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pineconek's Reviews (816)
This is a "how the fuck do I rate this book" kind of read. We'll go with three stars for "I enjoyed it a lot but can't recommend it in good conscience".
This book is Dark. Take a look at some of the reviews for content warnings (albeit they're a little spoiler-y). Parts of this book require a strong stomach. This isn't quite convenience store woman. It's closer to the movie Dogtooth.
Anyway, I loved it. The author has this incredible way of writing unreliable narrators who explicitly say one thing while the implicit/objective reality remains extremely obvious. The lamp scene was a horrifying masterpiece (if you know, you know). I can't wait to see what's next from this ingenuous writer.
In short: don't be fooled by the cute hedgehog on the cover.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
This book is Dark. Take a look at some of the reviews for content warnings (albeit they're a little spoiler-y). Parts of this book require a strong stomach. This isn't quite convenience store woman. It's closer to the movie Dogtooth.
Anyway, I loved it. The author has this incredible way of writing unreliable narrators who explicitly say one thing while the implicit/objective reality remains extremely obvious. The lamp scene was a horrifying masterpiece (if you know, you know). I can't wait to see what's next from this ingenuous writer.
In short: don't be fooled by the cute hedgehog on the cover.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
VC Andrews is a blast to read as long as you don't take any of it seriously.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
I literally have no idea how to rate this book.
I'm tempted to give it one star. My life was indeed better before I read this. I'm fairly sure this book triggered a minor depressive episode (and I don't say that lightly). It was frustrating, self indulgent, and exploitative of a massive tragedy.
In also tempted to give it three stars. I think overall I'm glad I read it but I wouldn't recommend it widely. Only to people who want to read a sad book and can tolerate...the various bits here.
And part of me wants to say five stars because the author succeeds in what she endeavours to do: writing an unlikeable female character who is somehow also unfortunately relatable. Making me viscerally feel emotions (albeit those are mostly frustration anger and sadness) and making me reflect on my own life.
So yeah, I'll go with the median and give it a 3. I said that, and then read a few more bad reviews, and feel better about giving this a 1 star. This is more in the league of "things have gotten worse since we last spoke" than anything I actually give 3 merited stars to. Read with caution if you're curious, it's a doozy.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
I'm tempted to give it one star. My life was indeed better before I read this. I'm fairly sure this book triggered a minor depressive episode (and I don't say that lightly). It was frustrating, self indulgent, and exploitative of a massive tragedy.
In also tempted to give it three stars. I think overall I'm glad I read it but I wouldn't recommend it widely. Only to people who want to read a sad book and can tolerate...the various bits here.
And part of me wants to say five stars because the author succeeds in what she endeavours to do: writing an unlikeable female character who is somehow also unfortunately relatable. Making me viscerally feel emotions (albeit those are mostly frustration anger and sadness) and making me reflect on my own life.
So yeah, I'll go with the median and give it a 3. I said that, and then read a few more bad reviews, and feel better about giving this a 1 star. This is more in the league of "things have gotten worse since we last spoke" than anything I actually give 3 merited stars to. Read with caution if you're curious, it's a doozy.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
It's not me, it's you and all your exes.
I'm not the right audience for this book but I thought I was. The title and opening had me so excited and led me to thinking this was one kind of book when it's actually another. And what it is is not something I really care for.
80% of this book focuses on Lola, our narrator, interacting with an ex and rehashing their relationship. And each relationship was, to me, painfully mundane. They bled into each other and lacked substance. The narration was also focused on being witty and emotionally detached and making witty comments about the emotional detachment which was...not my scene. I don't find lukewarm apathy towards people in my life very relatable, which is largely why this book drove me up the wall. The other 20% focuses on some cult stuff that's really more of a loosely sci-fi esque wellness center and is otherwise remarkably bland. I couldn't help but picture a Scientology spa.
That said, I will recommend it for a specific audience. If you think it would be cathartic to go through a roster of mediocre Tinder dates from the perspective of a mid-30 year old New Yorker, then this is the book for you. But, to me, reading this felt like being cornered at a party by someone I didn't want to talk to.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
I'm not the right audience for this book but I thought I was. The title and opening had me so excited and led me to thinking this was one kind of book when it's actually another. And what it is is not something I really care for.
80% of this book focuses on Lola, our narrator, interacting with an ex and rehashing their relationship. And each relationship was, to me, painfully mundane. They bled into each other and lacked substance. The narration was also focused on being witty and emotionally detached and making witty comments about the emotional detachment which was...not my scene. I don't find lukewarm apathy towards people in my life very relatable, which is largely why this book drove me up the wall. The other 20% focuses on some cult stuff that's really more of a loosely sci-fi esque wellness center and is otherwise remarkably bland. I couldn't help but picture a Scientology spa.
That said, I will recommend it for a specific audience. If you think it would be cathartic to go through a roster of mediocre Tinder dates from the perspective of a mid-30 year old New Yorker, then this is the book for you. But, to me, reading this felt like being cornered at a party by someone I didn't want to talk to.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
What?
I'm...pretty disappointed. I knew that it was a shock value book filled with depravity and like...I've read hurricane season and tender is the flesh. I'm ok with challenging myself.
But the speed of the relationship made next to no sense. It actually started off decently, reasonably paced, had a few interesting no sequiturs...and then ended with "here's all the shock value you want". I should've read a plot summary and saved myself the trouble, and I recommend you do the same if you're entertaining the thought of picking up this book.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
I'm...pretty disappointed. I knew that it was a shock value book filled with depravity and like...I've read hurricane season and tender is the flesh. I'm ok with challenging myself.
But the speed of the relationship made next to no sense. It actually started off decently, reasonably paced, had a few interesting no sequiturs...and then ended with "here's all the shock value you want". I should've read a plot summary and saved myself the trouble, and I recommend you do the same if you're entertaining the thought of picking up this book.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/-s8LI8RxP7c
Wow wow wow. I wasn't sure how one book could cover two family branches of 8 generations so concisely and I'm impressed as heck. This book was beautiful and heartbreaking in all the right ways. The author painted amazing scenes in such few words to carry us from 18th century Ghana to the present day (in Ghana and the US). What an amazing feat of a novel.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/mWv_X7hblGk
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/mWv_X7hblGk
This was a challenging read for me. It was too close to home on several points and brought up some old and difficult memories. On that alone, I'm biased to give it five stars. The writing is also (obviously) fantastic and it explores the tension between being loyal to your family and being loyal to yourself, which is one of my favourite themes. The praises for this book are well deserved.
I am someone who gets very sentimental about books. I see them as sacred and powerful things. I am also someone who enjoys a well-crafted allegory and likes cats, so this was the right book for me.
I loved the love of books that seeped from these pages. The construction of the plot gave homage to other familiar works, but especially the Little Prince. This book is essentially the Little Prince only the people visited are focused on completing their goodreads challenge (no really - speedreading and book hoarding and plowing through a list without taking time to savour things are all criticized). This familiar construction does mean that the plot is perfectly predictable, but this is not a book meant to be read for plot.
The writing is very beautiful. I annotated my physical copy and am so happy with the quotes I'll be able to flip back to. The experience of reading this book left me feeling peaceful, which is all I could ask for.
Lastly, I found this an interesting and touching way to explore processing grief and reconnecting with the outside world. Books have done that for me too.
Recommended if you're sentimental about books, don't mind predictable plotlines, and are prepared to be reminded of simple but important truths.
Favourite quotes here: https://youtu.be/a38Jv_1DX-A
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vMa3vzClYkA
I loved the love of books that seeped from these pages. The construction of the plot gave homage to other familiar works, but especially the Little Prince. This book is essentially the Little Prince only the people visited are focused on completing their goodreads challenge (no really - speedreading and book hoarding and plowing through a list without taking time to savour things are all criticized). This familiar construction does mean that the plot is perfectly predictable, but this is not a book meant to be read for plot.
The writing is very beautiful. I annotated my physical copy and am so happy with the quotes I'll be able to flip back to. The experience of reading this book left me feeling peaceful, which is all I could ask for.
Lastly, I found this an interesting and touching way to explore processing grief and reconnecting with the outside world. Books have done that for me too.
Recommended if you're sentimental about books, don't mind predictable plotlines, and are prepared to be reminded of simple but important truths.
Favourite quotes here: https://youtu.be/a38Jv_1DX-A
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vMa3vzClYkA
Emily St John Mandel is the type of writer where, even if I'm not quite vibing with what's going on, I enjoy every word.
Last night in Montreal is unlike most of EStJM's other books, two of which are in my top favourite books of all time. This is a realistic sad story about a handful of people coping with the kind of loneliness that comes from feeling unloved and unlovable. There's a lot of dualism self/shadow self stuff going on where you can't look away from watching these pairs of characters echo each other's miseries. The title gains painful ambiguity as the story progresses.
My current life mission is to feel enamored by montreal winters rather than enter full hibernation like I usually do, but EStJM's descriptions of the ice-cold winds on st Catherine's aren't making it easy. The city generally is painted in a very unflattering and uninviting light, which has been diametrically opposed from my own experience with it - but I'll forgive EStJM given the beauty of the prose.
Reconmended if you are looking to read Paper Towns by John Green as sad adult literary fiction, love languages, and hate the bitter cold of Montreal.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/Wj9tTFqo-BM
Last night in Montreal is unlike most of EStJM's other books, two of which are in my top favourite books of all time. This is a realistic sad story about a handful of people coping with the kind of loneliness that comes from feeling unloved and unlovable. There's a lot of dualism self/shadow self stuff going on where you can't look away from watching these pairs of characters echo each other's miseries. The title gains painful ambiguity as the story progresses.
My current life mission is to feel enamored by montreal winters rather than enter full hibernation like I usually do, but EStJM's descriptions of the ice-cold winds on st Catherine's aren't making it easy. The city generally is painted in a very unflattering and uninviting light, which has been diametrically opposed from my own experience with it - but I'll forgive EStJM given the beauty of the prose.
Reconmended if you are looking to read Paper Towns by John Green as sad adult literary fiction, love languages, and hate the bitter cold of Montreal.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/Wj9tTFqo-BM
Review for chapters 1-135 (so up to volume 13 or so).
This goes from being horrifying to being really sad. Great manga that I would recommend to very few people given how taboo of a terrifying subject it touches on.
If you do want to pick it up though, I recommend it only if you've resolved any latent issues you have with your childhood caregivers (or not, I won't judge if you feel like retraumatizing yourself).
More thoughts here: More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/Wj9tTFqo-BM
This goes from being horrifying to being really sad. Great manga that I would recommend to very few people given how taboo of a terrifying subject it touches on.
If you do want to pick it up though, I recommend it only if you've resolved any latent issues you have with your childhood caregivers (or not, I won't judge if you feel like retraumatizing yourself).
More thoughts here: More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/Wj9tTFqo-BM