kou
CW: suicide
With the mouth keeping it steady, errors are rare. If you had wanted to announce your suicide, which is to say renounce it, you would have chosen a gentler method. Yours was violent, the results irreversible. You used to think things through before acting. Once you were decided on something, nothing would stop you. Your gaze was no longer fixed on the world around you, but sighted on your target.
Suicide is about the narrator's friend who recounts their memories together, using a second-person perspective. It allows the reader to dive into the life of the friend. The memories are sporadic and random as the book goes along, its choice intentional as memories come and go. Some memories are from daily life, others are from more depressive states, or come from deeper desires.
I had a bit of a harder time diving in, probably because of the repetitive nature of this, some parts being more mundane than others. But, learning that this was Levé's essentially suicide note, you can't help but sympathize..
Thank you to Edelweiss and Deep Vellum Publishing for the arc!
CWs: abortion, assault, femicide, mention of the death of a child, murder, rape
The tone of each narrator was pretty similar for the most part, but I fairly enjoyed the first half as it punched me in the face with such a strong tone, but I definitely wished there was a bit more of inclusivity/variety (so many were related to politicians or some kind of leader). Though, the last chapter definitely gave me shock and made me cry ;-; I'm just baffled how we still live in this world.
Welcome to the Marigold Mind Laundry, where you can wash away the memories you wish to erase..
The premise of this book was quite interesting – would you want to wash away your most hurtful memories, even though they may alter who you are today?
I'm unsure if it was executed properly and thoroughly by the original text or the translation. At times, it was confusing, as we were not fully invested in each character, which I think is a flaw for stories that come in bits and pieces and eventually come as a whole. I will say, however, once Hae-in came in, I needed to know what made him different from the others. It was a happy ending, and I did enjoy it.
This author has written multiple self-help books, which may be another cautionary note for those who may prefer a deeper storyline and strong character development. However, if you love self-help messages integrated intentionally into a fictional story, this might be the book for you.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/The Dial Press for the ARC!
4.5 rounded up;
I continue west. I know you will not be there in the dunes. Except I will be there. I will be there and through me you will be there. I think, if I am in the place where we were together, then we are together again.
Our undead narrator navigates her journey between life and death, aiming for a place she recalls, despite the hiccups and challenges in between. With the first line being “I lost my left arm today,” perhaps it can be taken comically or shocking. But as we follow her travels, we realize that she is reminiscent of the life she once lived, the places she's been, the memories with her lover that leads her west.
It is not so much of a zombie book, but an individual's journey who searches for meaning, navigating yearning and existence.
3.5 rounded down;
What a fun concept, but I'm not sure it was executed to its highest potential.
As we move along, the letters begin falling off the statue, limiting citizens' ability to speak or write letters as the High Order (or eventually High Orter, sounds so silly lmao) punishes those who break this new rule. On one hand, it's a silly, satirical novel in letters, where the days of the week and the months become more ridiculous, the words delivered through odd phonetics with limited letters.. but on the other hand, it's dark as the island becomes a dystopian society that people fall victim to.
There are quite a few characters, and letters are being sent left and right, so you need to keep up with who is related to who, what relationships they have, etc.
Be ready to read it aloud and decode by the end!
I'm pretty sure this is my first time reading/listening to it. Perhaps my expectation was different (I thought this story was more satire/playful); so when Scrooge was pretty much threatened with his death at the end, I was like "wow that got really dark" lol;; ) gotta love a good haunting I guess. I hope he didn't merely change to avoid his death, but rather had a pure change of heart to do good and respect all. I think the way it was written wasn't for me, so I'm curious to see how productions have adapted this classic into films/movies!
4.75 rounded upThis was quite the read! It leads you down the rabbit hole as the main character of this story, the Book Censor, goes down the path once he encounters a book and is challenged by the banned books he begins to discover. The Easter eggs and illustrations throughout the books make the storyline playful, yet the meanings are deep and question the authoritarian society. Time to go read [b:Zorba the Greek 53639 Zorba the Greek Nikos Kazantzakis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542885673l/53639.SY75.jpg 1560878]!
TWs: Death of a family member, animal death/cruelty
“Children long to be loved but at the same time they give the most love. We were once all like that.”
The story shifts from Yunjae to Gon, and then both as they create their bond, both having traumatic experiences in their childhood life; This is a great book to see examples of what children (adolescents) go through.. it especially hit hard for me as I work with kids like these.
Do I give it a 4? a 5?
God this book is so frustrating lmfao I really like the usage of the color white. Most of the animals were defined as "white" or "Snowball"=white snow, and those were the ones that ended up leaving, dying, or "depart" from the Animal Farm. Snowball would be an odd connection, but I think he truly tried to make the farm better compared to Napoleon screwing with the commandments. If the color white symbolizes purity, innocence, cleanliness, then I think this was a great way to demonstrate it. Even Squealer was mentioned as could "change black to white". I can probably read into this waaay more (animal representation, character names, etc.) but my brain is not braining at max speed
3.5 rounded up; Around when it kind of became a throuple, I didn't necessarily enjoyed it..? But the ending with the curse transfer and banishing the devil (for now) was really great. I guess I wished that the throuple thing was more suspenseful and not so foreshadowed and seen from miles away. I wished it went into the drama/past about Rhys and David -- that was what I was waiting for! I felt the character development was there but the history would have added so much more to it.
Thank you Pushkin Press and Netgalley for the ARC!
TWs: Incest, sexual content
Going into this book without knowing much about Marquis de Sade, it was an interesting way to explore his writing, the contents, and how he explored various concepts like morality, sexual desires, human nature, and philosophies.
The first story, Eugenie de Franval, was the longest of the eight short stories, about 40% of the book, followed by others of various stories. They explore similar concepts through 18th-century writing.
It was interesting to read this and then research about him afterward. I would suggest it, but please know that it can be triggering.
TWs: Death of a family member, suicide, abortion
Truly a heartbreaking novel about a mother who loses her daughter and tries to figure out who the culprit is while navigating a world with her Parkinson disease. I really appreciated the Afterward at the end, solidifying the concept and meaning of the phrases, scenes, and characters in the story
Thank you to Random House/Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the ARC!
Welcome to the Coffee Shop that appears. There are no set times, places, or menus from which to order.
The Full Moon Coffee Shop consists of three main stories surrounding various characters finding their way through life as they struggle with various problems, concerns, and troubles. As they find the coffee shop (or rather, it finds them), they are approached by talking cats to allow them the place and time to speak about their concerns, using the natal charts and planet phases.
The illustrations accompanying this story are cute. The characters are also part of each other's lives, and we can follow their journey. By the end, we see them all reflecting on themselves, and moving on was nice.
Perhaps the only thing I wished for was more cat illustrations- it's about the cafe run by cats!/j In addition, I would have appreciated deeper thoughts and reflection on each character as they seemed a little shallow, in my opinion. The natal charts and planet phases were interesting to learn more about, but they became repetitive. However, someone who is deeply interested and invested in astrology may enjoy this book much more than I did.
Overall, it is a lovely short book that casts moonlight on human thoughts, actions, and reflections and how we move forward to continue growing.
3.5 rounded up
TWs: suicide, depression
3.75 rounded up; I enjoyed the vignettes and the short chapters, but some of them seemed a little irrelevant or random with different facts and things, trying to connect the pieces together.. it bagan to jumble up and make no sense at one point. I highlighted quite often in the beginning, so many lines that I could relate to, but once the brother's death happened, her grieving looked different than what I expected. I thought she would grieve more (with the synopsis giving that message of "what if other can't live without them?'), or maybe it wasn't portrayed well/strongly enough. But grief looks different for everyone.
Terrifyingly brutal – I'm just horribly saddened that this is still happening.
Ending prediction: I wonder if the young woman in the second story is a reincarnation of the girl -- the image of the girl/old lady guiding her where she may have possibly died, and continuing this cycle. The continuing appearance of the dog in addition to the lingering scent of gasoline throughout this book would make sense
TWs: confinement, kidnapping, sexual assault, police brutality, natural disaster (aftermath of)
Time is a great healer. It just flows on all of its own accord.
What happens when you lose memories, the objects that once held meaning, and they all disappear?
Major props to the translator, Stephen Snyder, for providing such a translation that pierces and kept me going! In this odd situation, where objects and memories disappear one by one, with no explanation as to how it happens, the dystopian society provides immense tension as we follow the narrator and her story.
The opposites meet their fate at the end and leave it open for the reader, which may be frustrating. But perhaps there is still hope out there through what is kept hidden and safe.
Other quotes:
I clutched the packet and the envelope to my chest and started up the stairs, feeling the warmth of the old man's body still lingering in the objects.'Men who start by burning books end by burning the men.''Our memories have been battered by the disappearances, and even now when it's almost too late, we still don't realize the importance of the things that have been lost.'
Yes, this is life seen by life. But suddenly I forget how to capture whatever is happening., I don't know how to capture whatever exists except by living here...
Despite Lispector's worries about this book not having a plot and being spineless, she still provides her unique prose that makes the reader rethink the daily objects and routines we take for granted. Living is such a difficult thing – it's tiresome, and improvised, and it continues to move as we go from one instance to the next and the next.
My story is living. And I have no fear of failure. Let failure annihilate me, I want the glory of failing.
