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adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Procastination, resistance you name it it is the the same thing. I chose this (summary, since I like my self help book as short as possible)
I personally have a lot of creative ideas which I have been procrastinating for months and years. "I want to tap into the highest point of contribution" This I listened to this. It was a great and short listen. Loved the points in the book how to overcome my resistance. Not sure about how the long version of this book but this was not at all a waste of time.
I personally have a lot of creative ideas which I have been procrastinating for months and years. "I want to tap into the highest point of contribution" This I listened to this. It was a great and short listen. Loved the points in the book how to overcome my resistance. Not sure about how the long version of this book but this was not at all a waste of time.
Another book I need to come back to. I took a long break while reading this which kinda defeated my purpose to read this. Will give it a chance again in near future
Too long for the moment and I took way to long to get back to tie. It definitely is a great book with a really slow pace so I just need to start this a fresh again. Within this year.
I thought I would love the book but it was too confusing for me at the moment. I shall get back to it another time.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
"The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly" is my first five-star book of this year.
Plotline: Sprout, a battery hen who dreams of hatching an egg on her own. She leaves the conventional world of hens and becomes independent while protecting and striving for a better life.
Character development and depths: the animal characters used regardless they are black or white as the story passes it justifies the actions of each animal teaching us about the sacrifice the parents make for their children.
Writing style: I have read quite a lot of Korean-English translations and I found myself always preferring the writing style regardless these are translated by different translators. The book consists of a very light writing style.
Readability: This is only a little over 100 pages which are very easy to read through and the sentences and the lexicon used is really easy to understand.
Readability: This is only a little over 100 pages which are very easy to read through and the sentences and the lexicon used is really easy to understand.
Message: It talks a lot about parental sacrifice and the importance of having a dream regardless of what others think of you. Also about the courage and the striving for the results and never giving up on what/who you love.
Originality: I have not seen many books where they justify all the black and white characters to show why certain things are done by black characters. The villains receiving the sympathy was a fresh experience.
Immersion (Rich world-building): The imagery and the characters portrayal was nicely done using only animal characters to tell a bigger story in a short story like this. I love how the author describes the peaceful life of the preyed animals and how they try to survive and co-exist instead of running away. The imagery upon the reservoir and migrating ducks and the nature writing adds some relaxing feelings to the story.
Ending: Most of the books I read recently lost a point for the ending even though they were all five-star promising books. However, "The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly" has a very sweet ending and also a very justified ending. It is not all sad and it is not all happy. Like the yin and yang of life.
Emotions: I don’t know about you but these types of books are enough to make my grown-ass cry like a baby. It is a sad but pretty awesome story to read. I loved every bit of it.
Would you recommend it to someone: Yes. anyone who prefers to read about animal world fiction with a nice underlying story would love this.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A short story about a woman who is mentally suffering during her postpartum period. She is constantly told she only needs the rest cure by her physician husband and the physician brother regardless she knows she is not fine. She finds a woman trapped in the ugly yellow wallpaper in her room which she at first despised but later comes to be obsessed about. Throughout the entire story, the oppressive gender roles are shown as the woman is controlled by the male authority figures.
Character development and depths: The male characters: the husband and the brother who are physicians have the final say in everything about the main character’s life. The female characters: A woman in a misogynistic society where women experienced medical and social discrimination. Women were widely seen as psychologically weak, frail, and illiterate. The husband’s sister is on the side of the brother instead of understanding how the sister in law is doing. The woman trapped in the yellow wallpaper is symbolizing merely the main character trapped in herself. The husband and the sister in law seem to notice there is something wrong with the yellow wallpaper but do not try to see the woman trapped inside, giving the idea of how actually ignorant they are towards the woman’s trapped mental state.
Character development and depths: The male characters: the husband and the brother who are physicians have the final say in everything about the main character’s life. The female characters: A woman in a misogynistic society where women experienced medical and social discrimination. Women were widely seen as psychologically weak, frail, and illiterate. The husband’s sister is on the side of the brother instead of understanding how the sister in law is doing. The woman trapped in the yellow wallpaper is symbolizing merely the main character trapped in herself. The husband and the sister in law seem to notice there is something wrong with the yellow wallpaper but do not try to see the woman trapped inside, giving the idea of how actually ignorant they are towards the woman’s trapped mental state.
Writing style: It is written in the form of a letter or a journal which helps to dramatize the events and the inner struggle of the main character and accounts of the other characters through her eyes.
Readability: Very easy to read. No bulky paragraphs. Mostly in separated sentences of the woman’s journaling and thoughts
Readability: Very easy to read. No bulky paragraphs. Mostly in separated sentences of the woman’s journaling and thoughts
Message: The medical and societal oppression of women in the misogynistic society. The message is conveyed in a subtle way. The fact that the book is only accounting for the woman's side, not any other characters also makes it a bit hard only to blame the male figures. Also with the only other woman in the story: the sister in law seems to be on the husband’s side regardless she is being a woman.
Originality: Even though I am sure the setting is brand new to me, the theme of women’s role in patriarchy is a common theme.
Immersion (Rich world-building): My favourite part about the story is how the yellow wallpaper symbolizes a lot about the story. The yellow wallpaper is a very ugly depressing wallpaper with a tedious pattern. The woman confined to a room has no choice but to be obsessed with the wallpaper. For me personally, it portrays the domestic role of a woman who is not allowed to financially or to have a mind of her own. The only responsibility she had was to bear a child. So the woman she sees trapped in the wallpaper kind of explores the idea of herself being trapped in a misogynistic household.
Plotline: The plot is very simple and predictable in the beginning but it would come to a point when you call the plot thickens–I could not wait to see the deal about this yellow wallpaper that haunts and seduces her. Still an enjoyable plot!
Ending: The narrator imagines the woman trapped in the wallpaper has finally emerged from the wallpaper implying that she has finally succumbed to her madness. It was a dramatic ending but I was a little confused when reading it why the husband reacted in a certain way at the end. I would have preferred a different, more intense ending.
Emotions: It was a pretty intense read. Since the book is categorized as horror as well, I was totally expecting a very horror-ish dark incident in the book. Nevertheless, the anticipation of the yellow wallpaper and the woman behind its pattern was pretty intense and scary to read about.
Would you recommend it to someone: yes. It is a very easy narrative to read. You can probably finish it in an hour or so.
Too religious but a nice
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Character development and depths: The mother-daughter relationship how it starts how it goes and how it ends is very universal and hits home.
- Writing style: food as the foundation, emotional, like a child's cry for their mother
- Readability: I listened to the audiobook version which was read by Michelle Zauner herself. Her voice is therapeutic and very calming to listen to.
- Message: cherish the time you have with your parents
- Originality: This is a universal story that we all have seen but it does not dilute the importance of this story at all
- Immersion (Rich world-building): Food as the base she dives into the world of her mother's world, and her Korean identity
- Plotline: These kinds of books we do not read for the plot as it's known what's gonna happen, we only read it learn about the writer's experience
- Ending: It was a bit of a slow ending and very emotional
- Emotions: Very universal emotions, I thought to myself 'don't we all have similar relationships with our families. We love them we hate them and when they are not around we miss what we had
- Would you recommend it to someone: yes to anyone who would like memoirs and who doesn't mind getting teared up a bit. Also to anyone who loves Korean food.
Graphic: Cancer
adventurous
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- character development and depths? It was too YA. The main character is just corny and confusing. Some characters were nice and well built up but the main characters were too dense and predictable as well. However since it's a YA story the characters would appeal more to the young adult audience.
- Writing style? An amazing writing style by the author. Very rich language and phrases and also it was informative on the Ojibwe tribe, nature and science.
- Readability? I picked up the audiobook which was a good choice. It was very easy to listen to. The narrator did a great job as well.
- The message? The cultural messages of identity and community were great. Also the message about the communal misogyny and the patriarchy and the importance of keeping women safe was great but sometimes they lost the message at some points.
- Originality? An indigenous story with a drug trafficking conflict narrative earned a point but the conventional characters lost some points from it.
- Immersion (Rich world building)? A nice and meaningful world building by the author ety the Ojibwe community. Even the descriptions of nature and the fictional Sugar Island was amazing.
- Plot line? the story did lose me at some moment. Considering the length of the book those losing parts were very memorable. Also, the culprit was very predictable from the start. And the romance in the story was corny and weak in a very Twilight-y way. Also the fact the FBI got a teenage girl involved in a drug trafficking incident seem too unreal and very YA.
- Ending? Staisfacory as the main characters no matter how corny their love hate relationship was, the ending made sure to come and and press the original themes of identity and community.
- Emotions (overall)? it was too YA for me. There was too much of Daunise focused corny scenes which did not sit well with me.
- Would you recommend it to someone? I would recommend this to a young adult. And probably the audiobook.
Side note- the cover of this book deserve an award for being one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen.
Graphic: Addiction, Trafficking
Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment