willowbiblio's reviews
480 reviews

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

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

3.0

“It’s never the changes we want that change everything.”
——————
I was almost immediately reminded of Infinite Jest when I began this book. Wallace and Díaz both love using endnotes/footnotes as a stylistic addition, and even both included some key points in what is usually additive/optional. 

Oscar is effectively involuntarily celibate but it’s hard to really like him or have sympathy for this fact of his life. I found myself really rooting for his female family members much more. I loathed the way Díaz wrote about women’s bodies. It felt gross at times. 

It was clear Díaz is a huge fan of Tolkien, he referenced several hobbit/LOTR moments and characters at least once a chapter. The Yunior POV was the best pacing of the book and an interesting insight into the family dynamics from outside their unit. 

I think there were some very strong elements here, but as a whole it wasn’t quite the execution I hoped for.
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

“Those thoughts make my cheeks burn, but I don’t care. I am owed this. I’m owed at least my imagination.”
———————-
This book was somehow even more heartbreaking than I anticipated. I knew from the very beginning when Katouh opened with devastation that she would not flinch from loss or uncomfortable truths. There was incredibly strong imagery at play and nearly every scene that rooted in the landscape of a war, torn city and overrun hospital. 

The Khawf hallucination was an inspired plot mechanic to show the impact such acute and sustained trauma can have. While reading I couldn’t help but think about how I will likely never face these kinds of decisions and that there are so many people who right now are living through this level of horror all over the world. 

Using Kenan as a love interest provided a really welcome counterpoint of hope to the story. The debate over staying in Syria or leaving was eye-opening. I don’t have roots in this way as I am already an immigrant, so to see the dialogue happen was a novel perspective for me. 

Salama’s morally gray choices showed how even inherently good people can be driven to “bad“ decisions in the face of such calamity. We do not get to weigh in on the rightness of these acts, as people reading from the comfort of our homes. I was glad we got to follow the journey all the way through. 

This book made me cry, taught me some unexpected lessons, and had me marveling at the resilience and inner beauty of these survivors.
The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

“How far into oneself could a person recede? The answer lay somewhere in the infinite. You could halve a number over and over and still stave off nothingness. You could recede until you were only surface and still find further to go.”
———————-
The opening scene, Alice‘s suicide on the bridge, is such a bold open and really sets the tone for this novel. In this spectacular debut novel, Green kept me moving with continual unveiling of hard truths and hidden realities. 

Right away, she makes it clear that everyone has a part in letting Alice down, and the way they each misunderstand each other and misrepresent themselves has led to deep emotional pain for each of the characters. 

There was an interesting parallel between Linnie’s description of Nick‘s sharp edges that he pared down with her, and Benji developing his own sharp edges as he ages. It implied some learned character flaws that fell in line with the generational difficulties of this book. 

I really liked the flashbacks to the time just after Alice‘s passing and the way the present moments either continued the drama or healed it. I thought the descriptions of grief were beautiful, especially the comparison to trails of light in overexposed photography. Green embodied each of the characters and their inner lives so well. 

A truly remarkable and captivating debut. I’m really looking forward to reading her future works.
Feh: A Memoir by Shalom Auslander

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

“Perhaps they just had to get to a place where they were so tired of being silenced by themselves that they finally screamed, a place where the need to speak overwhelms the need for approval, where the desire to be heard overwhelms the desire to be loved, where the voice whispering *speak!* becomes louder than the one shouting *Feh*”
———————-
This book was consistently humorous and hilarious which served to cut the earnestly serious topics so well. I thought the parallel between the flawed diamond and flawed self was beautiful, but it belied a much deeper and more persistent self loathing that I would come to understand as I moved through this memoir. 

I loved how Auslander was healing generational trauma by supporting his son’s identity and buying his wigs. This was an opportunity to choose better than his own father, and he took it. 

I liked the use of reinterpretation/retelling of biblical stories as a vehicle for anecdotes and personal history. I could really relate to his drive to get away from himself and sympathize with his search for oblivion through anything that would work. The quote about poisoning himself as self punishment was heartbreaking. 

I really loved thar this ended with a vision for change and some hope. Like many of us, seeing the good displayed at Steve’s coffee shop and in others is what brings Auslander to the conclusion that maybe change and self belief is possible for him too. I wouldn’t have picked this up on my own, but I’m really glad I read it ☺️
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

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

4.0

“It’s life,” he said. “There’s no keeping clear. And if you do keep clear, you might almost as well die. So if I’ve got to be broken open again, I have.”
————————-
This was a beautifully descriptive and emotionally immersive book. The descriptions of the woods and how “knowing” they are really spoke to me. Connie’s deadened sexual nature that was reawakened is a focus of the book, but not the main or only focus. 

I loved the plot timing and foreshadowing of Connie and Clifford running into Mellors right after Clifford said she should produce an heir with another man. I thought it was telling how Mellors was one of the only men who had an inner dialogue/inner life presented to the reader. This marked him as Connie’s equal. The rejection of an offer to enjoy her life in London shows she had an alternate path and really chose her life and love with Mellors.

Lawrence was writing about PTSD and the impact of war before it was part of the vernacular. I loved the analogy of the bruise in the self and in society for this. I noticed Lawrence kept this ongoing theme of Clifford‘s yellow coloring when he was angry and jealous, which was a subtle rhetoric of how offputting these traits were in him. 

Beyond the love story, this was a remarkably critical anticapitalist text for this period. This was done through Ivy Bolton’s lost husband, the miner’s lives, and the destruction of their homes and societal structures. The sensual descriptions were so poetic and deeply moving, and again very advanced for their time. 

A very touching and thoughtful novel.
Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World by Lauren Fleshman

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

“There’s so much more, but really it all begins with a willingness to *see* women as human beings worthy of thriving. The problems women and girls face need to be seen as *human* issues that everyone takes responsibility for changing.”
—————-
This was a gift from my mom’s wife, an Ironman and fellow runner ☺️ This was such a good and real book. I love to run and, as very much a non-professional, also suffer from feeling out of touch with my body and like I don’t belong in this sport because of my appearance. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that elite athletes are challenged by this as well. 

What was most surprising to me was just how many female runners and athletes are struggling with the same problem. Fleshman‘s point is this volume of harm and struggle isn’t being addressed precisely because they are considered “women’s problems“. 

I appreciated learning more about the impact of puberty and the way it can change our performance physically. 

I really enjoyed going on the journey with Fleshman of how she began to heal her relationship with food, her body, and even running itself. Reading about her determination to keep working and trying despite major setbacks was so inspiring. And I really loved the insight into payscales and ad campaigns in the professional world as it takes calling it out to begin the process of change. 

Loved the pacing and Fleshman’s very clear voice!
Hey, Zoey by Sarah Crossan

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“She went back to her reading, her shoulders curled towards her ears. I had always known.”
——————
The subject matter of this book was especially challenging for me as it’s an experience I know all too well, and Crossan captured the myriad long-term impacts CSA has well. 

I liked the use of chronology jumps to fill in Dolores’ history. As a character, she is incredibly disengaged from her emotions in a way that feels quite real. Several times it felt like Crossan was about to take her over edge into her own predatory acts. I was relieved when she didn’t. 

I expected Zoey to play a much more active role in the story. Even to tease that the relationship between Zoey and Dolores is pivotal feels a bit inaccurate. At best, she served as a mirror for Dolores’ emotional unveiling, but even that was brought on more by the dissolution of her marriage and her sister’s struggles. 

Crossan captured the complexity of feeling stuck in a dynamic with someone who harmed you, but is also family. I felt that this book was a kind of awakening for Dolores. In some ways it made me hopeful, and others just deeply saddened.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“But anger wasn’t available to them, and there was no face to put on this Other Thing that they held in their sticky Other Hands, like an imaginary orange. There was nowhere to lay it down. It wasn’t theirs to give away. It would have to be held. Carefully and forever.”
——————-
This was our September Reading Is Subjective club book! It was an incredibly challenging book, for so many reasons: the subject matter, the time skips, the number of characters, and circling the plot. 

I really didn’t understand the idea of Untouchables reading this book, it was such poignant imagery to think about a child holding something in the palm of his hand so people wouldn’t have to touch him. 

I found Estha to be a deeply, sympathetic character, and his connection to Rahel was beautiful  (even if it got a little odd at the end). These characters were so intriguing to me, and their own personal histories and motivations were really well established by Roy. 

I enjoyed the section about the storytellers and sacrifices they had to make of their ideals in order to survive, it felt so raw and real. I also loved Roy’s description of the slovenly/dirty house compared to Estha’s meticulously clean room. It conveyed so clearly how they were dealing with their demons and very different ways. 

I think it’s interesting to consider how one day can impact so many lives in such a permanent way. This was a great book and I really enjoyed seeing other peoples thoughts in the book club. 🥰
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

“That’s the problem right now. People think they’re only responsible for people exactly like them. I don’t feel that way.”
————————-
I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into this book, which I think was a good thing. I learned a lot about Puerto Rico‘s history of oppression, but at times this felt much too info-dumpy for a fiction novel. I think it was also paced just a tad too slow for my taste. 

I loved the growth and progression that Olga and other characters experienced. The way Olga strove for something that was meaningless to her was so interesting. I enjoyed the structure of the novel and how the letters from their mother correlated to key plot points in the present and moments in their histories. I also loved how Gonzalez was playing with the idea of perceived reality and intent. 

There was a little too much insight into character thoughts and not enough showing (too much telling). I think I also struggled with some of the dialogue, it didn’t quite match the characters ages or emotions at times. It was an unsettling mix of clunky dialogue, and very intense subject matter. 

For a debut novel, this was a great start and I really look forward to seeing how Gonzalez develops in her next work.
A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch

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

5.0

“When I am in need of recognition, I usually just turn to books, where words, now immobile, are safe and private, inviting a different sort of intimacy.”
————————
I like that we almost immediately know that Naomi is a little bit crazy, and the body of the novel corrects the assumption about why. This cover honestly made me totally underestimate this book – it’s way more serious and well written than I had assumed. 

There are a few quite extreme and devastating traumas that have formed Naomi, and Barasch wrote them so well. I liked the parallel between the story Naomi was writing and the one I was reading and how closely Barasch treaded to breaking the 4th wall. There were a few moments where Naomi’s voice was clearly the author’s thoughts. 

Barasch created a really interesting dynamic of questioning how much Rosemary knew and if she was just playing out the story to see where it went between them. I liked that Caleb served less as a full person and more as a vehicle for learning more about Naomi and creating the link between Rosemary and Naomi. Not  hyperfixating on their relationship but rather who Naomi was in the relationship was really powerful. 

I wasn’t expecting to be as moved by this book or its conclusion, but I found it to be beautiful and immensely heartbreaking, and a little bit hopeful.