viscountess_black's Reviews (427)

Anne of Green Gables

L.M. Montgomery

5.0

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is such a beautiful story, I can't believe I didn't read it before.

Inside Harare Alcatraz and Other Short Stories

Andrew Chatora

4.0

challenging dark informative reflective sad 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: Complicated

Inside Harare Alcatraz and Other Short Stories is one of those books that comprise an illness present in society called racism, present in the lives of Zimbabweans living in England or/and naturalized, an active disease propagated and promoted by the government systematically, since it affects to those citizens in all aspects of their lives: unable to access to healthcare programs or simply negated, being persecuted and profiled by the police because of their skin colour, dismissed or denied of job opportunities because of skin colour and their names, as well as being thwarted educationally because of their location, their names AND their skin colour. Marvellous how we have advanced as a society...

Some of the stories inside this book also mentions the problems the Zimbabweans as a society have to come to terms with in their country because they are powerless to overcome the constant abuse of power of their leaders, all the corruption and how it affects them.

It is well worth the reading.

Thank you to Andrew Chatora, Kharis Publishing and Netgalley for this free copy I received in exchange of a fair review.

In the Land of the Long White Cloud

Sarah Lark

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is the third book I read by the author and I'm as in love with it as I was of the first one "Island of a Thousand Springs".
This author delivers and I find myself eager to keep reading her novels.

Death in Venice

Thomas Mann

2.0

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The language is poetic and unsettling.

I'm Afraid of Men

Vivek Shraya

4.0

challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

I keep getting wake up calls everywhere I go, and this book is a strong one.
It keeps telling me: You cannot remain neutral, and the first step is to go and inform yourself, learn and not only analyse what you learn, but sit and really think about it. This world we live in is full of problems, but we have the key in our hands to pave it into a better world, even if it hurts to acknowledge certain things.

La Casa de los Espíritus

Isabel Allende

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

Consorting with Spirits: Your Guide to Working with Invisible Allies

Jason G. Miller

4.0

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Grimm's Puppets

Tom Prater

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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: Complicated

We find the story of Will, a sarcastic man whose brilliance is and should be recognized, even tho he doesn't seem to feel like doing so himself. He goes back to his childhood village urged by his father and gets involved in a murder investigation of a serial killer who is apparently a big fan of the Grimm Brother's fairytales, where besides experiencing some traumatic events, gets to know himself better and makes so friends along the way.
This first novel of the author is a work worth 5 stars and if I could give it a higher rating, I would.

Fanny, A Mansfield Park Story

Amelia Marie Logan

5.0

challenging emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'm so in love with this couple, you can't honestly expect me to give it less than five stars, considering the effort the author made in this story which is quite notable.

Revisit Mansfield Park: How Fanny Married Henry

Sarah Ozcandarli

5.0

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what I expected when I read Mansfield Park and was so disappointed to find such a bad ending for two characters who deserved MORE. Way more than it was given to them, unfortunately.
Fanny deserved to be happy and recognized, as well as did Henry deserve to get another chance, a chance to become better for himself and for Fanny. So, I'm so glad I found this book and that the author managed to give them such a beautiful ending in which they both grow as characters without leaving behind their essence.

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