Reviews by sageysage | The StoryGraph

124 reviews by:

sageysage

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How to Sell a Haunted House

Grady Hendrix

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Really enjoyed this book! Some of the scenes had me genuinely shocked and stressed, which was interesting because the book read like a young adult novel in a lot of ways. The book somehow made me sympathetic to Mark by the end which I was not expecting. Good easy spooky read.

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf

3.5

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective

A very interesting book that gives some great insights. You can definitely tell that it’s a book written in the 1920s by some of the perspectives offered by Woolf, but perhaps they were satire that I wasn’t picking up on. Very eye opening to see how much feminism has progressed in the near century since the book was published.

Content Warnings

South of the Border, West of the Sun

Haruki Murakami

1.0

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I don’t know if I’m just stupid but I have no idea what the hell was meant to be going on. I feel so bad for this man’s wife and kids. Usually love Murakmi but I felt like this had all of the things I’m not a fan of with Murakami (poorly developed female characters and unredeemable misogynistic men) and none of my favourite elements (creativity and magic). Would not read again unless someone gave me some vital context on why this is actually a good book.

Outlawed

Anna North

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved this book! Way more religious undertones than I expected but makes sense for the time period. The book did a great job of having an interesting premise and setting while also making the reader invested in the characters. Kept wanting to pick this up so I could know what happened next. Would definitely read a sequel.

Content Warnings

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway

3.5

adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Nice quick read. Did find it a bit laborious but I think that’s kind of the point.

Content Warnings

The School for Good Mothers

Jessamine Chan

4.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Fascinating and well thought out premise/plot. The experiences the women in the book have to go through are insane and made my jaw literally drop and share passages with my partner. I wish more was revealed in the ending.

I struggled to understand if I was meant to want Frida to reunite with Harriet as her mother though. Despite her progress, I do think she was unfit to parent. However, the decision for her not to be able to visit Harriet at all felt cruel and obviously her treatment in the centre was inhumane and psychologically damaging. I really wish they revealed how the days following her kidnap of Harriet went, and if the details of the program ever leaked or if those responsible faced any consequences for their treatment of the mothers and artificial children.

Content Warnings