house_of_hannah's reviews
257 reviews

I appreciate how simply this is written. It suited the main character's train of thought, and how surface level he is. However, Meursault is quite a boring person. I read several analyses of this novella, and all of them discuss how Meursault lives an absurdist life, yet he goes along with what the people around him are doing, which feels like a mask to appear more "normal". I don't believe his friends and girlfriend would have liked him as much if he didn't follow along their every whim like he did. To me he just seemed like a detached person who is simply floating through life. 

The court room scene....I could not stand how much his mother was brought up here. Putting her somewhere she can be happy is bad ? Wtf ? Apparently people aren't allowed to grieve differently either. Since he wasn't crying he was obviously planning murder instead, right !? It was such a stretch, and really reminded me how in high profile true crime cases pictures of the suspect at the funeral of the victim(s) are always analyzed to death. I know this scene was supposed to be a bit ridiculous, but man did it get me.

I feel like this absurdism that everyone is talking about truly shows up in the second half of the story during the trial. The prosecutor has a certain view of Meursault, and then forces the narrative to support it. This is something that happens in real cases all the time, and is how innocent people end up incarcerated, so it actually felt quite "true to life". However, the difference here is that Meursault is guilty regardless, and it's more his character that is being judged than anything. 

I think this second half is where the story really shines. Being judged on the perception of who you are, without being able to defend yourself, is terrifying. Meursault's indifference to the world ended up being his downfall, with the one instance of him acting on his own being the trigger. I know Philosphy is the main subject brought up in discussions of this book, but I'm more interested in the Psychology. 

After finishing this novella I went down the Wikipedia rabbit hole about the Algerian War, and learned more about the dark side of French history. I definitely thank this book for that, as it's not a subject I really knew anything about. Overall, I did enjoy reading this story, but I feel I'm just not intellectual enough to truly understand it. 

Thank you so much to Oni Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated. 

I am quite confused by this graphic novel. Upon finishing it I really felt like my copy was missing pages. Looking at some of the other reviews on NetGalley, it seems a few others felt the same, so I'm not sure if there's an actual issue here, or if that's how it's meant to be. This was super quick to get through, even for a graphic novel, which contributes to me wondering if there was something wrong here. 

This story moves incredibley fast, and with no buildup. I often found myself confused when the scene would switch, because it felt like I missed something really important. The relationship is instant, we aren't given much background, and the problems are also resolved instantly, which just gives us nothing to look forward too. 

This book is billed as a story about a gardener and a ghost, but very quickly the ghost is turned into a human again !? This just felt so strange, and kinda defeated the purpose of the story ? I thought it was going to be a unique romance, with this huge problem that they had to work around, but then it became a complete non-issue.

The art style suits the story well, and I love all the drawings of the plants. The color palate is vibrant and interesting to look at. If the story was more fleshed out I feel like the art would really bring the story to life, and they would be good compliments to each other. 

Unfortunately, when I finished this my first thought was, "Wait, that's it !?" It honestly feels like the most important parts of the story are skipped over, which just gives this book a feeling of nothing actually happening. 

This book was a 4 star read for me until the last 1/4, then it fell apart. This is essentially a study on grief, and how we can cling to people and the question, "why?". I was completely on board for this dive into Paul's mind, and how he in particular is grieving for his wife. Then the plot got a bit too convenient in quite a weird way, and started to lose me.

This is an extremely easy read that just flys by, which I appreciated after reading some more uniquely written books lately. There's really nothing profound here, but I enjoyed (most) of the story nonetheless. We see the story from two different timelines; memories from before Lexy's death, and current day with Paul trying to figure out what happened. I thought this style suited the book well, as it was able to show us key moments without a lot of fluff around them.

The description I had read for this book talked about how Paul suspected suicide, and at one point even thought the dog might have done it. Since it was in the description I figured those two for sure were out as possibilities. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that Lexy actually killed herself. This was a let down for me. I really thought the book was going to go in another direction.

I also ended up disliking Lexy quite a bit. Everything had to be done her way, and the tiniest of things set her off on very destructive rampages. Paul even tries to talk her into getting help with no luck. Then she takes what the "psychic" says way too seriously, and offs herself the next day. Suicide is not a light subject, and I feel like the way it was portrayed in this book shows how much of a selfish act it can be.

 

Overall, I think this book had a lot of promise, but then took a turn into left field that I don't think anyone wanted. 

Reading this gave me the feeling that I get when I'm trying to write or text in a dream. I honestly have no idea how anyone is supposed to understand what's going on in these stories besides the author. It's written in a way where it feels like the words in every other sentence are out of order. There are gaps between words in seemingly random places. I just don't have the brain power to follow what the hell is happening in these stories.

There's a blurb on the back of the book that says, "She sends English off on a great line of flight, from which it returns as poetry." I have to disagree. Poetry is supposed to make you feel something; you have your own interpretation of what the author is saying, but I got absolutely nothing from this. It isn't even pretty words, or a lyrical composition. There's no rhythm, or anything that would make me feel like this is anything other than words thrown at a page. I kept reading to see if maybe I would get used to it, and maybe the stories would make more sense, but that just never happened.

The description of this book made me think it was right up my alley, but unfortunately this is not for me at all. In the end the only thing I got from this book was a headache 

Thank you so much to Oni Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

My first thought upon finishing this graphic novel was, "What did I just read?". It's gross, psychedelic, and just flat out weird. There is a heavy dose of body horror here, so this one will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea.

The plot felt very disjointed, and the scenes would jump so quickly that it was confusing at times. I felt like we went through the story so quickly that the characters were even getting left behind. I would have loved to have had more lore about the town, and more reasons to care about the fates of the characters. Instead of leaving me horrified I'm more left with the feeling of, "Huh, well that was a thing".

I thought I was ok with the art style at first, but the more I read the more I disliked it. The characters weren't drawn in the way that they described each other, and their looks were very inconsistent. I'm not sure if this was on purpose or not, but the answer isn't obvious. It's definitely a more cartoonish style, which at times left some creatures looking more "Saturday morning cartoons".

With all of this it's still quite a brutal story. Gore and body horror are major components here. There are also depictions of PTSD and drug use, so you might want to check out content warnings before picking this up.

As someone who loves the story of Mothman, and cryptids in general, I was looking forward to diving into this one, but I think the storytelling needs to be tightened up to really make this graphic novel shine. 

 The common theme in all of these stories is that there really isn’t a plot. Most of them feel very slice-of-life, and a few could be a chapter out of a longer novel. The characters are battling their minds and perceptions, and the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred. This collection was a very mixed bag for me. 

Gerardo’s Letters - If there’s supposed to be a deeper meaning to this story then I completely missed it. It’s about a woman leaving her boyfriend that she’s cheating on. The relationship is not healthy, and neither are the characters. Nothing really happened here. 2 stars

Strychnine - This is just a few pages, but has quite an impact. I have no idea what was going on, but man, that ending. 4 stars

Rabbit Island - A man introduces rabbits on an uninhabited island that definitely should not have rabbits. Chaos ensues. 3 stars

Regression - I just read this about an hour ago, and it took me a few minutes to remember anything about it. Has to do with the friendship between two girls. 2 Stars

Paris Périphérie - This is one of the more interesting stories. A woman wanders the suburbs of Paris looking for a particular building. 4 stars

Myotragus - I don’t understand what the first few pages have to do with the rest of the story. The MC of this one is a disgusting person and people turn a blind eye to what he’s doing. 1 star

Notes on the Architecture of Hell - Quite an impactful title ! This is one where I could read a whole novel about these two characters. Has to do with mental illness. 4 stars

The Top Floor Room - A woman lives in the hotel she works at. At night her dreams are that of other people. This is another one that could easily be turned into a longer story. 4 Stars.

Memorial - A girl receives a friend request from a profile that is using the picture of her dead mother. This one is interesting, because it’s completely up to the reader to decide what is exactly happening here. 4.5 Stars

Gums - After pretending to get married, a couple goes on a three week honeymoon. The “husband” ends up with an infection in his gums, and it just gets quite gross from there. This one made me want to gag. It does have my favorite line in the entire book though, “I was itching for something that would turn everything on its head, longing to give birth to ravens instead of children.” 2 Stars

The Fortune-Teller - A woman receives text messages from a Fortune-Teller. There is a brief scene of animal cruelty here that just completely turned me off to the whole story. I really don’t understand this one. 1 Star. 

Averaged rating: 2.9 stars

 

I'm really not sure how to rate this. I honestly think my favorite part was looking up the history of the real Salpêtrière and Professor Charcot. I actually lived just a few minutes walk from the Salpêtrière for several years without realizing it. The history is what fascinates me, but the book itself leaves a bit to be desired.

This story is told in a very matter-of-fact way. There's nothing that's hidden or mysterious about the characters or the setting. Everything is laid out for the reader, and I think it causes the book to lose some heart.

This is a slow, character driven story that is quite light on actual plot. It takes place over the span of two and a half weeks, but it feels so much longer than that due to the pacing. Unfortunately, this story suffers from extremely convenient scenarios to push the plot forward, which makes everything very predictable. 

As the title is The Mad Women's Ball, I expected a lot more of the story to take place during the ball, or to have it be way more relevant than it actually was. In the end it just felt like another plot device with no life to it. 

This book is depressing; there's no way around that. I mainly felt stressed while reading this. I'm not happy with the conclusion, and it left me feeling a little lost ? There is an epilogue, but I honestly could have used one more chapter of the main story to prevent it from feeling so abrupt. This is not a long book, so the ending does feel rushed compared to how the rest of the story unfolded. 

Basically I have quite mixed feelings about this book. On one hand it introduced me to a history of Paris I did not previously know, but on the other I think the book itself could have been fleshed out so much more. In the end I think that leaves me with an average book where the history behind it is more intriguing than the fiction. 

Thank you so much to SFWA and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated. 

This is the first time I have heard of a writer's group that writes fiction stories strictly about climate change. I find it fascinating and admirable, as it's a situation that the entire world needs to take more seriously. I think on that front this novella was a success, but it falls flat on characterization and storytelling. 

The cover and title of this book completely pulled me in. The House of Drought brings up so many questions, and the cover is mysterious and gorgeous. At just over 100 pages this is a very quick read, and I feel like it tries to accomplish too much with too few pages. 

This novella is not told in a linear fashion, with different timelines jumping in at different moments. There are five different perspectives, and each time we encounter a new perspective we are told the end of their story first, and then work our way back up to that. With so many perspectives we are introduced to a ton of characters in a very short amount of time. I did not find this confusing, but that does mean there are a lot of very forgettable characters, which in a book so short potentially feels like wasted space. 

Unfortunately, the characters themselves all felt the same. I'm not sure if this was done intentionally, but everyone had the same voice. Even though there were characters from different regions of Sri Lanka, and they all came from different backgrounds, they all spoke with exactly the same type of speech. This was very noticeable, which is why I question if it was actually intentional. I did not know until the author's bio at the end, but he's actually a German who has been living in Sri Lanka for the past several years, so this may be a factor as well. 

I definitely feel like this story needs to be fleshed out a bit more to feel whole. The house worked in a contradictory way, with characters out of nowhere completely understanding the house. For example,

how did people just take a bath without the Dry House appearing ? It's shown several times that just setting out a few bowls of water, or pouring a water bottle on the floor is enough to conjure it, so how did anyone do dishes, laundry, or bath here ?

This is just something that I feel should have been broadened on a bit more, so it wouldn't feel like such a huge jump in logic. 

Overall this was an ok novella, but the intent behind the story shines a lot brighter than the actual work. 

Thank you so much to IGP and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated. 

Unfortunately, this really didn't add anything new to the highschool romance genre. It's a classic "popular guy instantly falls in love with the shy guy" trope with very minimal drama. There really isn't much that happens here as the story has to rush through itself since it's just a one shot. 

Be aware, this is an 18+ manga. It's my own fault, but I did not realize this when I picked it up, so I definitely got a surprise at the end. Even then the more graphic scenes are just a few panels long, so it adds to that rushed feel. 

I do wish there had been more to the story itself; maybe them revealing to their friends that they are together, or even going on a date. We really don't get anything that builds their relationship up. It's just a very quick meeting, instantly falling in love, a tiny bit of miscommunication, and then the end. I feel like we don't know these characters at all, so this just doesn't catch my attention. 

Unfortunately, I think this will be a manga that will simply get buried by the other releases in this genre. 

Thank you so much to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

This story moves very quickly, but it feels just right. This volume sets up the situation that will drive the plot forward. It's definitely more original than most high school scenarios, and I really appreciate it for that. The fact that it's a love triangle with technically only two people puts an interesting twist on things.

The art style suits the story well as both are cute and fluffy. I do wish there was a little more detail in the art, but that's just a personal preference and doesn't hinder the story in any way.

I do hope we get to see a bit more of the home life of the main girl. The message from the author at the end of this volume does state that volume two will be more about fleshing out the characters, and that's exactly what I'm wanting. I think this is a manga that I will continue to follow for now, because it's not everyday that you get to read a cute love story with aliens.