rickjones's Reviews (1.66k)

The Last Book Party is an atmospheric and inviting novel about growing up to leave behind misconceptions and creative restraints. Throughout most of the novel Eve is caught in the shadow of her shame for not being brilliant in the eyes of her family, and craving something more out of her life, even if that means making poorly considered and ill-fated decisions for her relationships and career. While the book was a relaxing read due to its easy-going descriptions of Cape Cod, it also felt like watching an explosion in slow motion. I appreciated its message on how genius is not all its made out to be, and its thoughtful exploration of a flawed protagonist. 

This was an eerie, disturbing novel about how loss about bodily autonomy leads to loss of life entirely. I found it interesting how our protagonist never had a perspective told in first person within the story, as her perspective and selfhood aren't respected by any member of her family. The characters, their odd viewpoints, strange mannerisms, and ultimate downfalls were well crafted and engaging to read, despite their grotesqueness. This is a book to mull over and study, as it has much to say. 

This Is How You Lose the Time War is a wildly creative romance that careens across space and time. The opening prose was some of the greatest I've ever read, and I savored the strange technologies and worlds the characters use and fight for. Yet midway through the novel I'd grown a little tired of the brief, episodic chapters that switched between the two leads. This interrupted the flow of my reading, but may be more appreciated by readers who want to read in short bursts. This is a unique, well-plotted work worth spending time with. 

A great graphic novel about the fear and guilt that amplifies eating disorders, especially when they're trained into a young person by their parent. I appreciated that this story portrayed the thought process of a teenage girl who starts out obsessed with thinness and perceived perfection in the eyes of her mother, and later re-evaluates why she feels this way and aims to improve her fatphobic beliefs and suffocating relationship with her mother as she works towards recovery. The illustrations are colorful and dynamic; breezy in some scenes, yet display emotion clearly in tenser ones.  This is a valuable book for those who've been affected by disordered eating and who are learning how to balance their love for their parents with their frustration towards their hurtful behavior. This is a difficult story to tell, yet Ying never stumbled. 

Skin-crawingly disturbing and one of the most brilliant novels I've read. Leech begins as gothic science fiction with wildly creative atmosphere and worldbuilding, then seemlessly twists into a horror story about lack of bodily autonomy. It's a scream, a vengeance, and a triumph. 

Death in Her Hands is an eerie, winding novel that introduces you to the spiraling mind of an unreliable narrator. By the end of the book we are left with more questions than answers, though I still enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others looking to get lost in something strange. 

Sisters is a suspenseful, almost gothic story of two sisters with a parasitic bond. Although I predicted the major twist early on, I remained engrossed in the novel due to its language, unique imagery, and portrayal of the sisters' dangerous yet seemingly innocent rituals and relationship. I've never read another book quite like this and am definitely interested in exploring more from this author. I would recommend this book to other readers who enjoy off-putting character studies that push the limits of reality. 

Regardless of how Bitter Orange was not as twisty or thrilling as the inner reviews made it out to be, I was glued to the pages during the latter half of the book and kept tumbling the characters and their narration around in my head for days afterward. The language in the book is beautiful, dazzling with imagery and the allure of friendship. I would reccomend reading this book for those features, although I found the twist ending somewhat predictable.