marmarthelion's reviews
60 reviews

The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

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

4.0

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

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emotional sad medium-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? Yes

3.75

Probably nit-picky: I got stuck on how some dialogue just seemed like cringey things to say- like I get they were game lovers but I don’t think even avid players make references on the fly as frequent as the main characters do at times. I also felt like some of the conflict in the book didn’t make sense and it was hard to follow some character’s reasoning skills, I couldn’t get on board with the conclusions being made, it just wasn’t 100% believable for me. I get that to an extent this is the point of the book and that we are following them over very formative years. If you read the book, maybe you’ll know what I mean
somehow Sadie is cool with Dov in the end but still holds a weird grudge against Sam for pretty much the entirety of their time being “friends”. Sadie acted like she felt obligated to be Sam’s friend; in contrast, Sam seemed more active in wanting to maintain their friendship. Marx was a much better representation of how friendships should be, Sadie and Sam just seemed so toxic.
  I just finished reading this so maybe my mind will change the more I think about it. 

All things aside, I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters felt real and had depth which was just fun to read. It was extremely immersive and there was so much variety in perspective throughout. I can’t understate this- reading this book was a lot of fun. 
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Village of Eight Graves by Seishi Yokomizo

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Page-turning murder mystery where everyone seems to have a motive and everyone is suspect. 
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I read this book in about 3 days, I just couldn’t put it down. 
Second Place by Rachel Cusk

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challenging reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I ended up thoroughly enjoying this book but had somewhat of a hard time when I first started it. The narrator can be unlikable at times but makes very thoughtful insights. This book is also just beautifully written. I look forward to reading another book by Cusk at some point.