crusoe's Reviews (239)

Positives. I love how dynamic and colourful the art style is and Gwen's look is iconic. The writing was really good too, especially the jokes! I found myself laughing out loud at multiple points. The alternative universes are very well-developed and every change from the 'original' universe has a purpose. Gwen's growth as a person and superhero (a superhero person if you will) was tied up nicely in the end and I got a good sense of the other important characters in the story.

Negatives. I don't like the half-sketch lineart style of modern Marvel. I understand that it saves a lot of time, money and effort but either fully lean into stylistic sketchlines or line your art, cowards! It feels sloppy to me. 

Positives. It felt so good to dive back into the world created by Alice Oseman. I noticed while reading that I had missed these characters. Tori, Nick, Charlie... It was good reading about them again. This novella is a perfect bridge between Charlie's return from the psych ward and the events of Solitaire in which spoilers 

Charlie realises at the end of the book that Tori is struggling with major mental health issues as well which have been overshadowed by Charlie's ED

. This novella sets these events up very well and deals with the fallout of Charlie's road to recovery. I would only recommend reading this book after reading volume 2 of the graphic novel Heartstopper and Solitaire for these reasons. 

Negatives. Oliver's part was not particularly well-written. When Alice writes about him in third person, he is perfectly believable as a 7 yo but that is not the case when you read his inner monologue. 

Quote. "Charlie and I have discussed at length how it's possible for Oliver to be related to us, since he's the literal embodiment of joy and we're both miserable fucks. We concluded that he must have got all the happy genes."

Positives. This book was such a cheesy, by-the-book romcom but I'm glad it exists anyway. Because ace people deserve to see themselves in shitty romcoms too! The story itself had very little substance but it provides a nuanced view of what it is like to date while asexual. I think it may be relatable to a lot of people (even if I -an aro/ace person- do not see much overlap with my situation) and it does not gloss over the difficulties that come with dating as an ace person. It's nice to see a fictional character navigate their aceness in relation to partners and other loved ones. 

Negatives. Something that irks me is that Feenie's anger was shown to be just as justified as Alice's anger and I do not agree with that. As an aro/ace person, the fact that relationships with partners will always be portrayed as something inherently more valuable than friendships has me fuming. Even Feenie's promise that she will always stay in contact with Alice when Ryan and she get married does not negate that. Alice naturally feels left out by Rayn and Feenie, and while she is in the wrong for not addressing the situation, I don't think she should have been the one to apologize. 

Positives. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is a master when it comes to the Dutch language. The writing style was wonderfully poetic and each new event layered onto each other to reveal new and hidden meanings. Example spoiler.

(Like the last plague, 'Darkness', leading Jas to the basement where she crawls into the freezer to be close to Mathias, which is also the day on which she is supposed to 'go to the other side' of the lake with Hanna.)

The book is also supremely uncomfortable; the things Jas does make sense through her reasoning and her innocent view of things which helps her cope with the death of her brother and the subsequent abuse she suffers. All in all, this is a beautiful book, not for the faint of heart, about the different ways in which grief can spiral and corrupt.

Negatives. This book is as Dutch as can be in its subject matter. The events described are unapologetically horrible and I do not find that appealing. While I could, to an extent, put myself in the shoes of this traumatized, reformist, farmer's family in the early 2000's, I greatly disliked the taboo subjects covered, the animal cruelty, the sexual and physical abuse, etc. You really need to have the stomach for it. 

Quote. "'Weet je," zeg ik terwijl ik mijn neus in haar haren duw die naar Zwitsal ruiken. "Ik wil wel groter worden maar niet dat mijn armen mee groeien. Nu pas jij er precise in.' Hannah is even stil en zegt dan: 'Als ze te groot worden, sla ik ze net als mijn wintersjaal gewoon twee keer om mij heen." 

Positives. Sometimes you have  book cravings for a specific genre and sometimes that genre is 'Queer coming-of-age story about second-generation immigrant teens that asks deep philosophical questions about selfhood and death'. (Also see: Cemetery Boys, They Both Die at the End.) I can tell you: this novel delivered. Dante and Ari's relationship is as complicated as it is sweet, and as they each grow into fully realised human being, they explore what that means for their relationship as friends and as more than friends.

I also really like the setting of this book which takes place in 1987/1988. It explains why Ari drives the type of truck that he does, Dante's fear of not being accepted for his sexuality, the fact Ari and Dante need to send each other letters when Ari is away and the usage of some outdated terms. It makes the novel stand out from novels like it while it was one of the first books in its genre.

Negatives. Because this novel was one of the first in its genre, its concept and execution is not always as intriguing as stories like it. While poetic, the language used is rather simple (which makes sense for a YA book) and that helped me race through the pages. Really, all of these things are personal preference, I really enjoyed this book.

Quote. "'(Ari) I love swimming.' (Dante) 'I know,' I said.  'I love swimming,' he said again. He was quiet for a little while. And then he said: 'I love swimming- and you.' I didn't say anything. 'Swimming and you, Ari. Those are the things I love the most.'"

Positives. I enjoyed learning about the contributions of these important women. Unlike some other works on influential women I have read, I think this book presented a diverse mix of known/unknown and historical/contempory women from a wide range of backgrounds. I genuinely learned a lot. 

Negatives. The writing style was alright but every entry is formatted the same which made reading tedious after a while. It is comparable to reading 400+ pages worth of Wikipedia articles. 

There were also times that I didn't care for Hillary's and Chelsea's commentary which at times felt needlessly political. With this I mean that the information was obviously presented in a way that shows Hillary's political actions in a positive light or takes a shot at Republican politics. The obvious political motive was jarring at times. 

Quote. "Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake, the icing, and the cherry on top, too." (Billy Jean King)

Positives. I'm a sucker for monster stories and I know it. This might not be a 5 star for everyone but it was for me. I adore the atmosphere of the house in which the Zarrins live and how it contains these subtle hints of the family's history. I love how some of the secrets slowly unfold where others remain unanswered (such as the mystery of Eleanor's grandfather on her grandmère's side). The descriptions of Eleanor's family are deliciously grotesque. If you are expecting an Adams family dynamic you will be sorely disappointed, but I think the toxicity and brokenness of this family made the story more thrilling. It was nauseating in a good way. The Zarrins are broken, stuck in old traditions that they desperately need to burn and they have a hard time dealing with someone like Eleanor who is so very different from the rest of them, and yet unmistakably a Zarrin. I loved it.

Negatives. (Spoilers for the ending.)

Eleanor's self-pity was very justified after being treated like an outsider by her own family. But at points, this self-pity spiralled into something more malicious which made me dislike her character a bit. I also don't think Eleanor should have kissed Arthur at the end. Their romance subplot should've been resolved differently. Dating a living corpse who despises your family for keeping alive and who has also had a fling with both of your grandparents, does not sound like a very good idea. I think it would have been more interesting if Eleanor's obsession with him was due to her being a Zarrin, as was the reason behind Rhys' and Luma's obsession with Arthur. Eleanor convincing herself that she is better than Rhys and Luma because her love for Arthur is "different" as she is willing to let him go, would've been a more interesting motivation.

Quote. "The way it blew over was like this: on the day I punched her in the stomach, while she was staring at me in shock and pain, I realized that the only way to escape the trap i was in was to stop existing, to become someone else. 

So I turned myself inside out, and that was who I stayed until the day Lucy tripped me on the stairs. On that day I snapped back in midair, although my body stayed the same. There was more than one way to perform my family's trick, the inversion of selves, the different skin."

 Positives. This book sends a very powerful message about humanity's disconnect from nature. I've always loved when books weave together various POVs to arrive at a satisfying ending. This novel does that wonderfully by showcasing society's breakdown as the result of over-consumerism. From William's struggle to create a bee-friendly beehive to George, who struggles to keep up with honey production as traditional methods (and family farms) are destroyed under the pressure of corporate America, to Tao who experiences the devastating effects of an ecosystem out of balance.

Negatives. The main characters have major character flaws. This, on the one hand, makes them very realistic and multilayered, but these flaws are sometimes played out in a way that makes it hard to empathise with them. For example, it is very jarring to read how William neglects his role as a father, which makes it difficult to feel bad for him when his projects fail. 

Positives. I have a soft spot for character-driven novels. Every character has their own motivation for taking part in the heist and I enjoy how -by the end of the novel- each character has had a moment of significance with the other characters, making it more believable that they have become each other's ride-or-dies. Daniel's relationship with his dad especially is quite nice; they're two lonely men afraid to be vulnerable with each other. I also enjoyed the yin-and-yang relationship of Will and his sister Irene: Will feels guilty as the only son for not following the beaten path his parents have laid out for him and Irene resents him for it, feeling like Will is still the golden child whilst she follows in her parents' footsteps.

Negatives. I agree with other reviews that this book should not be advertised as a heist novel. You need a large suspension of disbelief to buy that these students could pull off a heist like this. But, the misleading marketing about its content is not the biggest flaw of this book. As someone who decidedly does not have a migration background, I appreciated seeing the perspectives of a bunch of students belonging to the Chinese diaspora in the USA, especially their views on belonging and on ownership of arts. However, as someone with a background in sociology, I also know there is a lot more diversity to be found within this community, both in origins, experiences and feelings towards mainland China. It's good to showcase the cultural recognition the characters find within one another but it would have been even better to include a diverse range of experiences. Right now, this causes the characterization to feel flat. 

What bugs me the most is how poorly researched the sections in Europe were. I mean, come on... You can't preach about structural racism and then not bother the check how racism manifests itself in Sweden. Really?! Because no, contrary to the beliefs of this author, white supremacists do not proudly declare themselves to be white supremacists here, and they certainly do not live in separate neighbourhoods where you can easily set their boats on fire. ;)

All in all, I enjoyed this book for its character-driven story. If you can put aside the rational part of your brain for a few hours, this is a fun read. 

Quote. "Will thought of China. He thought of Stockholm. The give of them - they were searching for a way home. He didn't know if Mum would understand. The old summer palace, to him, might have just been flames and righteous anger. But Will had looked at the ruins, thought of what was left behind."