i cannot believe that this is a debut. the writing is so strong and compelling, and the storyline equally so. it is rife with commentary on sexism andi cannot believe that this is a debut. the writing is so strong and compelling, and the storyline equally so. it is rife with commentary on sexism and power abuse. while it would be so easy to be one of the many other books that addressed this recently, kaplan offers a fresh perspective and execution. enjoyed this so so much.
if you know anything about me, it is that i could very possibly eat sally rooney books for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and still want more for dessert.
normal people was my first read of hers back in 2019. i remember texting my friends who had already read it, saying, “i have no idea how to rate it”. because reading it was such a humanizing experience and i had no idea how to feel. the book, centered around marianne and connell and their lives from adolescence to adulthood, is wrought with misunderstanding after misunderstanding. they struggle together, they struggle apart.
while this is not my favorite of hers and the only one i rated 4 stars, rooney’s signature sharp prose and acuity in examining human relationships are abundantly evident in this book. like her other books, normal people is not a romance, but it is a character study that has a love story as its scaffolding.
unlike her other two novels, however, normal people is insular to marianne and connell, hyper-focused on the examination into their characters and relationship. she is the only author who can be simultaneously profound and clinically detached in her writing at the same time and still make it feel like magic.
the two main characters have nothing in common from the start. marianne is an outcast in school and from a wealthy family. connell is one of the most popular boys in their grade from a working class background. their paths had never really crossed before they talked; they were acquaintances at best. this made the connection that they had even more jarring, because they created their own little world. they shine the best when they are with each other.
while they attempt to find happiness and their own place in the world when they’re apart (what it means to be ‘normal people), they are two poles of a magnet when they are together. i’m careful not to romanticize their relationship, but there is something that feels electric about them. at one point, connell tells marianne, “i’m not a religious person but i do sometimes think god made you for me”, and i think that’s exactly how i would describe them.
what i actually enjoyed (that many people didn’t) was how rudimentary the side characters and side plots felt. i liked that side characters felt two dimensional and had no real significance to the plot. it got rid of any potential drama or conflict that wouldn’t have amounted to anything at the end apart from it being plot fillers.
in the same vein, i know there are a lot of mixed reviews about the very open ending, but it was one of the things i loved most about this book. making it an open ending marks a fresh start for marianne and connell, hopefully free of miscommunication and full of possibilities....more
i am going to break my silence and speak my truth:
this is the secret history for dummies with annoying theater majors and you can't convince me otherwi am going to break my silence and speak my truth:
this is the secret history for dummies with annoying theater majors and you can't convince me otherwise.
if you're gonna very blatantly rip off what i consider one of the best novels ever written, at least do a good job of it. also, coming from someone who loves shakespeare to the point where she took four shakespeare courses during college, holy fuck were they unbearably annoying.
it's like off brand the secret history meets glee.
it had no nuance, no subtlety, nothing between the lines. it was basically a horrible caricature of the secret history. donna tartt, i'm so sorry that you got compared to this....more
groundskeeping takes place during election year, telling a love story between two people who come from very different backgrounds. the 'no quotation mgroundskeeping takes place during election year, telling a love story between two people who come from very different backgrounds. the 'no quotation marks' gave it a bit of a sally rooney-esque feel, although the actual story was vastly different.
owen, our protagonist, and alma, the love interest cannot be more different. owen comes from a working class family who are trump supporting evangelicals. alma comes from a wealthy family of bosnian immigrants. their relationship becomes progressively strained as these disparities come to light and they recognize this. this is a love story without it having a typical romance plot, as it centers more around the two characters as individuals rather than them as a couple.
i can see what cole was trying to accomplish with his debut, however, it fell a bit flat for me. the characters often fell flat and the plot was unfulfilling. the writing was beautiful, but it began to feel aimless about a third of the way in. owen's character was not fleshed out enough for me to sympathize with him, which just made me feel very annoyed at him most of the time. additionally, some parts (as this was in owen's perspective) felt very male gaze-y to me, which was a bit disappointing.
a lot of mixed feelings about this book.
thank you to knopf publishing and netgalley for the arc!...more
“against all my better rationales, my life recognized sex.”
lillian fishman’s debut does not feel like a debut. with sharp writing that fee
“against all my better rationales, my life recognized sex.”
lillian fishman’s debut does not feel like a debut. with sharp writing that feels alive, acts of service examines themes of sexuality, consent, and power through the eyes of eve, a woman in her twenties, against the glittering backdrop of new york city.
eve, the protagonist, lives with her girlfriend, romi. they live a somewhat mundane life. one day, after posting nudes online, she is contacted by a woman named olivia, who proposes that eve sleeps with her and nathan, her boss who she happens to be involved with.
there isn’t much to say about the plot, because much of the book is eve’s rumination and introspection. eve is extremely self aware and darkly critical, which allows for a plethora of passages of baroque self reflection. however, this is not to say that a single moment in this book was dull. every single line in this book felt biting and razor-edged.
the plot itself is organized chaos: every character is unlikeable and morally gray and toxic in their own way, and every relationship is underlined with degrees of unequal power dynamics and passivity.
fishman paints a rich and complex portrait of sexuality in the twenty-first century and its adjacent concepts of power and agency and how we are perceived by others. it cleverly explores sex and sexuality in a way that is not only addictive to read, but also self-contained and philosophical. does sexual desire and freedom come hand in hand with morality and politics? to what extent does the patriarchy and gender roles influence our intrinsic thoughts regarding love and sex?
what i loved the most was fishman’s ability to discern layers in what usually feels like one vast notion. in acts of service, all relationships are nuanced as she is able to pull apart and differentiate love, sexual desire, and romance, which often are all grouped into one sentiment. love is not always romantic, and power dynamics within relationships are not always solidified or black and white.
acts of service is a brilliant, introspective novel, and i enjoyed every second of it.
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holy shit
you guys are going to scream when this comes out. it's SO fucking good.
thank you so much to hogarth books for the gift!...more
“is that what art is? to be touched thinking what we feel is ours when, in the end, it was someone else, in longing, who finds us?”
on eart
“is that what art is? to be touched thinking what we feel is ours when, in the end, it was someone else, in longing, who finds us?”
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is a semi autographical novel in which little dog, the protagonist, writes letters to his illiterate mother. he describes immigrant life with evocative and unflinching poignancy, detailing his struggles with his identity, family history, and relationships. it additionally addresses many heavy themes such as war, drugs, race, gender and sexuality, and class but in a way where the reader doesn’t feel like the book is biting off more than it can chew.
this is one of the most beautifully written books i have ever read in my life. vuong’s ability to spin words into gold and sentences into a melody is unlike anything i have seen before. the rawness and honesty he imbued into the narrative that felt like i was experiencing emotions miles below surface level. if our way of experiencing feelings is layered like the earth, vuong’s writing stripped away the crust and mantle.
for an epistolary novel written in anecdotes and vignettes, its kaleidoscopic beauty did not overshadow its coherency. i loved that i could get the satisfaction of reading a beautiful poem combined with the complexities of a well written novel. it was non symmetrical and linear in the best way. it felt like vuong had all the english words in his hands and he was weaving and rearranging letters in ways we’ve never seen before. the details made everything so vivid and crisp.
however, it did get a bit too much for me near the end of the novel, where the prose was a bit too experimental and flowery for me. although many of my highlighted quotes were from this section, this actually diminished the overall impact of his storytelling. the writing that was so graceful and poetic at the start became a bit too disjointed, and it was a bit jarring. it felt like a high risk, high return move for vuong to write in such style. in its best parts, the return, when done well, was astronomical. in the rare minority of times, it missed the mark a bit.
all in all, what a beautiful, visceral, heartwrenching novel....more
mini review i finally finished. i am a fucking wreck. literally actually just a WRECK.
a beautiful, beautiful finale to my most beloved series. backmini review i finally finished. i am a fucking wreck. literally actually just a WRECK.
a beautiful, beautiful finale to my most beloved series. backman is back pulling heart strings. i laughed, i cried. i spaced out my reading for three months because i didn't want this to end. while i absolutely sobbed and felt broken and hollow (the way you do after a good book), i am so so grateful that i found this series. this series is so insanely special to me.
beartown is the first book i recommend anyone when they ask for a recommendation, and i am so so glad this book did not disappoint. one of my favorite books this entire year.
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mid-read update i've been reading this book for three months because i don't want it to end
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pre-read part 2 GUESS WHO GOT THE ARC GUESS WHO GOT THE ARC
screaming AND crying I DON'T HAVE TO LEARN SWEDISH
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pre-read part 1 september 2022? guess it's time to learn swedish! totally manageable....more
buddy read with emma & leah in a bad reading slump but buddy reads always help
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finally finally finished! i sort of thought i'd like this morbuddy read with emma & leah in a bad reading slump but buddy reads always help
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finally finally finished! i sort of thought i'd like this more BUT it was still great! all the stories are so complete in their own way, although i loved the first stories more than the latter. however, it was so cool and interesting to read about korean history in a book that was already written in korean.
also, i just want to give HUGE props to the translator. i went back and forth between the original korean version and the translated version and the language and feel are almost identical. this is incredibly hard to do because korean and english are such vastly different languages but somehow the translator manages to capture the essence of the original text. just loved it so much. this is why translated books are just amazing. as a bilingual gal, this just made me so happy so i thought i should mention it....more
“and I love that about humanity, and in fact it's the very reason i root for us to survive - because we are so stupid about each other.”
it
“and I love that about humanity, and in fact it's the very reason i root for us to survive - because we are so stupid about each other.”
it comes as no surprise to anyone that i would rate this five stars. this may very possibly be my favorite sally rooney, even over conversation with friends (maybe not)(i said very possibly, not that it is so don't hold me against it)(i have to reread conversations to make a wise and educated decision).
beautiful world, where are you explores the relationships and dynamics between four people: alice, eileen, simon, and felix. what i love about rooney’s writing, and loved about this book, is that rooney writes the romance between characters as more of a psychological exploration into human relationships and its various dimensions. rather than writing her novels in a ‘classic romance’ sense, with trite ideals and love interests placed on sky-high pedestals, rooney writes a more grounded, realistic depiction of love and all the joys and turmoils it entails.
this is definitely rooney’s most ambitious novel yet; she not only tackles the complexities of relationships with her usual sophistication and sharp wit, but also ventures into an epistolary series of historical anecdotes and social commentary through alice and eileen’s email correspondence. i think it was stylistically interesting to insert between chapters, but became an instrumental part of the novel.
the characters attempt to find the meaning of life through internal self-reflection and introspection, but also various external outlets: relationships, religion, jobs, family. through the emails, rooney explores this on a macroscopic scale and how these struggles are also visible in society. the alternation between email/prose shows the overall scope and scenery of what the modern millennial is living and struggling through while also examining the four character’s specific and personal problems at closer proximity, which i thought was very apt for the vibe novel.
while felix is very obviously the weakest link (and the most useless asshole character), i loved how human all of these four characters were throughout the novel. they simultaneously crave and reject romantic intimacy and continuously question their own emotions and intentions. they are also excellent as self-analysis (although it is often their downfall), which makes it more enjoyable to read, in my opinion.
all of this is a reflection of how we, in real life, behave, and i loved how well she articulated these feelings in her novel. ironically, her characters do not believe in happy endings, yet the fleeting moments of possible happily ever afters lead us to believe in them too. momentarily.
but isn’t that enough?
i think this was a great book to read in my early twenties, especially during the pandemic, which has prompted us to question and reevaluate relationships in our own lives, both romantic and platonic—undoubtedly one of the best books of 2022 for me....more
“was it my idea to have him hurt me, or did he just let me think it was?”
it’s women’s history month, so i’m starting the month with boy pa
“was it my idea to have him hurt me, or did he just let me think it was?”
it’s women’s history month, so i’m starting the month with boy parts.
boy parts follows irina, a photographer who takes fetishistic and explicit photos of men she scouts as her models. she is narcissistic and manipulative and is hyperaware of the power she holds over men and people in general. she knows how to control a situation so she has the upper hand in every situation. the book begins when she gets an offer to exhibit her work at an art gallery. from here, we see glimpses of her past in fleeting hallucinatory and hazy flashbacks where there is no definitive line between imagination and reality.
the book is told in first person, which does fantastically in distorting the story even further, as she is as unreliable as a narrator can go. it’s very unhinged, very american psycho-esque, and i loved every page of it. irina is baiscally patrick bateman. she is equally cruel and violent to herself as she is cruel and violent to others, destructive as much as she is self destructive. while she has no regard for any sort of moral consequence, she has elusive moments of reflection where you almost feel sympathetic towards her. almost.
one of the reasons why i loved this book so much was that it was brilliantly written. the writing is not flowery or complicated in any way, but the way clark manages to weave in implied social commentary on gender roles and the male gaze is insane. with more accounts of male photographers abusing their power over female models (emily ratajowski, for example), this power dynamic is flipped on its head when irina pays no heed to her models who are essentially her victims. by subverting this structure, clark shines a light on both toxic masculinity and trauma alike.
it is hinted that irina has become this way because she suffered sexual abuse in her childhood and teenage years. this is a portrayal of how many people, men especially, who were previously abused in the past, become abusers. this is just one of the ways gender roles are twisted and distorted to allow us to see power disparities in real life for what they really are and provides a space for reflection.
what i was surprised to love were the plethora of pop culture references. i usually don’t like when books are so boldly twenty-first century, but the way they were laced in felt natural and didn’t ruin the flow of the narrative.
boy parts is thrilling and gross and visceral, and i enjoyed every single moment of it.
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ reread 2023
eliza clark i love you this is still so so good
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pre-read this feels like everything i love in a book so i'm going in with high hopes.
i've also only heard good things about it so it better not let me down or i may never recover again....more
posted my annotations & annotation guide for the secret history on my bookstagram! also my review.
i will probably be posting chapter by chapter readinposted my annotations & annotation guide for the secret history on my bookstagram! also my review.
i will probably be posting chapter by chapter reading guides on my instagram so stay tuned!
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here is the very long awaited review of one of my favorite books.
i first read the secret history for class in high school, then two times after that. it is, without a doubt, always in my top 5 list of books. i’m sure i’m not special in that case, because this book is a true testament to the genius and beauty of english literature.
i can say a thousand and one things about this book, post my many essays i’ve written on it, and it still would not be enough. every flick of a page in this book makes me feel like i’m slowly unravelling layers of something huge, something so very intricate. this took donna tartt 10 years to write, and everyone who reads it can absolutely tell why.
the secret history centers around richard, a transfer student to hamden college, a liberal arts college in new england. it centers around a group of students and their classics professor and the murder of one of their classmates. it explores themes of beauty, hedonism, moral corruption, and the very slow descent into madness.
i don’t want to say anything about the plot because the best way to go into this book is to go into it blind. instead, i want to talk about the writing. the writing!!! i will never be able to shut up about how fantastic it is. with the goldfinch but more so the secret history, it is easy to tell that this isn’t just a book, it is an art form waiting to be consumed.
it’s insane just how much love this book has gotten, especially in the last year because of the ‘dark academia’ vibe it gives off. but this book is so much more than that, and sometimes i wish people wouldn’t get wholly swept away in the vibe of the book that they lose track of the attention to detail and expert character/world building.
i have read this three times, and in the times that i did, i was living, breathing, and eating the secret history 24/7. i was living inside of these pages, and i never wanted to leave. tartt has the brilliant capability to immerse and entrap you into her narrative to the point where when you finish reading, you enter a sort of fugue state for a bit because readjusting to reality is hard.
that’s my favorite part of reading a book that is genuinely so perfect. the part where, when you finish, you wonder just how you’re supposed to go back to living your day to day life.
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ pre-reread
rereading because why live if you're not going to reread the secret history annually? my chronic rereading disease persists into 2022.
also entertaining because i'm looking at annotations i made at 17 as an almost 22 year old and my thoughts are largely the same. have i just not matured? stay tuned to find out.
at one point in chapter one where richard wrote that he was vaguely marxist, i wrote "materialistic king seems pretty capitalist to me!" and i stand by that.
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can you believe that i have read this book three times and i still cannot come up with a good enough review to describe how much i love this book?
oh god i am literally not mentally stable to handle this right now fredrik we need to have a talk.
please PLEASE read beartown and us against you. i wioh god i am literally not mentally stable to handle this right now fredrik we need to have a talk.
please PLEASE read beartown and us against you. i will never stop shoving these two books down people's throats they are my favorite books ever....more
“don’t feel sorry for yourself. only assholes do that.”
women’s history month is over, so it seems only natural to put feminism on the back
“don’t feel sorry for yourself. only assholes do that.”
women’s history month is over, so it seems only natural to put feminism on the back burner for a hot second and read a very long overdue book.
norwegian wood is a coming of age novel that follows toru watanabe as he reminiscences about his college years in the late 60s and early 70s. he falls in and out of love with women and attempts to cope with the suicide of his best friend from a few years before. it explores themes of grief, coping, and love.
because murakami’s main genre is magical realism, we see his dreamlike tone seep into the narrative. the way he writes is ethereal and almost chimerical. the introspection and detail he puts into describing feelings regarding mental health/depression/grief was one of the most well written portrayals i have read about. i think this is why i loved it so much, despite the various problematic aspects.
the prose is as melancholy as it is beautiful. it has a very muted quality to it, but it was so incredibly vivid at the same time. i was transported into this time and world i have never lived in. i was feeling what the characters were feeling and breathing the air the characters were breathing. i deeply resonated with so many lines and parts and it was an almost remedial experience for me.
however, i think it is important to criticize and open up literary discourse on some things that may fall short, even for books i enjoy. in this case, it’s the portrayal of women.
it is impossible to read a murakami novel without feeling shocked and almost sick at the regressive and objective nature in which he writes women. in signature murakami fashion, the women were overtly sexualized without reason. they were manic pixie dream girls and felt specifically catered for men. i sometimes think it’s really funny how much men think we think about our boobs. i could literally see a picture of mine and not realize that they're mine.
all in all, murakami has once again crafted a beautiful novel exploring heavy hitting, important themes, while disastrously messing up the portrayal of women. i’m weirdly okay with that....more
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