paperknotbooks's reviews
979 reviews

Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-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? No

4.5

:*{

Content Warnings

Held by Anne Michaels

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

A book I’d like to return to. I was really warming up to it by the end.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.75

Content Warnings

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Icky & sticky

Content Warnings

Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Record of a Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami

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adventurous challenging funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Title story is the most trippy and confusing. It reads like 5 half-remembered dreams bleeding together.

Content Warnings

Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen by Suzanne Scanlon

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emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

The writing is lovely and poetic, but the takeaway is that Suzie was in a psychiatric institution for 2 years, and not much more. It’s later pointed out that mental health care has gotten far worse in the U.S., but that’s not the point of the book.

Content Warnings

Perfume & Pain by Anna Dorn

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Review still forthcoming! NetGalley read that I didn’t review immediately after finishing, so… oopsie!

Content Warnings

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I liked the concept and how the reflection was presented, but I didn’t build any rapport with the characters… in fact I hated them. Despise May-September relationships, and I found myself rooting for a failed relationship. Its a conventional romance without a pulse.

Content Warnings

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings