kalyaniwarrier's reviews
40 reviews

Tears of the Silenced by Misty Griffin

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin

3.5

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

4.25

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Acceptance of grief is a gift not many can accept, much less survive, in the tragedy of the matter. The same can be observed in the case of Cadence Sinclair Eastman, the protagonist of the novel, who cherishes her summers with her cousins, away from problems and the angst of teenage life, to enjoy love, memory and family. Except, a tragedy occurs that spoils her memory and leaves her questioning of her existence.

We Were Liars focuses on the relationship dynamic between family and oneself, and the acceptance of illusion aligned with grief. A novel with underlying mysteriousness and a void to question the validity of the storyline, e. lockhart portrays life's dilemma's with conviction and doubt at the same time. 

For the ones who find life's chaos entertaining, but confusing to tangle out of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism and Fire/Fire injury

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Hope-giving, relieving, questioning.

What captivated me most about this book are the characters and their way of questioning elements of this universe. They seem to think, question and understand the doubts and fears we have as humans, giving some kind of companion to the reader who would, otherwise, feel alone in their thoughts.

To conclude, I would suggest anyone who appreciates the fictional genre to give this book a chance to question life, if not to understand the entirety of it.

Circe by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional sad 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? Yes

4.25

"All my life, I have been moving forward, and now I am here. I have a mortal's voice, let me have the rest."

I felt weirdly calm after reading Madeline Miller's Circe.

Circe, the slow and dull goddess of Helios and Perse, teased at, useless and stupid, becomes the most worthy one of all who called her names.

After reading The Song of Achilles, I did not expect another rendition of Greek mythology literature to stand out and make me excited to read and finish. Circe is pushed around and punished to abandonment, and as a reader, all I wanted was for her to make something out of her life. Seeing her rise to the occasion multiple times to prove herself worthy of her presence was rewarding.

This was a bold move on Madeline Miller's part to bring about such a rendition of Greek mythology, and it paid off. Bold, inspiring, brilliant read.

The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

adventurous emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

2.75

the book journeys around a Korean woman, who was raised in Switzerland, and her longing to visit Korea with her grandparents, who live in Japan. to be honest, i had bigger expectations when i was looking forward to read this book. since i’ve mentioned about my love for Korean and Japanese translations, i thought i would enjoy this book as much as i did the others too. but i was disappointed as i didn’t get to connect to the story, the characters seem quite dull too. it did seem like the narrator could have left to Korea if she wanted instead of waiting around for her grandparents to come onboard with the plan.

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

anyone who has read this book or are aware of Jennette McCurdy’s childhood would be invested in the book. i couldn’t stop reading as i was very much into the book and wanted to know how she would be doing currently. devastating and endearing. again, easy 5 stars.

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-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? Yes

4.75

having loved Korean translated books in the past, i was sure to love this. the story is tragic as the protagonist suffers from a condition that doesn’t allow him to feel any emotions, for better or for worse. i was only skeptical of one scene in the ending, which i would not wish to spoil for others who would be interested in reading it, that’s my reasoning for giving it 4.75 stars instead of 5 (although, on Goodreads, i gave it a 5).

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

the story revolves around Eva, her childhood, her struggles of moving around with a single mother, expectations of writing a story as an African-American woman; people preferred to readthe struggles of the marginalised. Eva wants to prove that African-Americans too can write about fantasy, romance and other mellow genres that don’t just focus on personal experience and prejudice. the story takes a turn when her ex-boyfriend enters her life and changes her entire future in just seven days in the month of June. i loved this so much as it is symbolistic where the people’s expectations of the African-American writing community mirrors the book. easy 5 stars.