jessicaxmaria's Reviews (1.04k)

While I could see how others might find the structure of the narrative a bit exhausting, I relished in it! I, by nature, am someone that loves to figure out a mystery and ask questions and surmise clues -- especially out of correspondence (I love reading old letters). Anyway: I loved these characters and I laughed along as realizations were made from one page to the next. Sometimes I felt as helpless as Bee, but mostly I was smiling. Perhaps not for everyone, but I loved it! Highly recommended for a fast, fun summer-read.

Overall this short read was well-crafted but stark and somewhat unfeeling. Not that I was looking for sentimentality, but everything and everybody here is somewhat awful...no bright side exists. I suppose I could just have been weighed down by all the negative, but I was intrigued enough to continue reading the series.

Ugh, this book is the opposite of meaningful -- it is devoid of any meaning. And similarly word-wise, it's meandering without arriving to any point. Perhaps it's a snapshot, and the next book will tie the first two together more succinctly, but this was terrible.

I understand from this book why St. Aubyn wrote these smaller books (Patrick likes books he can carry in his pocket), but this book was so throw-away...it was about 150 pages long, but could have easily been summed up in 50 or less and thrown in with the last book or the next book I suppose. Tedium defined.

I'm just not feeling this series. I've trucked through these four (short) books because they resided on my shelves, but at this point I'm happy to give them away. I may not even read the final and 5th installment in the series because I don't own it and I certainly don't want to pay for it.

And so we forage on with the story of Patrick Melrose, a terrible person I hate reading about. Mother's Milk is interesting in its writing, but ultimately it's simply a novel (and series) that portrays life as horrible and everybody in it is bad, children suck, marriage is awful, and you're stuck with parents. It's not even depressing at this point, it's just tired-feeling.

Ah well.

I read this book pretty rapidly I think because I've always loved Greek mythology and this take on the Achilles myth is well-written. It's essentially a love story between Patroclus and Achilles, told from the point of view of Patroclus. Patroclus was a pretty minor character in the ancient myths, his one major act being the impersonation of Achilles during the Trojan War. I really enjoyed reading this, with all the nods to other stories, and the takes on the immortal, mortal, and half-mortal characters. There are moments that play a little flat, but never for too long. I enjoyed the way it was written, and even the more 'romantic' parts were elegant and not at all cheesy. It was such a page-turner because I knew what was going to happen, but I was so excited to see it through Patroclus' point of view, and how Miller would write it.

If I could dock 1/2 star for the certain flat moments, I would, but really this is a superb and entertaining book. Recommend to mythology lovers.

A truly fantastic read; sometimes you can see how a story will unfold, especially if it's something that's been around for so long (a 'classic,' really). But I was surprised at every clever turn of this book. I loved the characters. Perhaps the most surprising thing was that it was written by a man; Margaret and her sister were cheered on by me in their independence. It was sad, funny, and well-written.

I had my recently read 'On Beauty' by Zadie Smith in my head through much of the book; the characters in Howard's End are complicated but not all are terrible. It was hard to like anyone in 'On Beauty,' but I did like the fact that Howard in 'On Beauty' was an awful, terrible, no good person and 'Howard' in 'Howard's End' is just the name of a place. That, at least, was clever.

Woah. I'd already seen the movie (and own it), so I know what this book would entail. It's graphic and visceral and I winced at times while I read it. However, it's an eerie and mysterious novel that has a good narrative. It has a couple of great characters who are very, very different but I came to love them both. Unfortunately the writing veers into corny territory at times, but I can see the potential for Heim and his future writing. Look forward to reading something else by him at some point.

Only recommended if you can take disturbing fare. I highly recommend the film, too. Again, disturbing.

Many people said this book would be something I'd have to slog through but I actually very much enjoyed reading this book. The characters were all varied and interesting... some I was rooting for, others I suspected (rightly) of wrongdoing, and a few I absolutely despised.


Isabel Archer is quite layered...and James doesn't always elaborate on quite what she's thinking, but during one wonderful passage he does and it's enlightening and powerful.


The ending was intriguing and I like to theorize how life ended up for Isabel. I'd consider this a new favorite, and look forward to re-reading it down the road.

I've said this again and again, but I don't read books intending to relate to them. I tend to like books to escape into a world. And I'm not saying I relate much to Junot Diaz's main character Yunior, but that Latino-American culture and the rhythm of speaking English and Spanish simultaneously -- that I can relate to.

Diaz isn't Bolano or Marquez or Allende, and he's not Franzen or Eggers (thankfully), he's a Latino American, he knows both the DR and the tri-state area. It's a rare voice in contemporary literature, and one I enjoyed reading as a Latina American. As Yunior would say, I'm a halfie.

And Yunior, the protagonist of most of these short stories, is not the most likable guy. But for the most part he's young and navigating relationships -- family and romantic. And when anybody is young and trying to figure things out, that's when you make mistakes, and you're working towards the person you will become. You can see the factors that have led Yunior to the snapshot of him at his oldest, in the last story, you can see from the other stories of him and his brother moving to the U.S., of his relationship with his father, of his time with his brother when he was a teenager, his first loves, and how it formed this adult. And, I mean, nobody's ever done learning or making mistakes, but it's all evident here in Diaz's writing of this character (his alter-ego).

The writing itself has a flow. It may be mostly English peppered with Spanish, but it's not jarring at all. The writing is great, innovative, and lyrical. It has this weird prettiness to it even though there's so much slang and offensive words (and sometimes thoughts/ideas) involved.

I look forward to reading more Diaz in the future. Probably should get to that Pulitzer Prize-winner many people put me off of, but one person recommended (the same who recommended this book). Figured I should start with the shorter book, which I heard more good things about recently, even though a Pulitzer Prize is pretty good recommendation. I understand why people might not like Diaz's writing and stories, but to me I'm grateful for them. I think they're important.

P.S. Highly recommend another author that I relate to as a Latina even moreso, [a:Cristina Henriquez|84994|Cristina Henriquez|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1374519075p2/84994.jpg]. Perhaps because her books are about Panamanian Americans, my exact background. And, you know, she's a woman.