samihami's Reviews (112)

Beautiful World, Where Are You

Sally Rooney

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-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: Yes

This is definitely my favourite of Rooney’s so far. The characters felt real and relatable.
I’m seeing the author’s liking in email correspondence and like how Rooney uses it, it really breaks up the traditional structure of contemporary prose.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Mizuki Tsujimura

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I love love love this story. Tsujimura is such a great storyteller.

Neverwhere

Neil Gaiman

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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: No

Made me fall in love with Neil Gaiman.

Mao

Delia Davin

4.5

informative fast-paced

It’s a great summary of Mao’s life, though some parts could’ve been shorter and other longer.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Ocean Vuong

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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: Yes

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

3.0

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan

2.5

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

I didn’t really enjoy this one, but I might’ve just read it at a wrong time in my life.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Baldwin just doesn’t miss.
The writing? Spectacular.
The story? Emotional rollercoaster.
The characters? Deep and heartbreaking.
I love this piece.
I enjoyed his nonfiction a little more but it still didn’t stop me from covering the pages in pen marks. Must-read for everyone, at least once in your life.

Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast

Oscar Wilde

2.0

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

I expected a short story of some kind or poetry or anything and it really is just my fault not reading the blurb.
This is simply just a collection of thoughts and quotes either from Wilde himself or his works. Having read The Picture of Dorian Gray right before, I recognised many of the quotes.
Sometimes they’re insightful and of value but often times it felt taken out of context or with something missing. Most times they seemed thematically categorised but sometimes there was a mess in the system and the categories became really blurry and it all turned into a mush of unrelated quotes and thoughts.

More...