booksandfin's Reviews (123)

A breath of fresh air rlly. Gáspár is baby girl. Also the religious aspect was so in-depth. I hope Ava Reid comes out with a short story collection. I would also, as Gáspár would say — sully my soul for a book from Gáspár’s perspective!!

"A permanent dialogue with oneself and an increasingly obscene narcissism never ceased to prepare the way for a half delirious state, where intellectual work became suffering and the reality was not at all that of a living man, working and creating himself, but rather words, different combinations of words, and the tensions springing from the meanings contained in words." - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Transcribed by Dominic Tweedie.

Initially, when I picked up Babel I didn't think that I would like it nearly as much as I do now that I have finished. There is something hauntingly beautiful and soul-wrenching contained in these pages. The world feels real because it mostly is. The characters are deeply flawed - each one of them. The writing is exceptional and the use of language use is so profound that I cannot seem to comment on it. Truly, most of my words (ironically) seem to have escaped me even almost 24 hours after completing the novel.

R.F. Kuang's commentary on imperialism and colonialism is incredibly well crafted. Not to mention her exploration of internalized oppression, white supremacy culture, and white feminism. While some may state that the commentary or exploration of these themes felt heavy-handed, I cannot bear to agree. I believe that there are times to be blatant about what you mean and this novel is a perfect example. However, it is not without nuance and room to explore. I will be rereading this book, possibly later this year.

The rest will be marked as spoilers because there are some things I cannot express without possibly delving into the book's later sections.

R.F. Kuang's use of parallels and mirroring of previous scenes in the book blew me away. Everything surrounding Ramy and Robin broke my heart. Not to mention Victoire's backstory and how she was orphaned and the relatability of that to Robin's backstory. To say that I am heartbroken after reading this book is an understatement. A piece of me almost simply wrote "I am empty inside". However, that would be a disservice to this book.

The final scene. The final scene took my breath away. I was a sobbing and incoherent mess as I read it, blabbing nonsense as I broke down all over again reading "She smiles. She says his name." I couldn't have ended Robin's story better. The use of present tense? Amazing. Bringing it back to the first chapter - to the first scene? Heartbreaking. I was so engrossed by these last chapters and felt numb and empty after reading them. Truly one of my new favorites which I consider difficult to earn the title of.

I’ve read better fan fiction. Over all this was a massive let down. My biggest gripe is how Madeline Miller writes women. All of them are either victims or vindictive. Also for a woman with her degree in Classics she offers no nuance to how women were in Ancient Greece nor does she offer much nuance at all. I got through this book solely for Patroclus.

also why the fuck did Patroclus literally get SA’d in the book and for what? It offered nothing to the characters or the plot. It’s a Greek retelling but offers little in sense of scope.

Also: final note. The pacing in this book is atrocious. Like seemingly random things will happen just to move the plot along.

I love this series so much. I’ve been watching the anime as it’s slowly been coming out since 2016. However this is the first time I picked up the manga. If you enjoyed the anime or you simply enjoy a good mafia/ detective agency storyline paired with cool super abilities I highly recommend it!
The post script alone is so enjoyable. Not to mention character designs are gorgeous along side the use of the writer and artists’ use of hand writing!
As many would say, Dazai is his own trigger warning so please check content warnings before reading!

I feel weird giving this book a rating. Although the only reason I rated it below a 5 is for personal taste in the style. There were moments when the style of writing caused me to pause and reread.
Thus being said… The discussions around what it means to be a child star, have your identity narrowed or even stripped from you, and the effects of an eating disorder were full of truth and raw emotion. A wonderful book in its candor.
Please read trigger warnings!

It’s a lot of heavy research and honestly I got bored. I hope to pick it back up when I’m not in school.

I love the anime so it was run to revisit the early days with the manga. The fourth wall breaks and character notes made this so enjoyable 🥰

Ughhh man did this book redeem itself from its predecessor or what??! 

Hanne is actually enjoyable now that I got to learn his actual personality and he wasn’t JUST a character foil. I really like the name Ilya for him! Nina is gonna be a Queen and I wish her nothing but the best. Love our dragon queen and her whore of a prince💜💜 really good ending. Only criticism I have for the book was the rushed ending of the thorn wood. I would have gladly read another 100 pages to slow that down a little. Excited and NERVOUS about another heist. Someone will die and I’m not ready for that.

There is lots to say about this book. It was well crafted and yet, like Evelyn, it came with flaws of its own that maybe should have been polished but one could also argue make the book feel a little more real. The rest of this review will make the most sense after reading the book so…

Cameron was my favorite husband by far. His story ruined me and I definitely cried the most over him. I felt like my heart was torn in two when he died, but once they mentioned a younger man in the car I knew it was Monique’s father. Aspects that make this book a 4 is the dedication to the complexity of characters. The draw backs are the clunky nature of theme really hammered down in the end. I also think some of the discussion around sexuality feels a little clunky and I say such as a queer person. Overall this book is worth the read. Evelyn’s life is captivating and memorizing. She is all she said she was and more. Probably something I will read again.

A beautiful collection of tales of the Saints. As a writer I aspire to hold a collection as a testimony to the beloved world building. It’s in-depth and written beautifully not to mention the gorgeous art. Only reason I didn’t rate it higher is due to a few stories feeling lack luster in comparison to others.