seyoban's reviews
201 reviews

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There’s “unlikeable main character” and then there’s this 💀 this book was a PAINFUL read at times but that’s not a criticism, really just the intended effect. I found the middle to be pretty slow and repetitive. I wish some of the whining from the middle would have been cut to allow for more space to explore the classic bruised ego to alt-right pipeline (see Russell Brand for real life example) which was hinted at towards the end. I appreciate what RF Kuang is doing with her amazing writing and the messages she’s putting out into the world. 

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

An enjoyable read but not my favourite of her books. The pacing seemed pretty off - Carrie’s character development all seemed to suddenly kick in within the space of a few pages without it feeling like a gradual process. It got a little repetitive at times but I still couldn’t put it down, especially because tennis is perhaps the only sport I find exciting. A strange choice to have a white author write a Latina main character without that part of her identity being explored in much depth, especially when both Nicki and Gwen made mention of racism that they faced. I find it hard to believe that Carrie’s heritage wouldn’t have formed some of the media narrative surrounding her, especially back in the 80s & 90s. Overall I liked it but it has its flaws!

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

3.0

Babel by R.F. Kuang

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This is a masterpiece of a book and a complete one of a kind. I thought it surely couldn’t live up to the hype but it exceeded it for me. I feel sad, angry, and powerless but also inspired and motivated. Wow. 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Everything is dark and awful and none of the characters are likeable and I felt like I needed to take a shower after every reading of this book bc it all made me feel so icky. Just pure bleakness but Gillian Flynn is so incredible and it’s such a page-turning mystery that I can’t help but love it. Potentially controversial opinion but by far my favourite book of hers for the sheer chaos of it all. 

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.75

I really didn’t expect to like this book after reading the first chapter because I found Esther to be a little irritating. I thought her quirkiness came across as too try-hard and didn’t know if I could stomach a whole book of it. But then I got to the passage where she watches the 1/50 video and the absolute beauty of it turned me around. And THEN it turns out that her try-hard quirkiness wasn’t a pitfall of the author’s characterisation of Esther but a very intentional choice and I love it when authors catch me out like that. Mental health struggles are handled with such compassion in this story and I feel like a better person for having read it. 

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I just love Daphne du Maurier so much. The way she wrote addiction in this book is so clever and true to life and I was drawn right into the story. The historical sections didn’t grab me until later in the book as I found it confusing to try and keep up with them all, and I found it a bit of a chore to get through the geographical descriptions too. Not my favourite of her work that I’ve read so far but still largely enjoyable. 

I Know You by Annabel Kantaria
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.

Every single person in this story was unlikeable and I had to admit defeat when I realised that I truly didn’t care how any of it ended up. The main narrator was meant to be American but used British phrases - I’m not really sure why the author chose to make her American when it wasn’t factored into her characterisation other than the mentions of her travels and places she’d lived. Also why was everyone being so mean to each other when they’re supposed to be friends? And I couldn’t deal with the cringe of everybody’s social media captions which dated the book horribly. Rant over - I’ll be taking this one back to the charity shop!

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Never has a book made me feel as tense as this one did in the last 150 or so pages. My heart was quite literally pounding and I couldn’t put it down - amazing writing. 

I found the beginning to be a little slow to get into but wow was it worth it to persevere 

Sundial by Catriona Ward

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Each page was more disturbing than the last and I honestly think it was pure morbid curiosity that kept me going. Horrifying stuff, but credit to the author that one of the most horrifying aspects of the book was also a real act of human cruelty that she wanted to bring attention to. 

 I didn’t like the Arrowwood chapters (I didn’t care enough for the overall story to think about the symbolism of them) but the way things were tied up at the end was satisfying.