emma7377's reviews
46 reviews

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

the way lestat talks about louis will always floor me. i love lestat so much! so excited for season 3 of iwtv!!! 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

was enthralled by this book!! i’m convinced i wouldve finished it in a day if i wasn’t running around with my extended family all week! 

this kind of book is rare because its pacing is so perfect. not once did i think the author was dragging an idea or event out unnecessarily. props to the author and/or editor.

i originally thought this book’s only flaw was that it became a little too predictable from around two thirds of the way through but, upon reflection, it didnt take anything away from my enjoyment of it and isnt really a flaw at all. if there had been a super unexpected and crazy twist at the end i think it wouldve felt out of place/wouldnt have made sense.

also i say this a lot but i really do need a movie adaptation because i think it would be beautiful. it would be great if they casted either timothee chalamet or josh o conner as piranesi so that everyone tunes in. imagine if they were grow out their lovely dark curls ugh they would both be perfect. i also reckon that they both could play that innocence and naivety that piranesi has very well based on their previous work. it would also be so good shot on film so its a little fuzzy and dreamy and i’d love if the colour grading progressed from cooler to warmer throughout the film- can u tell i’ve thought a lot about this? 

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

challenging informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

EDIT: it is one week after making the review below and i cant stop thinking about the book so im raising my rating to 5 stars! it was just so good and gave me the same feeling i had when i finished a secret history!

This took me so long to read, but that’s only due to my post exam burnout and just being at work in the evenings when i usually read, not because this book isn’t excellent. 

mild spoiler warning!
X is such an interesting character but thank god she’s not a person because I would hate her more than I’ve hated anyone. The narratar’s relationship with her evolves to become a little…cultish? She’s this one-woman cult dedicated to having X percieve her in a certain way as she constantly censors her immediate thoughts and desires whenever talking to her, fearing that X will look down on her for them. It’s infuriating to read…and also midly familiar. I strangely felt myself relating to the narratar’s passive obedience (maybe thats not the right word) during her time with X and her realisations post X and how she realises these realisations aren’t even complete and never will be and ultimately mean nothing. The only realisation i guess is that some people, like X, can never be explained. I like that there is no big red bow to tie the events of X’s life together and explain it all - it feels right. She wasn’t meant to make sense just as most people don’t. Also why she is so magnetic and captivating is never quite conveyed which might just be a flaw of the author but then again, some people do just have a charm and power about them that you can’t put a finger on. Maybe it was unintentional but I feel like this helps to make this more grounded and believable. 

Oh and also- I NEED A FILM ADAPTATION NOW. 

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

has all the depth and despair and beauty that you need from good vampire fiction. 

even if you dont read the book, watch the show its phenomenal and so so gay and wild and beautiful. 

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

From the first few pages you immediately feel so much empathy for Charlie because of how mistreated and dehumanised he is. I was on the verge of tears many times throughout and sobbed at the end!! This is one of those books that makes you really care for its characters and miss them when you finish it. 

The book is a series of Charlies reports, documenting his experience during and after the experiment as his intelligence begins to grow. The gradual progression of his grammar and language in these is perfect! I loved how his entries slowly became these really beautiful and insightful reflections that reminded me a little bit of Good Will Hunting and that famous speech Robin Williams gives. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

4.75

oh how i longed to give dorian gray a hard slap and long talking to

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

5.0

cant believe its taken me so long to read this

i understand why people say its slow and i guess thats true, it is slow BUT slow does not equal uninteresting. i honestly loved all 500+ pages of it.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i only partly agree with the overall philosophy but it was mostly just the main character’s personality and the way he viewed the world which was really interesting to me. he was also at times quite relateable. do i think this book is slightly overrated? yes? i think so. it didn’t change my life but i enjoyed it enough so who cares. 

this book also prompted me to search up the last guillotine execution in france AND IT WAS 1977??!?!!! WHAT THE FUCK??!?!!

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

As I was reading I kept on forgetting that this was published in 1951. The way he describes women and their struggles feels so unlike other 20th century books written by men that I have read. A good example is 1984. The way john windham writes women is nothing like that. The narratar doesnt even initially see his love interest as a love interest, seeing her for who she is. They are first and foremost companions, not lovers. Also Bill is just truely empathetic and human, but also is very logical I think, which makes his perspective so satisfying to hear. I love him. 

Also two thirds through I switched to audiobook so I could multitask and there is one on youtube which I would really recommend narrated by Sam West. He’s so good.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

i love my bible fan fiction