was doing my best to avoid it because of its popularity (my mistake on that one, oops). this is actually my fourth book that's based around a lake/smaller body of water and so far i'll say that Where The Crawdads Sing is the best one yet! the whole experience was so good! i actually read it at such a speed that i could detect most of the details and not miss the crucial moments. i say that because sometimes i tend to rush through books if they are not interesting enough ([book:Everything I Never Told You|18693763] and [book:Every Summer After|58014893], I'm talking about you guys...). 

the writing and the whole story were just so good!! i had my suspicions about the ending and i thought i knew who did it but oh my god, i was so wrong and it felt so good to be wrong, haha. one thing i was not absolutely content with was the ending itself - not the story but the epilogue and all. it did feel a bit rushed comparing it with the rest of the book but it was actually okay?

Kya's death actually felt fitting for an ending of it all.

oh and i really, really liked the poetry! that was such a lovely touch on not only the story but my whole experience while reading it.

I'm v happy that i picked that book up. :) i don't doubt it'll be one of my favourites for this month.

that sure was a wild reading experience. i don't think i liked the story all that much hence I'm not really a medieval kind of girlie but the writing itself was immaculate! her way with words is so fascinating and it very much reminded me of Madeline Miller's writing style.

in Lapvona there were so many elements of horror and disgust, so i would advise people not to start this book before checking out the trigger warnings because it is a lot to get through. i don't think i was that shocked to read the more gore-y parts of the story rather than the behavior of the many different characters. there was not a single one that stood out with any positive characteristic to me. however, that didn't make the book bad? usually it would throw me off since i very much so rely on the characters because they are usually the builders of the story, but in this one, i liked it a lot as it was. no complaints there.

i loved how the story was a mix of body horror but also delusion between its characters. it gave off a sense of dark comedy in a way. i'll also say that regarding the story i am willing to excuse (view spoiler) but only in this one instance.

all in all this book was a maze in which every corner made you feel either disturbed, shocked or a bit frightened. it was great!

while reading this my only thought was that namjoon would fucking love this book! it's contemporary and queer and sad and it gets deep into the meaning of life, he would totally love this!

 + this book very much reminded me of Conversations with Friends but a lot better and a lot queerer. :)
 
each of the four stories had a different specific feeling connected to it but i think what linked them all in the end of each one was the sadness and loneliness that Young was feeling. it felt as if I'm reading 4 different lives but after reading the author's note i got that they were the same person. they still felt distant but i quite liked that? 

it was literally the perfect book for me - short stories that were intertwined with one another, like a puzzle. i quite enjoyed that.

let's not also forget how unapologetically queer this book is! with how discriminated the Korean lgbt+ people are and how they are being treated in their own country i think the world needs more Korean literature that has queer people in it. also the fucking translator's note! oh my god. if i didn't cry while reading the book itself, what made me really teary-eyed was Anton Hur talking about being at the places that the book described, being one of those people, one of us. recognizing yourself in a book is always special but recognizing yourself when you are a minority in a country where you are so much as a taboo is even more unique. i felt that very deeply into my soul and merely based on that i am willing to put this book into my "favourites". 

we seriously need more queer asian books and i am always willing to take someone up on a recommendation!

<i>“A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with.”</i>

i laughed, i cried, i laughed some more and i got my heart broken. i've said this before but I'm not big on fantasy-based books, HOWEVER! this one is an exception from the rest. i kind of avoided reading it because it was v popular and i saw some mixed reactions towards it but i really liked it! the kids were adorable, the lessons it teaches you are not pushing and even the lgbt+ relationship is normal? i love it when authors don't write lgbt+ kinships as an extravagant, extraordinary thing, it was so nice to see it as an ordinary relationship. 

i know some people think that this book "glorifies" orphanages but i cannot agree with that one. i don't want to get too deep into this but i actually think it's better for kids to have a loving home rather than be thrown into a family where their health and well-being are endangered. :) that being said, the book had a great thought put into it and i don't think the idea was exactly to "glorify" those homes. or maybe it does and i'm not familiar with the author's perception.

the kids were sweet and i want to give each one a loving hug (to arthur too).

goddamn it, he's so woke lol. I'm actually surprised that he was so ahead of our time and in my opinion he would have loved our world now. I've got a new level of appreciation for this twink. :)