Book Review Dump*** (1 Viewer)

[Ellztrap]

#6
Title: Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
First published: 1818
Pages: 202
MY RATING: 9.5/10

I’m sure everyone knows the premise of Frankenstein so I won’t summarise that, I’m just really glad I got around to reading such a slay. Shelley pioneered science fiction with this. I love that Victor and Frankenstein were both deeply virtuous but also messed up in their own way, the detail in building and fleshing out their characters and psyches was really great. they are both incredible individuals. so interesting how a creator can nourish and care for the life of his creation only to reject and detest it the moment it exists, can’t blame Frankenstein for going nuts. loved it!!! reading Hamnet next

I’m too traumatised from the HSC to read this (I was meant to read it back during my HSC but didn’t lol)
I tried reading 1984 but got too stressed - it’s like Pavlov’s dog

 

[Ellztrap]

I recently read “I’m thinking of ending things” by Ian Reid - it is a spooky book that makes you feel a bit weird after reading it, but I ended up reading it, listening to the audiobook, then watching the movie. The movie is shite.

10/10 would recommend the book

 

[totally_screwed]

I’m too traumatised from the HSC to read this (I was meant to read it back during my HSC but didn’t lol)
I tried reading 1984 but got too stressed - it’s like Pavlov’s dog

valid
I found frankenstein intimidating during hsc and didn’t get past the first 5 pages + I dropped ext english

it’s really good tho u might enjoy reading it now that it’s got nothing to do with hsc

 

[Ellztrap]

valid
I found frankenstein intimidating during hsc and didn’t get past the first 5 pages + I dropped ext english

it’s really good tho u might enjoy reading it now that it’s got nothing to do with hsc

Nah, I’ve tried to read it and 1984, and even the prince and honestly the whole thing has just given me stress each time
The HSC was not a good time and I’m glad I’m done with it

 

[MoeyNeeds90+]

Graham Masterton
'Living Death'. God this guys writing is top notch. U can just tell a real author from a contrived author, and this guy is the real deal. 5 stars

 

[totally_screwed]

#7
Title: The Things We Cannot Say
Author: Kelly Rimmer
First published: 2019
Pages: 408
MY RATING: 7/10

I’d been wanting to read a wartime romance for a while and this book was perfect. at first I was hating because the writing wasn’t as elevated as it could’ve been in some parts, weak imagery and characterisation and whatnot, but it grew on me and didn’t seem so bad the more I read. I loved that the build up towards the past and present reconciling was deliberate and when the dots connected at the end it was really profoundly tragic

long story short, it’s about a Polish woman (Alice) in present day America who’s having troubles with a loving but unhappy marriage, and her ninety something year old grandmother who is on her deathbed and unable to communicate verbally but desperate to send someone to Poland immediately to find answers and closure about the boy she loved but was separated from due to Nazi occupation in ~1940, who promised he would follow her but never did. also closure about what happened to her family back home after she fled the war, as she established a life in America without ever having spoken about her complicated past pretty much until she was about to die. Alice takes on the task of visiting her grandmother’s hometown in Poland for answers

it’s a very sad truth that comes to light, and adding to the depth of it all is how Alice rediscovers herself in her quest to learn about her grandmother’s life and her own family roots, and her marriage takes a turn for the better, it was wholesome

only thing that really resonated with me though was the grandmother’s (Alina’s) and her fiance’s (Tomasz) life together in Poland and the way their relationship endured and deepened through and despite their circumstances

Happy to be reading a little again now that I’m on break

 

[its_ace21]

@totally_screwed you should continue this

 

[totally_screwed]

@totally_screwed you should continue this

yeahh omg I’ve been reading since exams but I’m kinda slow LOL
currently reading a book called Butter
by Asako Yuzuki

if you’ve finished any books recently add them here asw

 

[CirrusTheJet]

Am I allowed to post book reviews here?

 

[totally_screwed]

Am I allowed to post book reviews here?

of course!!

 

[CirrusTheJet]

Okay. Thanks.

Title: The Shadow Kingdom by Robert E Howard
Review: Well done, Kull the protagonist questions his identity, with a significant shift in their perspective. The text would probably be a moderately good Module A text in English Standard. However, there is minor sexism and at first glance appears there to be propaganda (according to research, it is not).

Robin Hood
Review: The overall book is excellent and involves the protagonist forming a sort of gang in the woods. He leaves the kingdom after killing a person with their bow after being made fun of. There is repetition of "merry" for some reason and the book ends on a cliff hanger after making a deal with the king? (my memory is not the best).

The Usual Price by Jonna Michal Hoyt

Involves the protagonist taking ownership of a magical castle which grants wishes so long as they do not leave the wall. They take ownership by slaying the wild bull and catch the firebird as well as pulling the burning golden egg before giving this egg to the enchanter. He thus rescues the trapped woman. The book alludes to the protagonist trapping themselves by staying behind the walls as well as the allusion of lying to one's self of being hero. In the end, they leave the walls and realise the Usual Price: a lie. Thd books is a good read and highly interesting. However, like many books, I think there is some unnecessary emotion (although very minor so does not get in the way).

Title: Elizabeth and the Gladiators.
Author: Susan Murrrie MacDonald
Review: The book is very nice to read. Although once again, some unnecessary emotions.

The book involves a once slave as a gladiator being a freeman. However, their dad betrays them after the new owner decides that the protagonist is a slave through corruption, and is put in the pen with his father and the other slaves. They escape through the role of the sorcerer's help.

 

[mmmmmmmmaaaaaaa]

Will of The Many - 5/5 (Hierachy #1)
Strength of The Few - 4/5 (Hierachy (#2)

 

[totally_screwed]

#7
Title: Hunger
Author: Choi Jin-Young
First published: 2025
MY RATING: 10/10

this was a short read. normally I don’t take recs from bookstagram but I saw this book and was like wait I need to read it

summary: two people (Dam and Gu) who were dealt unfortunate cards in life who fell in love as kids, but as time went on their love evolved into a desperate codependency. they were trauma bonded and inseparable and even with months or years of not seeing or communicating with each other, they knew their paths would lead back to one another and that always ended up being the case. Gu’s life is majorly screwed up by poverty and the crippling debt that his parents passed over to him, effectively ending his life prematurely at the hands of loan sharks. Gu makes a perversely romantic promise to Dam; that if she dies before him, then he’d eat her body. spoiler alert (not really a spoiler bc the book opens with this scene): Gu dies first and Dam eats his body.

other thoughts: what I loved abt the book is how it captured the love between Dam and Gu in its purest and rawest form, including the ugly parts. like Dam is so insane and criminal for partaking in cannibalism no matter how much she loved Gu. but you can’t help but understand and empathise with her rationale behind it I even thought it was cute and couple goals until I finished the book and thought wait that’s not cute it’s sad bc even in the act she knew it was messed up but continued bc that’s how deeply her love runs for him. plus without him she has no one else, family (absent or passed) or friends (most went on to live “normal” lives).

the chapters alternate between her and his pov and it’s interesting bc in some parts Gu is dead and talking from an out of body perspective and aware of Dam eating his body, and it’s clear he loves that he’s being consumed by her. both of them were very complex people deserving of life just very unlucky and unprivileged, almost makes it easier to justify their insane relationship bc it was the only source of happiness in their lives

what a mess loved it tho